Besides language, what factors do you think prevent kpop from being widely successful in the west

cultural differences? prejudices?

Groups are dead in the west

Its extremely manufactured nature leads people to not take it seriously

and also because ching chong music not good if you know what I mean

general misconception and prejudice against kpop is certainly a part of it... you can see it on twitter a lot and it's quite sad. everyone is allowed to have their likes and dislikes but being racist or anything along those lines is not okay

I think many people see kpop in a certain way that isn't a true representation of how it really is as music

Racism and Xenophobia

To some extent, some feel kpop is inauthentic and manufactured.

Quote from MissBehave

Do you think kpop would hit big if this was the era of groups like Nsync, Backstreet Boys, and TLC?

I don’t think all groups but some definitely I think about SNSD, they could have hit big with a song like The Boys.

Quote from MissBehave

What do you think the misconceptions are versus the reality?

The main misconceptions are that every kpop guy is 'gay' or 'feminine' (said by these people with a negative connotation, sadly), that every single part of kpop is manufactured to the point of being unlistenable, that all the fans are screaming teenage girls and that it's just autotuned bubblegum pop etc.

In reality, kpop has many genres of music as well as a diverse fanbase. While the industry can be very toxic/manufactured at times, that shouldn't stop people from looking into the artists/music or being indifferent instead of blindly hating on every part of kpop no matter the circumstances.

I'm not standing up for any companies, of course. Idols and companies alike can both be terrible - but I'm saying that we should all have an open mind about things that we're not so familiar with or that we didn't experience ourselves.

Quote from MissBehave

There have been manufactured groups in the west tho. Nsync, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, even One Direction were all put together by producers

Well yes,that's a total of 4 boy groups within the span of what,30 years lol?

K-pop is..another level of manufactured

Just my imho.

First, let me be honest here: kpop music is just not really good. Kpop has been driven by visuals, visually pleasing MVs and close-ups of pretty faces for years while companies didn't really think much about music itself, yeah, they at least put some efforts on titles but their bsides, for example, are mostly not that thought of.

Second, west loves authentic stuff or something that at least looks like authentic stuff while kpop looks and feels like something policed and manufactured af.

Third, honestly the quantify of members in a group is crucial: 7 members is the absolute max, everything bigger looks like a whole crowd for western eye.

Fourth, if we are talking about gg then cute concepts are honestly not smth which west can fall for.

language is not the problem. ppl listen to music from other country a lot.

I think ppl just live in their own bubble and dont care about things they dont know.

or maybe there is prejudices in general. they should just get that stick out of their ass and open their eyes.

bcoz kpop stan turn people off on internet

and kpop is heavily manufactured

the music is the same like western song just in korea

so nothing new, people not interest

and worse case people will avoid

They're Asians.

Quote from MissBehave

So the "foreigness" of the idols? if there was a "homegrown" kpop type group, would it do better? Would it need to be more racially diverse?

don't think so

Cultural indifference: Some people are disrespectful to Asians and still see/ believe all types of stereotypes about them

IMO, it’s because Kpop is very calculated in their endeavors. The western industry is as calculated but the music tends to be controlled by the artist. It’s much more freedom of art to a commercial release pipeline. When kpop isn’t trying to break into a market, it happens very naturally. BTS/BP weren’t trying to make music that appealed to the west. It was inspired & palpable to the west, but it wasn’t really calculated. Even EXO/RV have tracks that gained some momentum in the west (CMB/BB) cause they were natural to them.

But a lot of companies try to appeal to the west & don’t quite hit the mark so it doesn’t work instead of letting it happen naturally.

Musically by what's generally on the top 100 where I live , kpop is too musically interesting. Plus unlike western pop music it's in your face about being fake, whereas western pop music is all about the illusion of authenticity. There's also the fact that kpop is foreign and there are cultural differences in gender presentation that would turn some people off.

I'd say a combination of "Girl Show Ghetto" and "Minority Show Ghetto", both of which you can read more about on TvTropes at the risk of wasting a lot of time.

They're competing against Uncle Sam that has a tight grasp on western pop culture.

It's a subculture, so it faces the same obstacles of any other non-mainstream genre.

I've seen people say that they don't like KPOP because they here it's full of simps, people that idolize other people, and cringe people always wanting to date their faves.

• Groups aren't being pushed in the mainstream compared to former times, so they might seem "out of style"
• The music isn't as production savvy as some past western Pop and R&B "boybands" with certain levels of popularity

• General lack of proficiency around live singing and harmonizing

And yes, I do think that prejudice also may have to do with it.

Perjudice/ cultural difference and I think bgs and ggs are not taken very seriously in general

Quote from killthisfenty

Groups are dead in the west

Was gonna say this. I really do think korea should push their soloists more. Just look at the comments of the Colors videos with korean artists. Most of them are praise. I really think if artists like Crush, Dean, Bibi, Heize, Hwasa, DeVita, Colde, DPR Ian and Live, Woodz etc were pushed more they could be way more popular. Just look at the success of The Weekend by Bibi and also the fans who liked 88rising's head in the clouds festival (there were non korean artists there too but it was clear the korean artists had fanbases there as well). I feel like that's what a lot of korean companies need to start doing more.

Competition.

That's it.

There are tons of world-famous artists from the West. What is the K-pop artist bringing that they don't already have?

Quote from killthisfenty

Groups are dead in the west

K-groups have the best chance because there is less competition right now. It's Kpop soloists that have the hardest time. Except for Psy, the few that have tried have really struggled.

Psy had a big hit because he was seen (correctly) as a comic novelty act, not a K-Pop singer.

To American men (and women over age 14), K-Pop boy groups look gay. No sale.

To American women, K-Pop girl groups look 12 years old (and how DARE they be so thin!!!) - though we American men certainly find the high girl group visual standard welcome after seeing the bovine products the American music industry keeps pushing on us.

Add the language barrier and K-Pop is just not really a sellable product in the USA. Maybe it can get bigger in Europe and Latin America.

Quote from carrot-juice

Well yes,that's a total of 4 boy groups within the span of what,30 years lol?

K-pop is..another level of manufactured

All pop music is manufactured. American labels are just good at making gullible locals believe that their faves are "authentic".

Quote from TheHeretic

Psy had a big hit because he was seen (correctly) as a comic novelty act, not a K-Pop singer.

To American men (and women over age 14), K-Pop boy groups look gay. No sale.

To American women, K-Pop girl groups look 12 years old (and how DARE they be so thin!!!) - though we American men certainly find the high girl group visual standard welcome after seeing the bovine products the American music industry keeps pushing on us.

Add the language barrier and K-Pop is just not really a sellable product in the USA. Maybe it can get bigger in Europe and Latin America.

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Kpop is boyband music, nothing more and nothing less. And local boybands always got the gay, f*g, queer, etc stigma attached to them, even when i was a kid back in the 80s, everyone was making jokes about New Kids being gay, blah blah.

Kpop is even more vulnerable because they intentionally push the flower boy aesthetic with the hair, makeup, clothes, and visuals on a demo that is already stigmatized for being unmasculine (Asian men).

Throw in plain jane racism and xenophobia, unwillingness to listen to music in Korean, and you've got a massive obstacle to overcome.

I think it’s still the music. For me personally I can listen to about a 100 random kpop songs and just find about 5 likable enough ones.

I’m not saying the music in kpop is bad. Just that there are a lot of chaff to sift through and find the hidden gems. And for a local who’s just reacting to one or two songs to form an opinion on kpop, this factor ends up working against kpop as a whole.

• The culture is too different and foreign first of all.
• Too many members than what people are used to. Even I, a kpop fan, get intimidated when I see a group with over 7 members and don't give them any chance at becoming a fan
• The most important one is the music imo. It doesn't resonate with people enough to get them interested. There are many foreign songs and artists that overcome language barriers to reach foreign audiences but most kpop music doesn't seem to do that.