Should AKB48 try to break into the Korean market?

And the difference of appeal is the reason why a 48 type group won't do so well at least from the first attempt. The level of judgement for Korea is insane, (in terms of music groups) cuz not only you have to look good, you need to have a portion of the group that sings amazingly well, another portion that can dance their pants off, and the certain few that act as the magnets based upon looks (and if a person can possess a combo of these things, so much the better).

Lets use SNSD as an example. As much I despise SNSD (all because of their fanbase), you can't deny that Taeyeon is an amazing singer, along with Jessica as well, and that HyoYeon and Yuri are amazing dancers. As for guy groups, CNBlue and FT Island are groups that can dominate so well (in Korea AND Japan) not only cuz of their looks, but they all have musical talent which is easily portrayed through their music.

The main point is K-Pop is all about the finished project, while the 48's and H!P groups are more about following the girls throughout their development. In a bigger picture, this is why K-Pop and J-Pop is so hard to compare against each other.

Btw I've seen some Korean YT comments and man, they loveeeeeeeeeeee Takamina hehehe....

 

I think it is about "NETWORKS".
If Aki-P and AKB really want to branch into asian market, breaking into the k-industry is needed I suppose.
Let me (chinese) explain it to you with an example of snh48 and exo-m.
Ftwdk exo-m is chinese unit produced by a korean entertainment company called sm and debuted about 8 months earlier than snh48 in china. Exo-m received hefty attention as soon as their debut and interviewed all the major tvs and papers and outlets. They even guested in happy camp and got a rookie award in china billboard award. SNH, on the other hand, couldn't show their faces in major tv programmes except some not so popular taiwanese cable programme so far. I can't find SNH's interview articles on important outlets either. Compare rookie artists of these two, and the starting points is already significantly different and, honestly, i dont think the late comer can fill the gap btw them.
There are also famous music and video websites like yinyuetai and youku which made contracts with korean music shows and dramas and people in china and taiwan watches korean music shows rather than japanese music shows. In other words, korean contents can ride on mass media whereas jpop and japanese contents are only limited to its fans. I can also sense the same movements in international forums of jpop and kpop.
That's my thought so...

 

not like my uneducated opinions are worth anything, but AKB48 is so powerful already (right? or do their sales give an inflated sense of their popularity?) that there seems to be no point. maybe when they get H!P'd it might be worth a shot.

 

I stumble upon on this website and I saw this topic, and I want to give you my input on this (hence why I register an account for this site). I notice the last post is from last year and I can't find any rule regarding necropost. So I can give you my input on this.

to answer the question: Yes, I think AKB48 should make use of the Korean market and I'll explain why??

Did you guys know that Japan's music market has been dropping for the last few years, I just got this article from Billboard Biz from March of this year confirming Japan's music sales decline (again). Another Billboard Biz article has said this and I'll quote:

I'm afraid that Japan may not sustain it's #2 music market if this decline in music sale continue. The weaken yen has effected K-pop sales for South Korea also, that's why K-pop relied on global market when Japan doesn't relied on that. Also while Japan's music sale decline, South Korea saw huge music sales for the last few years. I mean K-pop sales went up according to The Korea Times:

Here's a chart of K-pop sales (which include international sales):



In 2013, K-pop (and others) sales went up a lot from 2012. I'll quote this:

And it's been revealed that K-pop's big three: SM, YG, and JYP Entertainment has also seen great sales for the last 3 years, here's a video to back this up:


if the video does not show watch the video here

Not only that South Korea recently became the 10th biggest music market in the world, making South Korea the 2nd Asian country to make it on the top 10. I'll quote the Billboard Biz article:

So to any of you on this thread/forum that said South Korea's music market is not a big deal, it is now since it's on the top 10, don't underestimate the power of K-pop.

I became a big K-pop/hallyu fan last year and I'm a long time anime/manga fan. But I show concern for J-pop and AKB48 because I never believed in self-suffiency on Japan's music industry. And now because K-pop has became the first Asian pop to have gone global and the first Asian pop to get mainstream popularity outside of Asia, other Asian countries like Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia are trying to replicate K-pop success. I'm seeing Taiwan trying to replicate this, I got these from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture:

Taiwan's Ministry of Culture-Pop music industry development project

Taiwan's MOC-Pop music centers

Taiwan's MOC-Research Projects on Japan and Korea music market/policies

Taiwan Today-ROC cabinet spurs cultural and creative development

I'll quote the Taiwan Today article:

If Japan is not taking this seriously they will fall behind (along with their music sale decline becoming more apparent), it won't be Japan that'll rival South Korea in the future, it'll be Taiwan that can replicate this in the future. Also I'm seeing idols from Mainland China and Indonesia going to South Korea to get K-idol training:


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here

I think J-pop idols including AKB48 could benefit if they get this K-idol training. So yes, I think AKB48 should maybe make use of the Korean market, Korea's music market became the 10th biggest and K-pop is currently the new "buzz" when it comes to Asian pop, J-pop doesn't get a lot of attention these day to be honest with you.

 

Oh hell naw! If AKB fans want K-pop, they can listen to K-pop. There is a reason why many of us have no interest in it, it's almost like two different genres. It's like saying because hip hop/r&b is more popular and profitable nowadays rock bands should learn something from it and implement it in their music. Not all artists need huge international succes, if their music style is something that's very popular within their own culture than that's fine. I honestly don't see what K-pop has to offer that is different from what I can get from mainstream western music, AKB on the other hand is a whole different story.

 

Well Korean idols really benefitted from having the Japanese market. Girls Generation for example have quite a big fan base over in Japan and I think AKB could benefit that too

 

I have seem something like that. Jay Z and Linkin Park did that and Limp Bizkit is an example of Hip-hop and Rock N roll mixing it up. Also K-pop idols are more talented then any of our current western artists, I mean you don't see One Direction pulling any dance like Infinite (or any of the top K-pop boybands) does. I mean have a look at this:


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here

You're not going to see 1D doing this ever (unless they go to South Korea to get additional training). As a matter of fact, the lack of choreograph dance in US music today is the reason why I listen to K-pop, that and many of the US artists don't have talent that hold candle to K-pop idols (let see K-pop idols take musical roles, drama roles, and movie roles. It's very rare to see US artists taking these acting role in US films, and TV shows). I don't see members of One Direction taking acting roles, or musical roles unlike most K-pop acts. So yeah.

Also I want to add this to the coversation. It looks like Japan's Victor Entertainment and South Korea's CJ E&M have signed an alliance to help K-pop break into Japan's music market and help promote J-pop on a global scale, I'll quote this:

If this pay off, then more J-pop artists may try to use Korean music market as a "international launching pad", it's possible that J-pop may adapt the K-idol training system, because other Asian countries are doing this too. If AKB48 does end up doing a Korean-language album, I hope SM Entertainment can take them in. SM is like the big and leading company in K-pop and Hallyu. So if you have a J-pop artists signing up with a big Korean agency/labels, they'll get a lot of attention worldwide.

Also I think it seem like singing in Korean will get you a lot of attention these day worldwide. The proof: The UK girl group, Little Mix did a Korean and Japanese version of their hit song, Wings:


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here

You know which version got more mainstream attention worldwide, the Korean version got more attention then the Japanese version, have a look:

Billboard
Popdust
DigitalSpy
Popjustice
4music
Sugarscape
Jpopasia

The Japanese version didn't get the same attention like the Korean one did. Even on Little Mix's official Youtube page, the Korean lyric vid is uploaded and not the Japanese one:


if the video does not show watch the video here

(sadly for anyone living in the US, you can't watch it)

So let me ask all of you this question: Why did Little Mix uploaded the lyrics for the Korean version on their Youtube channel and not the Japanese version?? It's because of K-pop's mainstream popularity outside of Asia. That shows the impact of K-pop's global popularity. So you see maybe AKB48 doing a Korean-language album could get them a lot of worldwide attention, because K-pop is the dominant and the current popular Asian pop while C-pop and J-pop, yeah not catching up to their Korean counterpart on a worldwide scale.

 

Nope, it's because the Japanese market couldn't give a crap about 4 rather ugly looking girls from the UK whereas Korean people seem to crave attention from the rest of the world.

J-Pop couldn't be bothered going after the worldwide audience because it doesn't NEED to and Japanese groups certainly don't need the Korean market which is about 10 times smaller than Japans. If it wasn't for the Japanese market K-Pop would disappear without a trace because contrary to what you seem to think, K-Pop isn't all that popular in the US or Europe and was pretty much just a passing fad in the west.

Sure, you might think K-Pop is the dogs bollocks but I think it's plastic, pre-packaged and unrelentingly boring and most of it's performers have the charisma of a store mannequin. Then you have the music, which the korean writers just rip off every trend that flits by in western music without having any identifiable local flavour.

 

@mdo7 Thank you for that very detailed first post and welcome to the forum.
I'm not going to get into the technicalities of CD sales and whether Japan's music industry is looking at real problems. That's something for another day. There's no need to debate the relative popularity of k-pop outside of Korea. I'm just going to address your last point and the actual question of the OP.

When Japanese, Koreans, Americans talk of "idols" they all think of different things. Idols in Japan are different from what Koreans are used to seeing on TV, and the "idol" in "American Idol" isn't the same kind of thing as any of those two others. And I'm not talking about superficial things like Korean groups being more adult-sy or Japanese idols being more cutesy and childish. It goes deeper than that. Any kind of k-idol training would turn them into something entirely different.

If speaking from a purely Western standpoint, Korean idols wouldn't be referred to as idols at all but as girl- and boygroups. They're closest to what we've had with the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud or the Pussycat Dolls. The Japanese concept of idols is different altogether. You don't really find it in another country, although China does get closest. It's all rooted in a nostalgia for youth, childhood, purity - ideals that you see represented in many aspects of Japanese culture whether it be movies or literature. No where else could you have this romantification of school uniforms and school imagery for example. How many times have seen girls racing to school on their bicycles?

There are dozens of Japanese terms that can't properly be translated into English because they don't have an equivalent or because the concepts don't even exist in the West. Just take "ren'ai", a word that will usually get translated as "love" although there is another proper term for that. In scholarly texts it'll be more appropriately referred to as "romantic love". Take "shoujo". It gets translated to pretty much anything between "little girl", "young woman" and "virgin", but none of them gets close to conveying the essence of it and what the Japanese will associate with the term. This may seem pretty damn unrelated, but it has quite a lot to do with the appeal behind AKB and why idols in general are such a thing in Japan.

That k-pop is enjoying (a certain amount of) popularity abroad is something we know. It's still a niche and will always be one, given the simple fact that it's Asian. It's as easy as that. Still... Japan doesn't crave worldwide attention for their artists. It would turn the concept and purpose of Japanese idols into something specifically un-Japanese. It's kind of like asking American comic artists to draw their comics manga-style because it's more "in" now and might sell better. But I don't think people need Superman with googly eyes.

Regarding AKB in particular: it would remove them even further from what they were set out to be than they already are at this point. The group is meant to be enjoyed in small venues. There's a reason they still perform at the theater every day and that the more recently built ones in Osaka or Fukuoka aren't bigger than what we know from Tokyo or Nagoya. They've performed in the biggest stadiums of the country, but it's only a product of their popularity and not how they were intended to be enjoyed. Of course that's unavoidable once you become as big as they are, but it's something to keep in mind. What would do them best right now is a little less popularity, not more.
The ideals behind (Japanese) idol culture as well as the activities that are so essential to AKB's popularity and being an active fan such as their theater shows and handshake events aren't something that's compatible with a general Western audience. It's not a system they're used to, eyebrow-raising at best, but it's all that this group is about. No matter how many singles they sold someplace else, they'd still be exclusive to Japan. It's in the nature of the act.

Especially today with all the reports about AKB48 in the Western media, we can see again how news outlets often take the chance to portray them as somewhat of an oddity. It's not like they're wrong. As admin I see enough of even our own members struggle to understand aspects of what the group is doing, why a member acts the way she does or why things don't work as they do in the US, Germany or Spain. Would I want a whole country to suddenly be exposed to AKB and their promotion? Jesus Christ no.

 

@mdo7 honestly I see what you're saying but really AKB isn't going for that kind of international fame. Yes they do have two sister groups outside of Japan but thats probably about all they will do. I used to listen to k-pop a bit but could never get into because of how polished it was and it seemed rather artificial. Going and watching the videos was boring to me because they were so polished and it was hard to pick out their individual personality. With Japanese idol groups their not meant to be seen as perfect especially the 48G, they're more of supposed to be something that can make you happy and enjoy listening and watching. So what if one day AKB can no longer sell millions and isn't topping the charts, people will still find reason to enjoy them. The group started in a small theater and will probably end there too, sure international fame could make them rise up but it would also make them lose their foundation and concept.

 

You're welcome, and I think that's all I have to say but I'll say this: I'm worried about Japan's music market and I don't think it's not safe to keep J-pop in Japan.

I'll say this, long time ago South Korea and Taiwan used to share that same mentaility as Japan, they thought they didn't needed the global market, but when local sales started to decline. Both South Korea and Taiwan had no choice but to target the global market and guess what for South Korea, it pays off and now SK has become the 10th largest music market. Taiwan is trying to replicate this, and I'll say that if Japan is not going to rival South Korea on a global scale, Taiwan will.

HoneyRoastedPeanuts, I have nothing else to add on the thread, but if you want to discuss with me more about K-pop, state of Japan's and Korea's music industry, I'll be happy to talk about it via PM. I have a lot of acknowledge and I can probably give a good insight on the Asian music scene.

 

I'm not going to argue as to whether or not the Japanese music industry wants X or how they position. By and large, I (mostly) agree with HRP, though I'd contend that no one gives a shit as to how "international" any act is, and that popularity outside one's core demographic focus is just added bonuses – the only music specifically manufactured for international consumption by and large tends to be the American music groups.

At the end of the day, though, AKG shouldn't bother with a Korean attempt. Yes, J-idols tend to do incredibly well in South Korea. Korea itself is a major consumer of Japanese idol groups, and even pre-embargo of Japanese cultural products, people used to smuggle in Japanese idol goods all the time.

However, given the current market landscape, movement in either direction (either taking AKG and sending it to Seoul or using K-pop esque manufacturing and applying it to AKG) just wouldn't work. Firstly, there's no need to. Secondly, the market in Korea is just too small and too hostile (right now) for it to be worth it.

On top of that, Japan's domestic music market still has a lot of room to grow. It would also help tremendously if Johnny's could stop being a dick about digital sales, but that's another story. 80% offline means a lot of casual fans are being lost through the cracks.

@mdo7: I also happen to disagree that idols should be the primary cultural musical export. Rock/metal/EDM has always been Japan's forte, and continues to be.

 

Yeah insulting is not going to make you look any better, and some part of your comment sound borderline racist. Actually K-pop has already gotten more attention and it hasn't gone away, I mean Billboard already has a column for K-pop, not one for J-pop or J-rock at all. K-pop has already gotten a lot of coverage and it's not dying down. K-pop already got a lot of attention after PSY and Girls Generation/SNSD winning the YTMA award.


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here


if the video does not show watch the video here

Aren't most J-pop like you describe as "plastic, pre-packaged". Because I remember several J-pop artists do get plastic surgery:

Plastic surgery in Japan

Japan is really good at plastic surgery

So plastic surgery in idols is not a Korean thing, but also a Japanese thing too.

 

@mdo7 yeah I find it really funny that someone would insult Kpop as being pre-packaged, when we're in a forum for idol music (LOL)

 

If you have knowledge you'd like to share with us feel free to do so. We may not agree, but it's interesting to read. I have an important exam tomorrow so I'll read your reply to my post later and answer if I have something more to say, although I believe what I was thinking has pretty much been said already.

 

Mimi, check your conversation/PM. I'll be talking to you and Honeyroastedpeanuts about K-pop, and J-pop. I want to say one more about thing about K-pop: I notice some people on this forum have underestimated K-pop. I'll say that K-pop did many global achievements that no J-pop or Asian pop was able to do before.

 

If Akb48 goes into the korean market, it completely destroys the concept of idols that you can meet as I doubt korean fans would be bothered to fly to japan for handshake event and etc. Also I doubt its cost efficient to fly to korea for the occasional promotions

 

Add me too! T_T this conversation sounds interesting

I'm a super otaku when it comes to Asian music/entertainment business tactics/strategy, so I can contribute! Mostly I just want to see what you know too

 

This doesn't make sense, as the average flight to/from Korea is much, much more cost efficient than flying out to Taiwan/Singapore/w.e.

If anything, this could actually be the main reason why AKG doesn't bother with Korea: all the Korean fans are flying in anyway, so no need to open up shop when they're already coming in droves to Japan.

 

Done, you'll be surprised.