Front Burner - K-pop's promise and peril

Episode Date: December 30, 2019

This was a banner year for K-pop. South Korean pop music — known for aggressively catchy hooks, flawless choreography and highly photogenic performers — had been popular in the West for decades. But 2019 seemed to be a turning point, as the biggest acts conquered the market outside Asia. The boy group BTS broke a Beatles record, with three Billboard number one albums in a single year. They sold out stadiums like London's Wembley, and performed on Saturday Night Live. The quartet Blackpink became the first female K-pop act to play Coachella. But at home in South Korea, the industry was tarnished by multiple scandals involving sexual assault, corruption and suicide. Today on Front Burner, Jayme Poisson talks to the Asia editor of Bloomberg Businessweek, Matthew Campbell, about what he learned seeing the K-pop machine up close.

This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Jamie Poisson. Today, if you haven't already guessed, we're talking K-pop. South Korean pop, like J-pop and Kanto pop before it, is a music industry that's unique to a country but borrows so much from the West. These are pop songs sung and rapped in Korean by mostly homegrown stars, but it's on this whole other level. The hooks are aggressively catchy, the dance choreography flawless, and the performers themselves, they're pretty much photogenic perfection. K-pop has been popular in the West for decades, but 2019 seemed to be a turning point when the biggest acts conquered the market outside Asia.

outside Asia. The boy group BTS broke a Beatles record with three Billboard No. 1 albums in a single year. And while they've been selling out shows at stadiums like London's Wembley and performing on Saturday Night Live, the girl group Blackpink became the first female K-pop act to play Coachella. But away from the overseas interest, at home in South Korea, the industry has been tarnished by multiple scandals involving sexual assault, corruption, and suicide.

My guest today is Matthew Campbell, the Asia editor for Bloomberg Businessweek, who's seen the K-pop machine up close. This is FrontBurner. for Bloomberg Businessweek who's seen the K-pop machine up close. This is FrontBurner. Hi, Matthew. Hi there. Thanks so much for joining us today. My pleasure.

So I don't want to make assumptions, but I know, like me, you are a Canadian journalist on the other side of 30. So were you a big K-pop fan before you decided to report on it? I have to say no. It's not a genre of music I spend a great deal of time listening to, but it is pretty hard to avoid these days, both in Asia, where I live live and also increasingly in the West, where, as you mentioned in your intro, BTS in particular have become global mega stars on a level that really is very hard for anyone else to match. Once again, BTS. So K-pop has kind of seeped into everyone's consciousness, whether they know it or not. Right. In many cases, you've heard it. BTS came to play here just outside Toronto in Hamilton, and they sold out three shows,

and all the hotel rooms in Hamilton were booked. There wasn't like a single hotel room available. It's a good day! And they've been standing in line at merchandise tents since 2 a.m. to be able to pay $75 for a light stick. As someone who, you know, was once uninitiated and now finds it hard to avoid, you know, how would you describe the K-pop look and sound?

It is, Jamie, it's this incredible cultural synthesis. It's sung generally in Korean, though there are certainly choruses and hooks and things in English. But it incorporates all of the kind of dark arts of Hollywood, you know, very polished music production, but taken to an incredible extreme. It's very, very poppy. The songs tend to be quite short, very, very lively and catchy. And the idea is just to hook people and to hook people in any language, in any culture all around the world. And in many cases, it worked. And let's talk about that. Can you give

me a sense or an idea of just how valuable the K-pop industry is to South Korea? Like, how well has it worked? Well, it is, I think it's very fair to say the biggest cultural export by a large margin in South Korea. There are various figures out there. One statistic I saw indicated that the revenue of the, I believe it was the four or five largest K-pop labels, is equal to the overall sales of the entire music industry in India for the course of a year. So these are, indeed, and that's a lot of that is exports. A huge proportion of that is revenue from music being streamed and played and sold overseas. So it's a huge success story. So I mentioned groups like BTS and Blackpink earlier.

Why do you think K-pop has reached these levels of success overseas now? Because it's, well, it's not new. No, it's not. It's not new, though it's not old either. It's probably in the last, I mean, really the genesis of K-pop was in the mid to late 90s. It burst its borders, if you like, maybe a decade after that. I'm not sure exactly why it's happened now. I think part of it is, for all of us, Asia has become a bigger part of the cultural influences we receive. There's more openness, certainly from the American record labels to music that's not sung in English,

which you would have, not so long ago, they would have said, no way. But they found out that it works, and so they're eager to promote it. So we are, i think there is a bit of a a number of factors you know another which is just that certainly on the every everywhere in asia everything korean is quite cool korea has been having kind of a decade-long cultural moment and that goes for k-pop that goes for film and tv it goes for food the pound your ghost to parasite of it was the first time for a Korean director to take home the top panel at the Cannes Film Festival. And they've really surfed that wave.

Yeah, that's a really good point. I hadn't thought about that until you just mentioned it. You've described this really highly curated sound and look, and I understand that this isn't by accident, right? That these groups and the performance in these groups are the result of K-pop cram schools? And can you tell me about these training academies? Well, yeah, K-pop cram schools would be the colloquial way to describe it. But basically, the way K-pop works, and there are exceptions to this, but, you know, if you think of the stylized version of an artist being discovered in the US or in Canada is kind of

the star is born model. Someone with something to say, they meet someone or do something or get a break that that gets some exposure and then off they go k-pop is totally different the base unit of k-pop is these things called training schools and these are places where if you are a korean kid who is interested in music and singing and dancing you might enroll as young as nine, more likely around 10, 11, 12. And then all through your high school years, as soon as you're not in school, so three o'clock comes around or whatever it is, you head over to this place and you might be there until 10 p.m. singing, dancing, drilling. And then if you're very good, you keep going. If you're very, very good, you get assembled into a group. The groups don't assemble themselves generally.

It is the management companies who run these schools who decide who's going to be in what group, what the group's going to sound like, what it's going to look like, and then off you go. So it's very curated. It doesn't sound too far off to me from like the Disney Star Factory that gave us Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, though. I probably started dancing when I was like three years old.

When you're dancing, you just can't do a step. You've got to get into it, you know? Oh, thank you. Thank you very much. It's good to be here today and I'd like to do a little tune for you. Do you think? Yeah, there are parallels and and i think uh another comparison that you often hear going back a bit farther is how motown used to work 40 50 years ago and particularly in uh how much power the

labels have or they're not actually called labels in korea they're called management companies but uh whereas the most important person in justin's life is Justin Bieber. Right. In Korea, the bosses, so to speak, are these management companies and everybody has a boss. Okay. Which is a huge difference. So the idea being that, you know, a lot of these stars might be considered replaceable, at least by the management companies or the labels, whereas there could be a very strong argument that Justin Bieber is Justin Bieber, like he is the show. Indeed, there is a power differential. Replaceable, I actually had a debate

with a Korean colleague about this when I was working on this. Replaceable is maybe not the right word because they're not replaceable. If someone, if the lead singer of a group disappears, the group really doesn't have much of a future. But what they are not is indispensable. Okay.

That anyone in the industry can be let go. Hunya and Edawn fired by their music label after making their relationship with one another public in August. Cube Entertainment released a statement saying, We decided the trust is broken beyond repair, so we are expelling the two from our company. And they are all employees. Everyone in K-pop is an employee of a management company. They're not running their own careers in the way that you would expect from a big star in the West. Do we know how that translates to compensation, for example?

Well, we don't know exactly. I think it is fair to say that K-pop stars are not making millions and millions of dollars. There have been lawsuits over the years by K-pop performers against management companies, accusing them really actually in much the same way as occurred in Motown of doing them out of the gains from the music they create, that all of the profit accrues to the managers and not to the performers. I think it's probably less extreme now, but they're not, except perhaps in very rare cases, making millions and millions of dollars. Okay. So these kids, they and their families, I guess, have decided they're going to go to these K-pop schools instead of academic tutoring,

which I understand is standard in South Korea. So isn't that risky for them? It is risky. It's a narrow funnel to become a star, as it's a narrow funnel to become a star anywhere in any genre of music or film. As you said, Korea is a country where students spend more time in school or studying for school or studying for tests in these things called cram schools, where you might turn up right after you get out of school and then you are studying more and more and more English or math or science until late at night. So in terms of the time commitment, actually, being a K-pop trainee is probably not much different from being a regular Korean high school student. But obviously, the career track is drastically different.

When you talk to these kids, what are they telling you? I know you spend some time in one of these K-pop schools. Why are they doing this? Well, you hear things like, I'm doing this because I think it's a way to make money, certainly, which is, you know, nothing wrong with that. I'm doing this because I love singer dancing, or I think K-pop stars are very cool. You certainly hear that. But you also hear things that you would never, ever, ever hear at a Western record label. I spoke to one kid, I was about 18 years old. And I said, So why are you doing this? Why are you putting in so much sweat into trying to become a K-pop star? And he said, Well,

I really just want to please my parents. Which is, you know, perhaps something you would hear in South Korea that I probably don't in the U.S. or Canada. In the Dragon's Den, a simple pitch can lead to a life-changing connection. Watch new episodes of Dragon's Den free on CBC Gem. Brought to you in part by National Angel Capital Organization, empowering Canada's entrepreneurs through angel investment and industry connections. Obviously, this is hugely lucrative. You know, there are so many kids striving to be these idols, these performers. But I also know that in the last three months, there's been three suspected deaths by suicide of Korean entertainment stars. And what can you tell

us about these deaths and what they say about this industry. So over the last few months, as you said, there have been three stars who have apparently taken their own lives, two of them women, one man. There is a real problem in K-pop that has been observed for a while now of bullying in general, cyberbullying in particular. These two female stars, one was called Suli and the other was Puhara. We're subject to particularly intense criticism online and we're really hounded for various perceived transgressions by this really aggrieved, angry online community that follows K-pop stars around. The pressure is certainly a lot greater on the female performers. There's a lot of expectation of conformity to a certain set of standards of behavior,

of appearance, deference to certain cultural norms. You know, Sully, in particular, had gotten a lot of criticism for appearing in public not wearing a bra, which seems to us so innocuous, you know, not even worth commenting on. But in Korea, it was a pretty big deal. Particularly when you compare it to other sort of American pop stars like Miley Cyrus, for example. Yeah, or, you know, Lady.

No one in K-pop is showing up in a meat dress. Right. So, yeah, the standards are a bit different. Her manager says she suffered from depression. So, yeah, the standards are a bit different. Her manager says she suffered from depression. Earlier this year, Sully was the co-host of a TV show called The Night of Hate Comments, where celebrities discussed reactions to hateful comments. Can you tell me a little bit more about these perceived transgressions that they were bullied for?

A lot of it has to do with sexuality or with exposure of bodies, exposure of emotions. You know, there is certainly some sympathetic commentary online. But I think it's failure to conform with a certain model of behavior of how a K-pop star, particularly a female K-pop star, is expected to look at it. And I also understand that they have this highly controlled life, diet and exercise, your look, and you can't even have a romantic relationship, something that can even be written into contracts. Yes. So there used to be very commonly in K-pop what were known as dating bands. And that does what it sounds like, basically that you are not allowed, or certainly not allowed, to visibly be romantically involved in any way.

And that is one of a series of behavioral expectations imposed on K-pop stars of both genders, that they are expected to be, you know, you debate whether Justin Bieber has certainly had his moments of doing things that he probably shouldn't. Pop star Justin Bieber has been caught on camera striking a photographer with his car. Beverly Hills police say it was an accident. That's Bieber last night hurling eggs at his neighbor's house while cursing him out.

You know, his record labels probably, I mean, they may be pissed off, but they also probably don't mind. You know, having a little bit of a bad boy reputation is not the worst thing in the American music business. That's not how it works in K-pop. You want to stay well, well clear of anything that could get you in trouble. It's interesting to me hearing you say this because watching the videos of many of these groups, particularly the women, they are highly sexualized.

Well, there are two sets of representations. For male groups, they are supposed to be very innocent. If you look at BTS, none of them have visible facial hair, you know, let alone pores. If they are very, very young, boyish would be the word to the extreme. And on the side of the female performers, female groups, it's just like male gaze 101, the way they are portrayed. It is outfits of, you know, little tiny skirts, tiny tops, seductive schoolgirls, kind of doe-eyed young women who are meant to affect a certain sexiness without sex, if that makes

sense. You know, they are meant to be alluring and perhaps to seem attainable in some way. And those are really tough waters to navigate, particularly with so much online scrutiny of everything to do. Can you tell me a little bit more about Guhara? Because her story intersects with larger issues around sexual exploitation in a very sad way. She had been taken up in one of these controversies around being recorded having sex with her then boyfriend. You know, also had struggles with mental health and generally been at the forefront of all of these debates.

front of all of these debates so so she has really catalyzed this broader discussion in Korea about what is the pressures being heaped on k-pop stars in May she was hospitalized after being found unconscious in her home this is a person who did a lot of Instagram live. In her last post on Instagram, the singer wrote the Korean words for a good night. You know, these very tragic events kind of distill a lot of these broader debates and may hopefully lead to some change in how the industry operates. And, you know, in talking with the record labels, are they doing anything to sort of help provide better mental health supports? This feels or it seems like it would be a very stressful environment for these young kids, essentially

young teenagers. I think it's an incredibly stressful environment. And I think these kids, and they are kids, and then they grow into adults, are under a level of scrutiny, a level of pressure that's really hard for us to comprehend from the outside. You do hear when you speak to the management companies that, of course, they want their talent to be happy and healthy, and they will help guide them in any way that they can. But I think these issues, particularly the issue of cyber bullying are larger than the industry i mean you've had some debate in korea lately about laws for example requiring people to identify themselves with their real names online or making it easier to demand that aggressive or offensive

comments be taken down these are these are legislative legal debates so the management companies would probably say that they're doing what they can, but they operate in a society that puts a lot of pressure on their talent. And one of the perks, if you like, certainly if you're a K-pop management company, of this factory model, this model where you have so many performers

on tap at all times, is you can cancel somebody and then you just move on to the next thing. this model where you have so many performers on tap at all times is, uh, you can cancel somebody and, and then you just move on to the next thing. Uh, so, you know, if,

if a star gets into too much trouble, they're gone and they're literally Photoshopped out of the images. You know, there was a, a, something I encountered in Seoul, but there's a, a museum,

uh, run by SM entertainment, one of the big labels, and they have timelines of all their big acts. And one of those acts, there was a very tragically lead singer, a man who took his own life not long ago. Jonghyun, one of the five members of K-pop group SHINee, passed away. Police got a phone call from his sister in which she told them messages from him containing phrases such as, let me go and this is my last farewell, let her to fear the worst. And he just disappeared from the timeline. It never happened. You know, so it's not like,

and he was 27 too. So, you know, this could have been kind of a Jim Morrison or Amy Winehouse thing. But in fact, he's just gone. And so the idea is, you know, keep the machine rolling. And the machine has kept rolling so far. We've talked about how women are under an incredible amount of scrutiny. I also want to talk to you about the scandal, the Burning Sun scandal. Can you tell me more about what that was? So Burning Sun is shorthand

for a series of overlapping scandals which have emerged over the last just about 12 months in the K-pop universe. Burning Sun was a nightclub in Gangnam, which is the sort of Beverly Hills, very shishy part of Seoul, made famous, of course, by Gangnam Style, that hit song not so long ago. That's exactly what I was thinking about when you were saying that. Yeah, exactly. So there was this club, Burning Sun,

was co-owned by a performer called Seungri, who was a very, very prominent K-pop idol, as stars are called, both in a group called Big Bang. Big Bang. And also Solo. And also solo. And what seems to have occurred at Burning Sun was that this club was a hub for some pretty awful behavior. Certainly drug use, which is a big deal in Korea. There's not a lot of tolerance extended to that. But also, much more alarmingly, allegations of sexual

assault, of date rape, of really pervasive and quite awful mistreatment of women that have come from several quarters now. He has been accused of providing prostitutes to business partners. He maintains that he's innocent while also putting on a display of contrition. I deeply apologize again to our people and everyone around me who has been hurt and suffered damage. And that then spiraled into allegations against the Seoul police, where they've been turning a blind eye to everything that happened at this nightclub, and to criminal charges against a few performers, two of whom have actually been sentenced to prison there. What kind of effect does this have on Korean society at large, a scandal like that?

Well, I think it has driven a great deal of debate about how the K-pop industry functions, about the representation and treatment of women. One reason that I think that these scandals, and particularly Burning Sun, have snowballed and become such big issues in Korea is they do hit nerves that are active more broadly in the society. So a number of the criminal charges in the Burning Sun scandal related to spy cam recordings of these male performers you know having sex with with unsuspecting women who didn't know they were being taped uh who may have been drugged as well so there is a broad problem in korea of spy cams being installed all over the

place it's kind of unique to korea. It's a huge subject of public debate. So that really set off a larger discussion because it did speak to this larger issue. There are so many sexual harassment and sexual abuse cases today. And as a woman, I've become more worried. Joon Joon-yong was a top Korean star and a public figure. What he's done is not just personal. It has severe social consequences, too. So I think there is a robust and healthy debate going on. But whether it will have the durability of something like the Me Too events in the West,

which, although you can debate the extent, I think we can probably agree, have led to some really genuine cultural change in a lot of industries. Whether that's going to happen in Korea, it's really too early to say. Okay. Well, Matthew, thank you so much for this conversation. I'm so appreciative. It's a fascinating, fascinating look into this industry. Thanks very much.

Okay, that's all for today. Thanks so much for listening to FrontBurner. See you all soon.