K-Pop Music Goes Global!

A 20 year old student named Marcia Tianadi began listening to K-Pop since her friend introduced her to the genre of "K-Pop."

Marcia now listens to K-Pop more than any other genre, including what used to be her favorite, Western Pop.

Marcia prefers to listen to the original lyrics rather than the english versions, even though she does not understand the words.

Marcia is one of the millions of K-Pop fans around the world. Fans from all over the world do not let the language barrier stand in their way of enjoying K-Pop.

K-Pop has been gaining much interest with their bubbly, catchy songs and flashy outfits. Groups such as Big Bang, 2NE1 and Girls' Generation are all groups that have been well trained for the industry.

These almost "manufactured" idol groups are winning the hearts of fans from all over the world. They have been taking over international music charts and being featured on postage stamps in Korea.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, Korea's music industry hit around $3.4 billion in 2011. K-Pop exports also increased to about $180 million, which is 112% more than 2010. 

A researcher at National University of Singapore comments that it is due to social media that has made K-Pop more accessible.

Researcher Sun Jung commented, "People can share, distribute and consume foreign pop cultures much more easily these days. Internet and social media is what allows something like K-Pop to be so popular in South America."

Online media is the biggest way for fans to connect with K-Pop such as YouTube, blog sites and other types of media. K-Pop videos have been viewed almost 2.3 billion times in 2011.

A CEO of a music provider commented, "In the past 6 months, K-Pop has tripled in sales on iTunes."

K-Pop agencies are now aware of their popularity and releasing albums in various versions to release in those countries. 

General director of KOCCA commented, "K-Pop is becoming the iconic representation of Korea, along with phones and IT."