The meteoric rise of K-Pop globally and on Spotify, as well as how the fandom has helped usher in the success of the genre, are the focus of the intriguing new episode of the For The Record podcast series, titled From Seoul to São Paulo: The Global Rise of K-Pop.
In this episode, Spotify interviewed Stray Kids, one of the most-streamed K-Pop artists of all time, who shared how the genre transcends language barriers, decided who the best cook is, and even impersonated a mosquito!
The episode also includes insightful commentary from Kossy Ng, Spotify's Head of Artist Label Partnerships in Southeast Asia; Babi Dewet and Érica Imenes, a pair of Brazilian K-Pop fans who have founded K-Pop themed groups and podcast, Kpapo (Brazil is the 5th biggest streaming K-Pop market on Spotify); and Wonho Chung, a Korean actor, singer, and comedian who lives in the U.A.E. and has witnessed the rise of K-Pop in the Middle East, where the genre has seen massive growth.
Stray Kids members talked about writing and producing their own music, they said, "Well ever since the start of our whole journey, we thought it'd be really, really special to really make our music, create our own music and really write your own lyrics to be a bit more truthful and to really put our hearts into our music, for our fans to take it in more well. So we thought that was really important because we are the ones who are performing on stage."
They added, "We are the ones who are singing the song. So we thought it'd be really, really important for us to make the music as well. And I guess I think that's the reason why our Stays can really relate to us. They understand us, through, you know, their music as well."
The group also talked about the importance of being connected to Stays, their fans.
"With Stray Kids and Stays, we have something a bit deeper...It feels like we're just one big whole family. So, if there's like a fan sign event where they come and just talk to us, sometimes they tell us, you know, what their struggles are, what they're going through, and, you know, all their hardships," they shared.
"I guess we try to really understand them and just try to make them feel better. And for that, that's one of our really important things that we have to do," the group added.
Kossy Ng then tackled K-Pop fandom's unique aspects, saying, "I think the last part that makes it so unique is the fandom-seeing how the artists and the fans interact. The fans are pretty much a part of the artist's journey as well. Like from the beginning, watching them train and debut, how the members are chosen, and I think it's a very emotional type of connection that you end up building with K-Pop artists."
Meanwhile, Érica Imenes opened the topic of K-Pop becoming part of the broader pop music landscape.
"I think that the K is really important for people to know. But I think that treating K-Pop as a part of, you know, just the pop community, that would be the ideal world. We have to stop thinking that things that are not American slash European slash white oriented are exotic. They are not. They are valid productions, amazingly done. They are actually putting every other industry in check," she said.
"You know, everyone else, they just feel like they had to step up their game to go with K-Pop right now. And of course, K-Pop was made to conquer the world. And there you have it-we are conquered," she added.
For Korean actor, singer, and comedian Wonho Chung, who resides in U.A.E., when he talked about the audience response in Dubai to live K-Pop shows, it's hard to sell out concerts in Dubai.
"These K-Pop bands came in and every single ticket was sold. People were flying in from different countries so that they don't miss out on this, you know, K-Pop extravaganza," he stated.
"I have lived in Dubai for 16 and a half years. While living here I saw Destiny's Child, I saw Beyonce perform at Formula One, I've seen Gaga, I've seen Stevie Wonder, I've seen Michael Bublé... A lot of people come here and I have never seen a concert hall that busy. The energy was absolutely insane. Five thousand people screaming at the top of their lungs for two hours," he went on.
Since Spotify debuted their first K-Pop playlist in 2014, listeners have streamed more than 180 billion minutes of the genre and added K-Pop tracks to more than 120 million Spotify playlists. The share of K-Pop listening has even increased by more than two thousand percent in the last six years, demonstrating its rapid growth compared to other musical genres.
Spotify's For The Record podcast series provides fresh insights in the world of music, podcasting and tech, bringing together voices from within the company alongside industry experts to discuss cultural events, listening trends, the tech behind our platform and more.
Catch the full episode HERE!
