Sharon Osbourne Blasts K-Pop as 'Soul-Crushing' and 'a Complete Factory'

Sharon Osbourne is not mincing words when it comes to how she feels about the K-pop industry and how it is run.

The former X-Factor judge sat down with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan for his podcast The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan, where the two began a conversation about record labels. Corgan said that labels are trying to take the uniqueness away from acts and after Osbourne mentioned the K-pop industry as an example, Corgan launched into a story time about how he says K-pop music is made.

"So they have these rooms, and literally in one room, they'll just write choruses. 'Hey, don't try to write a song, they just write choruses.' And in another room, they have kids who are really good at writing bridges. And in another room, they have kids who are really good at writing verses," he said, recalling a friend's experience in the industry.

That is when Osbourne slammed K-pop and compared it to a factory before calling it "soul-destroying."

"It's a complete factory, and they'll chop these kids up to make them look like more Western. And, as soon as they get old, [they're] out! A younger one comes in, and it's just soul-destroying. Totally soul-destroying," she said.

The K-pop industry has experienced remarkable growth over the past decade, evolving into a global powerhouse. In 2022, South Korea's music industry reached an unprecedented sales revenue of approximately 11 trillion South Korean won or $7,662,301,900, Statista reports.

In 2023, the top 100 K-pop artists collectively garnered 90.4 billion on-demand audio and video streams worldwide, representing a 42.2% increase from the previous year, Luminate reports.

Several groups have been instrumental in propelling K-pop onto the world stage. BTS, for instance, has amassed over 28 billion views on their music videos, while Blackpink follows closely with more than 20 billion views.

Financial projections for the K-pop events market underscore its expanding economic footprint. Valued at $8.1 billion in 2021, the market is expected to reach $20 billion by 2031, according to Allied Market Research.

Originally published on Music Times