I wonder how things are going to play out with Japan, given that (from what you and Mat have told me), there's still a strong market among music consumers for things, like CDs and DVDs, that you can actually carry in your arms and stuff. Now, I know that K-pop fandom also creates a market for things, special DVDs and collectibles; Mat was telling me that's how Super Junior keep the money coming in. But overall, if what I understand is correct, Korea is following the same basic model as the U.S.: downloads and streams, the business model for the streaming services being subscriptions and advertising, with the biz resigning itself to more royalties and fewer sales.* And the performers and agencies also do a lot of TV and ad work, with secondary rights being a big deal. In the short run the Japanese labels are doing well, with a domestic market that's helping them flourish. I don't know what happens in the long run. Korea is developing an international market, presumably based on high volume at low cost, while Japan relies on the domestic market. Can the Japanese music do that forever?
And what happens when Scandinavia and Germany and Disney start aiming acts at Southeast Asia? I don't know if back in the day Boney M and M2M were accidents, or if there was a serious marketing campaign aimed at Asia. Nor do I know what European acts are big in Asia right now. Haven't been following this.**
*Btw, my understanding or misunderstanding of what Google was doing over the past several years with YouTube was that they grabbed the market for visual streams without particularly trying to make money at it, the goal being to make sure that no one else got the market. Maybe kinda by accident K-pop is doing something loosely analogous in North America and Europe: not cornering a market, but creating a significant fanbase on YouTube etc., even while not getting much money from that fanbase, beyond live shows.
**I remember Michael Freedberg telling me that later Boney M material had a higher pitch sound to appeal more to the burgeoning Asian market, though I haven't really listened hard, comparatively, to see if this is right, if Boonoonoonoos and Ten Thousand Lightyears has a higher pitch or more brilliant sound than Love For Sale and Nightflight To Venus. My guess is, if this theory holds, the turning point would be "Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday." I think I'm just babbling now.
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Another question, though, is what will happen to Korea when other countries start competing? Right now, there's no real competition for Hallyu, at least that I know of. But what about when other countries start producing music that sounds like K-pop? Korea seems to do a good job of patrolling its own borders, exporting music but not importing. (I assume that foreign acts like LMFAO and Carly Rae Jepsen and Maroon 5 and Michael Bublé do well under the radar, rarely getting higher than 40 or 50 on the Gaon chart, an occasional track getting as high as 25 or so for a week or two, but unlike K-pop tracks, hanging on for months and months.)
And what happens when Scandinavia and Germany and Disney start aiming acts at Southeast Asia? I don't know if back in the day Boney M and M2M were accidents, or if there was a serious marketing campaign aimed at Asia. Nor do I know what European acts are big in Asia right now. Haven't been following this.**
*Btw, my understanding or misunderstanding of what Google was doing over the past several years with YouTube was that they grabbed the market for visual streams without particularly trying to make money at it, the goal being to make sure that no one else got the market. Maybe kinda by accident K-pop is doing something loosely analogous in North America and Europe: not cornering a market, but creating a significant fanbase on YouTube etc., even while not getting much money from that fanbase, beyond live shows.
**I remember Michael Freedberg telling me that later Boney M material had a higher pitch sound to appeal more to the burgeoning Asian market, though I haven't really listened hard, comparatively, to see if this is right, if Boonoonoonoos and Ten Thousand Lightyears has a higher pitch or more brilliant sound than Love For Sale and Nightflight To Venus. My guess is, if this theory holds, the turning point would be "Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday." I think I'm just babbling now.