Is K-Pop The New Global Sensation ?

K-pop is a genre of popular music in South Korea. Over the past decade, K-pop has enjoyed huge success all around the world. K-pop is a full package of music, fashion, dance, singing and story all at once. With its worldwide growth and popularity, a seven-membered group of South Korean boy band, BTS, made it to the No. 1 position on Billboard 100. The Korean wave, or as its commonly known as Hallyu, do not just limit itself to music, but one can see the extensible growth of Korea in drama and skincare regimes dominating the cosmetic industry as well.

The Economic Times article talks of the growth in the Korean economy over the last two decades. It says that the export of K-pop has propelled the South Korean’s music to an estimated $5 billion.

K-pop has spread its buzz all around the world, and India is no exception. The roots of K-pop in India is seen to be spreading from, Northeast India, which is commonly known as the K-pop capital of India. It can be traced back from the year 2000, when Manipur was under a ban that was put on all Hindi entertainment media, by Revolutionary People’s Front, a local group, as a sign of protest to the Indian discrimination against Northeast India. Back then, Korean entertainment media was the only source of entertainment to the people of Manipur.

According to an article of Hindustan Times, K-pop has got so popular in India, that in 2012, a small auditorium in New Delhi’s JNU, 37 contestants participated in the first official K-pop contest in India, attended by 300 people. Six years later, the number of participants has now raised to 898, and a humungous turnout of 2000 K-pop fans in the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.

It is not that easy being a k-pop idol. These stars face a cumbersome schedule to attain the appealing, extravagant and luxurious life. The Management agencies in South Korea offer a binding contract to the artists, stating that they are not allowed to date until they are 29, trainees live with them and spend around 20hrs a day learning music, dance, foreign languages and other skills. They are made to sing on a treadmill, in order to have a stable voice during the concert. They need to keep a record of their weight and body fat percentage, also some idols undergo infamous surgeries and cosmetic enhancement to look good.

K-pop is a self- contained universe in itself where artists are the centre and the lives of the fans revolve around them. And could certainly be called the new global sensation.