SEOUL — At a nightclub in Seoul, the crowd cheered as Harim Choi performed some of the latest K-pop hits. But songs from a decade ago, like 2NE1’s, seemed to resonate especially with the attendees.
“The older songs take us back to a time when we could just enjoy the music, when we didn’t have to worry about the business behind it all,” said Choi, a 26-year-old DJ.
In recent months, a corporate dispute involving major K-pop companies has captivated die-hard fans, casual listeners, artists, and industry figures alike. At the center was SM Entertainment, a K-pop mainstay whose artist roster includes Girls’ Generation. Hovering around were two suitors: Hybe, the company behind BTS, and Kakao, a South Korean tech giant.
Both companies viewed the acquisition of SM Entertainment as a way to expand abroad.
After years of growing at home, the future of K-pop now lies elsewhere. While the genre has fans all over the world, K-pop’s major record label sales account for a minuscule slice of the global music market.
This effort has excited some Korean fans, but left others feeling alienated, wondering: Does K-pop still need fans at home?
A sign of upheaval came in February when SM Entertainment ousted its founder, producer Lee Soo-man, the godfather of K-pop, on accusations of financial improprieties. Lee, 70, denied any wrongdoing and sold part of his stake in the company to Hybe, who became the largest shareholder in SM Entertainment.
Spotting an opportunity to expand his stable a few months after BTS announced a hiatus, Hybe took steps to increase his ownership of SM Entertainment, which has a large fan base in Japan and Southeast Asia.
But SM Entertainment viewed the offer as hostile and instead proposed a deal with Kakao, whose messaging and payment apps have become crucial infrastructure in South Korea but have met with little success abroad.
A deal would help Kakao establish a foothold in the K-pop business and offer him the chance to expand abroad.
Hybe sought an injunction to block an SM Entertainment deal with Kakao, but in the end Kakao’s deep pockets won out.
For fans, the maneuvers were a demonstration of how the profit motives of the companies prevailed over the interests of artists and supporters, with global interests taking precedence.
“It’s like the artists are chess pieces to them,” Choi said.
By: JOHN YOON
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6665514, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-04-17 21:30:07
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