K-Pop, especially through large concerts and receiving prestigious awards on the global stage, has achieved remarkable successes. The final concert of BTS's tour titled "ARIRANG" at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles saw tens of thousands of fans waving South Korean flags and singing traditional Korean songs.
BTS Concert Tour and Comparison with Other Artists
This four-night concert in Los Angeles marked the end of a 31-city tour that sold out all tickets and had approximately 1.92 million attendees, according to the group's agency. In comparison, Beyoncé's "Renaissance" tour also sold about 1.73 million tickets across 35 North American concerts.
Images of flag bearers at the SoFi concert illustrate a prosperous year for K-Pop, which began with BTS's performance at the World Cup semifinals. Additionally, "Golden" by KPop Demon Hunters won a Grammy and performed at the Oscars.
Challenges of C-Pop and Lack of Success on the Global Stage
China has envied South Korea's successes for over a decade. Despite its very large population, extensive diaspora, and record-breaking music market, C-Pop has failed to produce stars with global popularity similar to K-Pop. Mandarin-speaking stars from Taiwan and Cantopop heroes from Hong Kong have also not achieved similar success to Blackpink or Stray Kids.
K-Pop fans have now expanded beyond America and Europe, with Blackpink's main markets in 2024 including Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Brazil. This popularity has helped South Korea gain a better position in the realm of soft diplomacy.
One of the main reasons for China's failure to produce global stars is its very large domestic market. "A concert tour in 10 Chinese cities is as big as a global tour," says Anthony Fung, a journalism professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Chinese musicians continue to focus on the domestic market for sensible business reasons, while Korean companies, due to a smaller home population, are more willing to take risks and incur costs in searching for fans abroad.
China's Challenges on the Global Stage
China faces additional challenges in promoting its artists. Social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram are blocked in China, making it difficult to connect domestic fans with potential foreign fans. While they can release their music abroad, their fans cannot easily introduce it to others. This means that a success on a Chinese platform has a longer journey before reaching a listener in Mexico.
Furthermore, the Chinese government has made it harder to monitor musical tastes. In 2021, Chinese internet authorities canceled online rankings of artists and intensified scrutiny of fan accounts. These measures, while addressing real concerns about youth consumerism, have led to more control over musical tastes and public culture than protection of young consumers.
This type of oversight creates a cost for a government seeking new friends. Joseph Nye, a political science scholar who developed the concept of soft power, has pointed out that "popular entertainment often contains subtle images and messages about individualism and consumer choice." Countries recognized as sources of pleasure for others have a better chance of garnering support in political situations.
