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K-pop without the ‘K’ just won’t pop
Having fewer Korean members in new bands won’t help arrest a decline in the industry.
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Bang Si-hyuk, whose Hybe Co. is behind such acts as BTS and NewJeans, believes the industry is in crisis.
PHOTO: AFP
Bobby Ghosh
K-pop is betting that it can reverse its slowing global growth by becoming less Korean. This is a mistake: Without the “K”, the music is plain pop, undistinguishable from – and unable to compete with – the dominant American kind.
There is no question the K-pop wave is waning.
