More K-pop stars looking overseas

Fans of girl group KARA are more likely to see the performance on a Japanese stage as the five members have focused largely on the Japanese stage, wherein lies the bigger profit in music. / Korea Times file

Foreign markets emerging as bigger sources of income

By Park Jin-hai

As more K-pop stars surf the commercial success of the "hallyu" or Korean wave, the money they are making from sales abroad is rising significantly too.

Two-member boy band TVXQ's Japan Tour in the former half of this year sold tickets worth 100 billion won, gathering 880,000 fans throughout 26 performances. Also, Big Bang's world tour in the United States, Europe and Asia, has been seen by over 800,000 fans.

One thing that is common from those stars is that they all ventured into overseas market on the firm foundation of domestic popularity. Girls' Generation and 2NE1 are no exceptions.

However, the new generation K-pop stars take another route. They either start their careers away from home or expand their overseas fan base without a matching domestic rise in popularity. As a result, they earn more from overseas sales than on their home turf.

"The profits from the overseas concerts take the bigger chunks of the total profit," said Kim Eun-ha, SM Entertainment's PR manager.

"It successfully differentiated itself as an ‘idol band' that can play music from others who charm fans with their dance moves," said a manager of its agency. Its agency FNC Entertainment said that of the overall profits exceeding 10 billion won the group garnered in 2012, some 8.25 billion won came from the Japanese market.

One such example is four-member boy band CNBlue. Since it debuted in Japan in 2009, it has enjoyed immense popularity there. Its sixth single "Lady" ranked top at HWV daily chart for Asian pre-order list and at the second for top weekly list, reflecting on its high popularity among Japanese.

Talk of the overseas sales K-pop singers make cannot rule out five-member girl group KARA. The most popular K-pop girl group's overseas portion out of the yearly income it made was over 60 percent last year. Some 40 billion won was made in album sales and profits from ticket sales ran to 5 billion per concert in Japan.

A rookie six-member hip-hop group B.A.P has recently joined the band but it is fast up and rising. In Germany's Asian Chart, its EP "One Shot" ranked top for four months, which is the longest for an Asian artist's album.

It is all the more surprising that the group hasn't performed in Germany. Since its debut in 2012, it has concentrated on overseas markets, including Hong Kong, Thailand and the United States, ahead of the local market. Thus the revenue arising from overseas performances goes over 60 percent of the total amount it has accrued in total.

B.A.P's agency TS Entertainment contributed their success in Germany to the social media outlets such as YouTube. "While other K-pop groups sing love songs, B.A.P's lyrics convey critical messages about social issues," said a manager of its agency.

Last year alone the export of K-pop content grew 20 percent to 260 billion won ($235 million) and industry watchers speculate that the market will maintain its current size or get slightly bigger.

However, K-pop music has its own limitations. The people in the music industry point out that K-pop is mostly dance music.

"We need to be able to nurture and introduce a diverse selection of musicians and music to the global market. If not, the current popularity of K- pop music will end as a fad, such as the once-popular Hong Kong movies," said an industry watcher.

To this end, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has plans to establish the tentatively named "Music Creative Factory" as a way to nurture indie musicians, while it will make the Seoul International Music Fair an Asian hub of musical content trading.

"In addition, the construction of a K-pop theater is underway in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, which will be completed by 2016.

Fans watch B.A.P's live appearance on MTV's studio at Times Square in New York, in this May 2013 file photo. / Courtesy of TS Entertainment

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