K-pop strikes chord with US post-millennials
K-pop fans cheer in front of the Prudential Center in New York at the 2018 KCON New York hosted by CJ E&M over the weekend. The two-day event offered K-pop performances, as well as food, and beauty and lifestyle products. / Courtesy of CJ E&M
2018 KCON New York attracts 53,000 fans
By Kang Hyun-kyung
The two-day K-pop concerts this past weekend in New York, hosted by CJ E&M, proved Korean music continues to thrive in the United States year after year.
The 2018 KCON where beauty, food and lifestyle events were also held on the sidelines attracted 53,000 fans to the Prudential Center, almost 10,000 more than last year's event.
The Prudential Center was crowded with fans from America, Canada and Mexico as some enthusiastic fans traveled to New York to see their favorite K-pop acts in person.
Seven out of 10 fans were 24 or younger, showing K-pop is popular among “Generation Z” or those born after millennials.
Born in the internet era, this young generation has used the internet their whole lives, and technology and social media are a part of their lives. There's no agreed definition regarding their ages but CJ E&M says those who were born in the mid-1990s and early-2000s belong to the generation.
The survey of Generation Z music consumption shows post-millennials are open-minded when it comes to music genres. Their favorite genre is pop but they also embrace diverse music genres and nearly 97 percent say they listen to five different genres regularly, according to digital media company Sweety High in its “Gen. Z Music Consumption & Spending Report” released in March this year.
The 2018 KCON New York shows significant demographic changes among fans. In the early years, about 80 percent to 90 percent of the audience was ethnically Korean. But photos of fans at Prudential Center show many of them are non-Asians, showing K-pop fans have diversified rapidly.
The KCON New York seemed to have benefited from the popularity of the superstar K-pop boy band BTS. The K-lifestyle show was held about a month after the idol group topped the Billboard 200 albums chart with “Love Yourself: Tear” and became the first K-pop act to top the chart. Prior to this, the seven-member boy band won the Billboard Top Social Artist Award for the second year in a row.
The BTS saga is believed to have helped K-pop gain more attention from North American fans.
According to CJ E&M, KCON has emerged as a popular cultural platform among post-millennials.
The two-day event featured 10 K-pop acts, including Super Junior and five-member girl band EXID. North American fans explored Korean beauty products and tried Korean food as several cultural events were held on the sidelines of the K-pop concert.
KCON has been held in major U.S. cities 10 times since its first edition was held seven years ago.
In the United States alone, 400,000 aggregated fans had attended the K-pop concerts.
CJ E&M will host another bigger K-pop multi-day concert in Los Angeles, Aug. 10 to 12.