How K-pop industry is seeking to go green

K-pop boy group NCT 127 performs during the 11th Gaon Chart Music Awards at Jamsil Arena in eastern Seoul, Jan. 27. Korea Times photo by Shin Yu-been

By Dong Sun-hwa

The 11th Gaon Chart Music Awards, which took place at Jamsil Arena in eastern Seoul, Jan. 27, was not akin to any other awards ceremonies in one aspect ― its organizer, the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), ran an environmental campaign during the event by handing out eco-friendly paper water bottles to all performers and the audience in a bid to cut back on single-use plastics. The three MCs ― NCT's Doyoung, STAYC's Sieun and TV personality/producer Jaejae ― also introduced the campaign to the audience, although not many details were given at the time.

According to KMCA Secretary General Choi Kwang-ho, the 11th Gaon Chart Music Awards is just the beginning of its green movement.

"From this year onward, we will spare no effort to tackle environmental issues in cooperation with record labels, fans and the government," Choi said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. "The K-pop industry is ruminating on different ways to reach environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) goals and promote sustainability for the future generation. In the case of the KMCA, we are planning to embed environmental messages in all of our events."

As of today, the K-pop industry is still at a nascent stage in pursuing eco-friendliness, with numerous K-pop fans demanding industry insiders pour more efforts into saving the earth. In December, some 10,000 K-pop followers from 83 countries called on major entertainment companies to participate in the global fight against climate change during the "Sustainable K-Entertainment" conference that took place at the National Assembly. On behalf of them, activist Lee Da-yeon from fan-driven climate action platform Kpop4Planet issued a statement, insisting that K-pop should take more responsibility in resolving global issues such as climate change, considering its worldwide influence.

"There will be no K-pop on a dead planet," Lee underlined.

K-pop industry's attempts to join the environmental movement

However, as evidenced by the case of the Gaon Chart Music Awards, some visible changes are occurring in the K-pop universe, especially in the way physical albums are being produced. In fact, K-pop albums have frequently been pointed to as major threats to the environment as they are mostly made of plastic. Hence, the news that the total sales of the 400 most popular K-pop albums hit nearly 60 million in 2021 fueled worries among a lot of people.

WINNER member Mino's third full-length album, "TO INFINITY." / Courtesy of YG Entertainment

Against this backdrop, K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment used eco-friendly paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) along with low-carbon paper to produce "TO INFINITY," the third studio album by WINNER's Mino that was released in December. It also used bean oil for printing and minimized the use of chemicals such as benzol and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to combat global warming. YG said that it would do the same for the upcoming album of its rookie group, TREASURE ― "THE SECOND STEP : CHAPTER ONE" ― which will hit shelves Feb. 15.

IST Entertainment, which houses prominent groups like Apink and The Boyz, also took a crack at tackling environmental problems by rolling out digital albums for its boy group, VICTON. The digital version of the seven-piece act's January release, "Chronograph," not only garnered positive reviews among fans across the globe, but also proposed a new method for K-pop stars to showcase their music without harming the earth.

K-pop titan BTS wore upcycled suits to the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September last year. Screenshot from RE;CODE's Instagram account

K-pop behemoth BTS has been at the forefront of the green movement as well, with the members donning upcycled suits designed by RE;CODE, an eco-friendly fashion brand run by Kolon Industries FnC, during the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year. Girl group BLACKPINK, which was tapped as a goodwill ambassador for the 26th Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021, promoted action on the climate crisis on The YouTube Originals special, "Dear Earth." Chuu of K-pop girl group LOONA has been running a YouTube channel titled, "Save the Earth, Chuu Can Do It," in cooperation with creator management agency DIA TV to encourage eco-friendly practices.

More suggestions to save the planet

But there are more issues to be tackled, according to Cedarbough Saeji, a professor of Korean and East Asian Studies at Pusan National University. She said that K-pop labels can further promote sustainability in almost all areas, from tour planning to merchandise.

"When K-pop stars have tours across the globe, their management companies can dictate terms to venues," she pointed out. "Since their artists can draw large audiences, the venues will adjust to suit their demands. Hence, they can provide water coolers to prevent fans from buying single-use bottles and retro-fit entire venues with sustainable lighting, improve heating and cooling efficiency or even buy electricity from sustainable sources like solar and wind."

Coldplay and BTS perform during the 49th Annual American Music Awards at Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, Nov. 21, 2021. Reuters-Yonhap

Although some industry insiders say that such adjustments might deteriorate the quality of concerts, Saeji does not agree, as many other artists abroad already succeeded in playing quality green concerts. In the case of British rock band Coldplay, it went climate-positive on its tours by limiting its carbon footprint. For its upcoming 2022 tour, the band will power the show by letting the audience ride electricity-generating bikes and plant a tree for every ticket sold.

Saeji added that K-pop merchandise should be improved, too.

"T-shirts or canvas bags can be made from organic cotton," she said. "And I believe non-fungible tokens (NFTs) must not become part of the K-pop industry, given that the power wasted on them has a huge environmental cost."

Having K-pop labels create an internal culture of sustainability is the key, she added.

"Having the companies announce green approaches is important because this can lead fans to believe that the industry is trying to be better and give a helping hand," she explained.

"For instance, avoiding unnecessary traveling and having meetings by zoom, creating tour plans that minimize flights, pushing for using sustainable energy and even putting solar panels on corporate buildings could be helpful. They need to show that greening the industry is an ongoing process. The most important thing is to make a vocal commitment to the environment, and then do everything they can to continually take large and small steps. If the K-pop industry acts in a unified way, they have a huge amount of leverage and can demonstrate leadership to the world. In other parts of the world, the powerful artists and companies are not so concentrated ― and so each artist has to take a stand on their own. This is a huge strength, and offers a chance for K-pop and Korea to appear as world leaders."

Echoing this sentiment, Choi of the KMCA said that the K-pop industry is well aware of its global clout and the need to join the green movement.

"Although the K-pop industry's impact on the environment is not as huge as that of other industries, such as the automobile industry, we are clearly aware of K-pop's global influence," he noted. "In fact, most record labels including HYBE, SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment are currently working hard to find out what they can do to become more eco-friendly."

But they need some time, he added.

"To transform the ways we have been working so far, we need more time. We first have to figure out who will do what, and to do this, we need specific guidelines from the government so that we can get a picture of what to do in the coming days."

To take the first step, the KMCA is planning to create a new chart on Gaon tentatively titled, the "Clean Chart," to rank K-pop albums based on their eco-friendliness.

"This kind of chart, which is rarely seen in any other parts of the world, will help us achieve our environmental goals," he said. "On top of that, we are planning to organize a range of events, such as concerts with K-pop stars to promote sustainability, using K-pop's massive power for a good cause."