Following the wild success of “Gangnam Style,” Korean artists received a sample of how the western hemisphere would react to their music. After the “Gangnam Style” era passed, no other Korean pop music has had the same success. Unfortunately, this occurs in the West because radios do not dedicate airplay to these songs. Despite collaborating with other popular American artists, these Korean artists are still struggling to be featured on American radio stations.
Overseas artists from all over the world dream of collaborating with Western artists to further expand their work and hopefully reach a new audience. Recently, South Korean boy group BTS collaborated with American DJ Steve Aoki for the song “Waste It on Me,” which is their second collab song since the “MIC Drop” remix, which featured the rapper Desiigner. “MIC Drop” was also used as an entrance song of a Lakers game, but only the instrumental version was played. This song was essentially used as a cash grab andwas not played for the enjoyment of the listeners or BTS fans, but merely for the money.
Take the Grammy Awards as an example, which aired on Feb. 10. BTS was present, but did not perform any of their songs. Even though BTS was happy to be in attendance, this made me feel that they were merely there to increase views and advertisements for the awards show.
If the Grammys wanted to increase the views, then they should allow BTS to perform some of their songs so BTS gets exposure and the Grammys get more views.
BTS is well known for having an expansive fan base, who call themselves ARMY, which consists of more than 10 million fans. ARMY is well known for the large volume of song and music video streams. For example, the “IDOL” music video reached 45 million views in under 24 hours. With this being said, BTS is a target for most Western artists to chase after so they can reach the large number of fans in the ARMY fan base, and use their fans for views and streams.
Aside from BTS, Dua Lipa also released a collab song with South Korean girl group BLACKPINK on the song “Kiss and Make Up.” The song only reached number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100, showing that only Lipa’s and BLACKPINK’s fans knew about the collaboration. As an avid listener of Korean pop music, I felt that this song would perform well in both the U.S. and South Korea, but was let down when I saw the charts. If Lipa were to feature BLACKPINK on a song, the least she could do is allow BLACKPINK to open her tour stop in the U.S. That way, BLACKPINK would perform their songs, giving them more exposure.
Radio stations usually play songs in English and most recently, Spanish. For example, the “Despacito” remix by Luis Fonsi which featured Justin Bieber, reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. If radio stations can play songs from Spanish artists, then there shouldn’t be a problem with playing music from Asia. Nearly every artist puts in the same amount of effort into their music, so why aren’t Asian artists receiving the same recognition?
Radios nowadays play the same seven songs in a continuous loop, even when I switch stations. I want the radios to expand their horizons to overseas artists, shedding some spotlight on these artists and letting them spread their music to the western world.
If radios are seeking revenue, then playing new music from these overseas artists can not only increase their audience, but also their revenue. Moreover, the artists get new fans and make more money, making it a win-win situation for everyone.
