The International Music Industry Is Coming In Hot
Although I have barely listened to K-pop, I don’t think I or anybody can deny its quick rise to fame in the United States. The popularity of groups like BTS and iKon mirrors that of Backstreet Boys, One Direction, or N-Synch, just a bunch of good-looking guys that can make really damn catchy music. But the thing that separates groups like BTS and iKon from the rest of those boy bands, is that they are from a completely different nation and a completely different culture. In fact, most of the words these guys are saying are in a language most Americans don’t even understand. So how did this even happen? Well, to answer that question, you need to understand a couple of things.
Different Culture
America is unique, we have our own movie, music, fashion, and tv industries that dominate not only domestically, but internationally too. But it's because our lives are so dominated by our own culture, that we’ve blinded ourselves from the so many different nations in our world, and the plethora of cultures that come with them.
In all honesty, there has been a foreign market in the US for music for some time now, the very predominant Latino front has been growing constantly in America, hitting its peak with Despacito, which unsurprisingly skyrocketed even higher after including the American (Canadian) icon Justin Bieber. But besides that, Latino music has truly been rising in popularity recently in America. But one of the greatest examples would be 99 Luftballons from Germany. This song was basically gibberish to Americans, yet the sound it produced managed to cross the cultural barrier and hit most Americans' radios for years. In the same sense, Gangnam Style managed to literally rock the world. And once more, people barely understood anything the song said, yet the sound made everyone just dance.
The thing that blocks us from fully experiencing these almost otherworldly songs is nothing more than our seclusionary culture. “American-made” is something everyone hears, and it's seemingly what we all pursue subconsciously. The reason k-pop and other major national music industries are making it to the US are very calculated reasons. K-pop has attractive guys and girls, Latino music’s rise coincides with the increase in Latin-Americans in the US just like country music’s popularity out in the country, where farmers are the majority. When another nation’s music becomes seemingly more familiar, whether it be through attraction or consensus of those around you, we all realize just how good it is.
Perfection In Sound
One key thing that I have come to realize in music is that the beat, the highs and lows, and the instruments woven together can produce things that bring tears to your eyes. They can remind you of an emotional scene at a movie, like hearing That’s Life and thinking of Joker. But in all music, there is an understanding of how good music is created, it challenges what we have heard before, like stringing notes in a new way and introducing an instrument that gives a happy track, a somber undertone. At the core of all modern music is orchestral arrangements. My favorite place to appreciate music from all different cultures is in the OSTs of different shows and movies (original soundtrack). This allows throws away lyrics and removes any barriers that may have been put up by the language barrier.
Emotion is universal, and music is merely an expression of emotion, it can be a character's declaration of love, a person’s peaceful death, or even a realization that breaks a person down to their core. Music has this ability to change our perception of events not only in movies but in real life too. Have some Eminem or Kanye blasting as you walk down the street, all of a sudden you will feel more powerful, like this is your moment. But if you walk down that same street, with some somber Bruno Mars playing, you may calm yourself, taking in the scenery and those around you. The emotions you feel from these artists' music are what orchestral pieces do, but without the words, and only the feeling of sound.
Sound is why international artists have succeeded in America recently, as long as something sounds catchy, it will catch on. If people dance to it on Tik Tok, it will spread, if someone tells their friends about it, it will spread, just as long as it sounds like it is telling a story like it is giving you an experience you have never heard before, it will spread. Gangnam Style and Despacito both brought flavors of their culture that the US had never seen, Gangnam Style being an over-the-top crazy ride, and Despacito just being catchy music with lyrics that compliment it.
Feeling The Music
Here’s the most important part about all of this. Finding an artist or band that transcends those cultural barriers for you. In my case, it took me a while to get acclimated to music in a different language, but thanks to spotify’s similar artists feature I eventually branched out. Some of my favorites right now include The Peggies and Takayan. These are musical geniuses that I never would have found if I didn't take a leap of faith out of what was culturally appropriate and I can proudly say that both these artists have many songs on my playlists.
For you, finding international music may be a different experience. Maybe you heard a Latino song on the radio and found the band on Apple Music, or perhaps you decided to follow up and find that German song your friend played in the car. No matter the reason, the first step is always going to be finding the music. All of it exists, the music industry is not solely something of American creation, we are merely an amalgamation of many different musical cultures and happened to come out on top.
So, my advice is to start looking up the biggest stars of other nations, and to ignore the fact you can’t understand a word they are even saying, just take it all in. It’s possible that some industries will be completely different than others, I know for a fact that the Japanese industry is a lot more like our own than something like India’s will ever be, but just pause and allow yourself to hear what is being produced. People nowadays claim that someone like Tyler the Creator or Kanye West are some of the greatest producers ever, but I challenge them to listen to the artists of the world first, and then make their judgement.
There’s infinite possibility out there, it’s just a matter of if we take hold of it or not, because the world never looks the same once you realize how many people are truly in it.
Thanks,
Josh Whittington
(This is my first time trying to branch out so forgive the sloppiness of this article)
