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Music has always been a powerful tool for societal issues. The European classical music that still lives together born from the religious Christian melodies, and hymns sang in the churches. Even in the ancient times, the music not only served for entertainment of the people, but also was used for religious purposes. In the 21st century, music is still able to move people, and also can be used for influencing them. In the South Korean example, we do not see religious patterns, or strong messages, but Korean Pop (K-Pop) industry has become very influential in the last decades.
In the 20th century, with the globalization, the “dominant” culture has been under American influence for long years. American actors and actresses, film sector of Hollywood, famous pop-jazz singers, the music and film awards such as Oscars and MTV Awards has always been talked and worked for the United State (US) worldwide. However, we can see that this situation is started to change. Especially in the music sector, the influence of K-Pop groups has pretty affected the audience over the world, especially the younger people. The number of K-Pop listeners and fans increased as well. In the political sense, we can see that South Korea is benefitting the power of K-Pop.
K-pop is a global soft power manifestation powered by Hallyu, the “Korean wave,” which has sought to increase influence since the late 1990s. K-pop is part of a larger Korean reorganization of the arts and entertainment sectors in order to more clearly project cultural dominance. In 2020, K-Pop Group BTS topped the Billboard Hot 100, while K-pop girl groups Blackpink (eighth) and Twice made their debut appearance on the Billboard Global 100.
DFSB Kollective is a Seoul-based artists and label services firm that helps 600 Korean pop music artists with digital media, marketing, and distribution. Since 2009, the agency has produced numerous K-pop concerts and showcases in North America, Asia, and Europe, as well as securing number-one digital music chart debuts for various K-pop albums in the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, Australasia, and Europe – in short, the entire world.
Government funding for the creative industries in South Korea extends back to the early 1990s. The South Korean government established the basis by encouraging corporate investment and vertical integration in the film industry, as well as gradually reducing barriers such as screen limits for foreign films. This meant giving South Korean creatives a secure financial foundation while simultaneously motivating them to develop and compete with their overseas competitors.
The power of attraction as a form of persuasion is what soft power is all about. It is a non-military method of coercion. True soft power is all-encompassing; it promotes cultural absorption and adaptability. It may be good, giving a necessary counter-narrative at a time when racism and violence against persons of Asian heritage are on the rise throughout the world as a result of COVID-19 worries.