According to Breuker, K-pop is the export product of South Korea. BTS is the biggest K-pop band both in South Korea and abroad. The pop group consists of seven members, all good in terms of turnover, history and merchandising. Together, but also separately, they sell a lot.
“The concept was conceived and built from start to finish”
“If we look at revenue from music sales, South Korea earned $1.7 billion from K-pop this year. However, it doesn’t matter how much South Korea’s largest companies earn. It is estimated to be up to 25 percent of foreign sales’, says Breuker.
Preconceived concept
BTS didn’t just happen. ‘The concept was conceived and set up from start to finish. Exactly the right people have been contacted. Also, the characters of the band members were first put on paper. Only then did the boys join the team,’ says Breuker.
BTS was created through good marketing, but the phenomenon doesn’t actually occur outside of South Korea. Indonesia and Thailand are also working on it, but not on this scale and not as successful as Korea has. South. According to Breuker, it takes a long time to create a pop group like this. ‘You really have to invest well. The South Korean government did. The infrastructure is there to do this, but of course it’s not available in all countries,’ says Breuker.
Army
Two members of the pop group are in the military, because men are forced to do so in South Korea. “BTS were so popular that it seemed like a law was on the way that would relieve them of that obligation,” says Breuker. The pop group themselves said no, meaning there won’t be any performances for a while.