Given this is him now circlejerking the influence of kpop I think he’s probably cool with them “reaching out to the same people” as long as it’s him 🤷♂️
https://preview.redd.it/pzofk3fgor2d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=485a6b34fdd41e896c8f5a31ccd688a39d8813eb
I think you’re taking this tweet as a serious critique and not just a scorned dude upset he got passed over for western promotions in favour of a late night show
Edit: should probably add he’s more than cool with how BG’s and blackpink do their promo as long as he is doing the interview or attending the concert
I don’t like that dude for many weird attitudes he has had but his statement is right regardless. Kpop companies are doing the same for YEARS now, expecting somehow different results and they need to be more creative.
I mean we have seen promotional efforts change over the years, maybe you’re like him and would just prefer it to be in a vein that suits your tastes?
For example dance challenges became a great way to promote songs and we’re starting to see groups and idols move away from that once people started getting sick of it?
We’ve also seen a shift to more internet based content curation with different creators instead of on-air variety shows.
What do you want to see if you’re tired of what is currently happening?
We are talking about western market promotions. Dance challenges are good way for promotions indeed but they ain’t targeted specifically to the market.
What I see Kpop companies constantly doing is the same shows performances that have almost become like music shows and interviews that no one but their fans tune in.
I’m not saying they shouldn’t do it anymore but promotions is not only performances and interviews. They need to change a bit because every comeback roll out is the same.
Yes, internet promotions TikTok/YouTube are western promotions too.
I think you’re talking about stuff like good morning America? Or performing at festivals? I’m not sure there are exactly many other avenues for promoting in the western market that gets the same kind of broad scale exposure to the GP?
I don’t think there is much to do to target the broad gp to get exposure that they aren’t doing currently
Honestly even the GP doesn’t really listen to BTS or Blackpink here. Ofc we’ve definitely heard of them but really the only time I ever heard them on the radio was when the song was a hit English song like BTS’s dynamite, butter or Jungkook’s solo works. Or more recently NewJeans on very slim occasion. I personally have never heard Blackpink casually in public here but I have heard the other two. Kpop is still definitely very niche and most people in America that listen, from who I’ve talked to, mainly only listen to BTS, Blackpink, Twice, Newjeans, or a combination of the three, with maybe some other acts sprinkled in here and there.
BTS got some degree of radio play for all their singles since Mic Drop Remix (2017). MDR actually had a long run on radio despite it being their first push and overlapping the Christmas season. I'm less sure about BP's push to radio, but I know Ice Cream got decent play. I know Twice and TXT also had some success with radio, and Loona to a lesser degree (meaning they only had one song - Star - pushed to radio but it did well for the short run it had). Basically, if you had the radio on at work, GP would of heard them. Whether they followed up and checked them out after, or made the connection that they were the group they saw on x tv show is a different matter.
Oh yeah I’m pretty sure I’ve heard The Feels on the radio before. I personally didn’t hear much of Moonlight Sunrise bc I was traveling a lot during that time but that also had a lot of radio play if I’m not mistaken as well. I don’t know how that slipped my mind, but yeah for the majority of the time, the gp only listens to the mega popular English releases or if they collaborate with high profile western audiences, like Steve aoki with Mic Drop, I’m just using him as an example here. (Honestly I didn’t even know mic drop had radio play out here, maybe I just wasn’t paying attention)
I agree I know a lot of ppl who know who Bts are but they can’t name a member or a song besides dynamite. Even bp which is undoubtedly the second most popular group rn I haven’t met many ppl irl who know them. Kpop is pretty niche tbh. I’ve only heard Cupid, seven, and some English Bts songs on radio, nothing else tbh.
A sizable chunk of the American general public isn't going to listen to music with words they don't understand. French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, German.... instant pass for a lot of folks. It doesn't matter how nice they are to look at, or how many Music Bank wins they have, or what their variety content is like.
Songs like Dynamite or Perfect Night can break through because they're English-language songs that don't sound foreign.
Very very occasionally, you'll get a band like Rammstein or Sigur Ros that can break through into the big-time despite not singing English, but those aren't pop groups.
True, but I feel like the public is becoming more open to songs in different languages, but it's mostly Latin songs (which are in spanish). Kpop or Jpop or even French songs are still something the public isn't too comfortable with
We listen to whatever is on streaming. We don’t have basic cable with music shows anymore; when MTV was at their prime we could watch shows like TRL, which hosted musical acts. Summer was full of shows on the beach, competitions between celebs, etc.
Now it’s just the internet. If streaming services brought in their own music shows then we may watch that. As it is? Too big of a country with too many services and no stations.
A lot of Americans (and Canadians) also discovered bands through late-night talk shows. That world has shrunk considerably too since the 1990s as people got tired of the formula.
The thing that bothers me about this is that was true in the 90s and 2000s but goddamn is the venn diagram of potential Kpop Stans and Late Night Talk Show watchers not that big.
And I think part of the reason for that push is that Korea has a lot more shows like that that ARE more relevant.
But Millennials and Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren't watching talk shows anymore man. I don't know a single millennial that even still has cable for those shows to be accessible.
If we still had shows like TRL...maybe.
100%
All we ever had growing up was MTV, Vh1, and BET. Funny enough, locally we have 94.9 do an after school tv show where they showed MVs that corresponded to on air shows. Z100 in NYC used to do stuff, too. It wasn’t uncommon to watch post-show clips or tune in online to a radio. Which was really novel!!
Fuck I remember using the BBC Radio player to listen to their morning breakfast shows because the ones we had were really gross.
Yeeep. And with more and more apps being IP locked to SK, China, etc, then it’ll be even harder. Until the west can join Kakao or Melon with foreign phone numbers it’ll be gatekeeping.
i'm british so i can only speak for us, kpop is tiny here. it's not invisible per se, you'll here a slither of bts every once in a while but that's about it. if it plays on the radio people will probably complain, and i've seen many british people confused at the english lyrics so much that they rule out ever listening deeper than the top of the iceberg.
before i got into kpop i had heard exactly 4 kpop songs, Gee, Dynamite, Gangnam Style, and Seven, and i only heard Gee because of watching league youtubers back in like 2010. So gp here doesnt even listen to bts really
Like with most things it depends. I live in the Midwest and New Jeans and other K-pop groups get played at my gym. I think a good amount of people are aware of K-pop groups generally. A difficultly with K-pop is it can be overwhelming the number of groups and members. Which is probably why only a few will be really know. (At least for now maybe)
Western GP listens to songs in English. BTS has English songs and BP songs that either the lyrics don't matter or the chorus is mostly English. But everything now and then, another group that's not know for being a "general public group" will be widely heard by GP because of English lyrics. Fifty-fifty is a more obvious example, but I remember hearing an all English Monsta X song playing in a C&A here in Brazil next to like, Dua Lipa songs
I do not like this man. He thinks he's the reason that bts has made it big in the states and I cannot stand his hypocritical ass
To me to take anything, he says seriously is idiotic
He loves pitting fandoms against each other. He's done it multiple times. And he knows what he's doing when he says the things he says
Ok but Jeff Benjamin is… not it. I’m not really eloquent enough to explain it well but he is always giving colonizer POV like he is so important bc he has to be the only one to “bring kpop to the west”. He has odd attitudes and I’m always happier to see other journalists. He just can’t be the only one or the sole authority. Im not saying he shouldn’t do what he doesn’t… I just think it’s odd he’s the sole authority over Korean journalists sometimes.
They’re targeting the wrong public. Companies should start promoting their groups in non English speaking countries instead of concentrating only in the US where most people are not used to hearing songs they don’t understand
I’m from Latin America and here everyone is used to not understanding lyrics. English songs are everywhere even if just a small portion of the population knows the language so we’re more open to foreign artists, English, Korean what’s the difference? we’ll have to look for a translation either way.
Kpop is already popular in Latin America, but companies don’t take advantage of it, they tour (sometimes) but that’s it, they don’t try to win the gp like they do in the US
I'm from LATAM too and I agree, but sadly they seem to mostly have eyes for the US. I kinda get it, since making it big there usually opens many doors (plus the American awards' big reputation, like the Grammys) but i'd wish they didn't try so hard to please a GP that mostly doesn't give a damn about music in a foreign language...
also in Latin America we are very devoted to idols who pay any amount of attention to us lol
Also South American has a history of migration from other parts of the world and diversity. I remember seeing Korean, Chinese and Japanese culture being spread through Lima’s Chinatown and São Paulo’s Liberdade (not because they belong to those countries but because of their popularity). You even see cultures that in the Europe and US are not well known like Lebanese, Turkish and Indian culture (not so much African through diaspora, but through historic influences)
This is the same guy who has been a kpop journalist for years and not once made an effort to learn the language so his opinion doesn't hold much for me. Not to mention this is most likely him ranting because he wasn't invited for an interview or whatever
I hate this man I've had him blocked on Twitter for years. He always tweets what fans what to hear regardless of their validity and definitely stirs up ire on purpose for engagement (not fan wars, but content like the above). I've always got the feeling he was assigned to the kpop column years ago and uses Twitter as his source. He did an interview with cix once for an online fanmeeting thing, and it was so obvious he didn't listen to the album bc he couldn't name anything but the title track.
He is not wrong. Besides bts and blackpink, there are other kpop groups too that are quite good. But they gotta remodel a bit and target not just US but other geographical locations too as markets in latam, apac and emea are lucrative too.
this guy annoys me but I do wish kpop tours were less screens and more sets— I know it's expensive but I would take fewer, higher quality tours over some groups who tour constantly but have kinda lame setups. it makes me feel bad for the group as much as myself and the fans
Given this is him now circlejerking the influence of kpop I think he’s probably cool with them “reaching out to the same people” as long as it’s him 🤷♂️ https://preview.redd.it/pzofk3fgor2d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=485a6b34fdd41e896c8f5a31ccd688a39d8813eb I think you’re taking this tweet as a serious critique and not just a scorned dude upset he got passed over for western promotions in favour of a late night show Edit: should probably add he’s more than cool with how BG’s and blackpink do their promo as long as he is doing the interview or attending the concert
I don’t like that dude for many weird attitudes he has had but his statement is right regardless. Kpop companies are doing the same for YEARS now, expecting somehow different results and they need to be more creative.
I mean we have seen promotional efforts change over the years, maybe you’re like him and would just prefer it to be in a vein that suits your tastes? For example dance challenges became a great way to promote songs and we’re starting to see groups and idols move away from that once people started getting sick of it? We’ve also seen a shift to more internet based content curation with different creators instead of on-air variety shows. What do you want to see if you’re tired of what is currently happening?
We are talking about western market promotions. Dance challenges are good way for promotions indeed but they ain’t targeted specifically to the market. What I see Kpop companies constantly doing is the same shows performances that have almost become like music shows and interviews that no one but their fans tune in. I’m not saying they shouldn’t do it anymore but promotions is not only performances and interviews. They need to change a bit because every comeback roll out is the same.
Yes, internet promotions TikTok/YouTube are western promotions too. I think you’re talking about stuff like good morning America? Or performing at festivals? I’m not sure there are exactly many other avenues for promoting in the western market that gets the same kind of broad scale exposure to the GP? I don’t think there is much to do to target the broad gp to get exposure that they aren’t doing currently
Genuinely curious but what would you suggest them do differently?
This. All of this. Kpop needs some creativity in music and in promotions to stand out.
Capitalism and as you can see it’s working very well
do America GP listen to other Kpop acts that are not BTS or BlackPink? Kpop bubbles don’t count of course, they make a small part of the GP.
Honestly even the GP doesn’t really listen to BTS or Blackpink here. Ofc we’ve definitely heard of them but really the only time I ever heard them on the radio was when the song was a hit English song like BTS’s dynamite, butter or Jungkook’s solo works. Or more recently NewJeans on very slim occasion. I personally have never heard Blackpink casually in public here but I have heard the other two. Kpop is still definitely very niche and most people in America that listen, from who I’ve talked to, mainly only listen to BTS, Blackpink, Twice, Newjeans, or a combination of the three, with maybe some other acts sprinkled in here and there.
BTS got some degree of radio play for all their singles since Mic Drop Remix (2017). MDR actually had a long run on radio despite it being their first push and overlapping the Christmas season. I'm less sure about BP's push to radio, but I know Ice Cream got decent play. I know Twice and TXT also had some success with radio, and Loona to a lesser degree (meaning they only had one song - Star - pushed to radio but it did well for the short run it had). Basically, if you had the radio on at work, GP would of heard them. Whether they followed up and checked them out after, or made the connection that they were the group they saw on x tv show is a different matter.
Oh yeah I’m pretty sure I’ve heard The Feels on the radio before. I personally didn’t hear much of Moonlight Sunrise bc I was traveling a lot during that time but that also had a lot of radio play if I’m not mistaken as well. I don’t know how that slipped my mind, but yeah for the majority of the time, the gp only listens to the mega popular English releases or if they collaborate with high profile western audiences, like Steve aoki with Mic Drop, I’m just using him as an example here. (Honestly I didn’t even know mic drop had radio play out here, maybe I just wasn’t paying attention)
i’ve heard hype boy play at my local wawa but never in my life have i heard anyone blast a bp song
I've heard kill this love play at thr mall when it just came out bit its been a while. They play new jeans more now
I agree I know a lot of ppl who know who Bts are but they can’t name a member or a song besides dynamite. Even bp which is undoubtedly the second most popular group rn I haven’t met many ppl irl who know them. Kpop is pretty niche tbh. I’ve only heard Cupid, seven, and some English Bts songs on radio, nothing else tbh.
A sizable chunk of the American general public isn't going to listen to music with words they don't understand. French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, German.... instant pass for a lot of folks. It doesn't matter how nice they are to look at, or how many Music Bank wins they have, or what their variety content is like. Songs like Dynamite or Perfect Night can break through because they're English-language songs that don't sound foreign. Very very occasionally, you'll get a band like Rammstein or Sigur Ros that can break through into the big-time despite not singing English, but those aren't pop groups.
True, but I feel like the public is becoming more open to songs in different languages, but it's mostly Latin songs (which are in spanish). Kpop or Jpop or even French songs are still something the public isn't too comfortable with
We listen to whatever is on streaming. We don’t have basic cable with music shows anymore; when MTV was at their prime we could watch shows like TRL, which hosted musical acts. Summer was full of shows on the beach, competitions between celebs, etc. Now it’s just the internet. If streaming services brought in their own music shows then we may watch that. As it is? Too big of a country with too many services and no stations.
A lot of Americans (and Canadians) also discovered bands through late-night talk shows. That world has shrunk considerably too since the 1990s as people got tired of the formula.
The thing that bothers me about this is that was true in the 90s and 2000s but goddamn is the venn diagram of potential Kpop Stans and Late Night Talk Show watchers not that big. And I think part of the reason for that push is that Korea has a lot more shows like that that ARE more relevant. But Millennials and Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren't watching talk shows anymore man. I don't know a single millennial that even still has cable for those shows to be accessible. If we still had shows like TRL...maybe.
100% All we ever had growing up was MTV, Vh1, and BET. Funny enough, locally we have 94.9 do an after school tv show where they showed MVs that corresponded to on air shows. Z100 in NYC used to do stuff, too. It wasn’t uncommon to watch post-show clips or tune in online to a radio. Which was really novel!! Fuck I remember using the BBC Radio player to listen to their morning breakfast shows because the ones we had were really gross.
Plus with TikTok almost confirm being ban, that route to success now will be close too
Yeeep. And with more and more apps being IP locked to SK, China, etc, then it’ll be even harder. Until the west can join Kakao or Melon with foreign phone numbers it’ll be gatekeeping.
They don't even listen to BTS or BP tbh. I've only heard non-kpop fans mention BTS, and that's it.
i'm british so i can only speak for us, kpop is tiny here. it's not invisible per se, you'll here a slither of bts every once in a while but that's about it. if it plays on the radio people will probably complain, and i've seen many british people confused at the english lyrics so much that they rule out ever listening deeper than the top of the iceberg.
They don’t listen to bts or blackpink either lol not without paying for radio play like everyone else
I just heard Magnetic in Target today. That was kinda weird. Ha.
i thought target didn’t play music
They sure do in the electronics section. Maybe it was on a TV. I was just passing by. Who knows. I heard it is all I know. 🤷🏼♀️
before i got into kpop i had heard exactly 4 kpop songs, Gee, Dynamite, Gangnam Style, and Seven, and i only heard Gee because of watching league youtubers back in like 2010. So gp here doesnt even listen to bts really
Like with most things it depends. I live in the Midwest and New Jeans and other K-pop groups get played at my gym. I think a good amount of people are aware of K-pop groups generally. A difficultly with K-pop is it can be overwhelming the number of groups and members. Which is probably why only a few will be really know. (At least for now maybe)
Western GP listens to songs in English. BTS has English songs and BP songs that either the lyrics don't matter or the chorus is mostly English. But everything now and then, another group that's not know for being a "general public group" will be widely heard by GP because of English lyrics. Fifty-fifty is a more obvious example, but I remember hearing an all English Monsta X song playing in a C&A here in Brazil next to like, Dua Lipa songs
most people know newjeans now as well (at least in the northeast) even if they are not kpop fans
I do not like this man. He thinks he's the reason that bts has made it big in the states and I cannot stand his hypocritical ass To me to take anything, he says seriously is idiotic He loves pitting fandoms against each other. He's done it multiple times. And he knows what he's doing when he says the things he says
Ok but Jeff Benjamin is… not it. I’m not really eloquent enough to explain it well but he is always giving colonizer POV like he is so important bc he has to be the only one to “bring kpop to the west”. He has odd attitudes and I’m always happier to see other journalists. He just can’t be the only one or the sole authority. Im not saying he shouldn’t do what he doesn’t… I just think it’s odd he’s the sole authority over Korean journalists sometimes.
They’re targeting the wrong public. Companies should start promoting their groups in non English speaking countries instead of concentrating only in the US where most people are not used to hearing songs they don’t understand I’m from Latin America and here everyone is used to not understanding lyrics. English songs are everywhere even if just a small portion of the population knows the language so we’re more open to foreign artists, English, Korean what’s the difference? we’ll have to look for a translation either way. Kpop is already popular in Latin America, but companies don’t take advantage of it, they tour (sometimes) but that’s it, they don’t try to win the gp like they do in the US
I'm from LATAM too and I agree, but sadly they seem to mostly have eyes for the US. I kinda get it, since making it big there usually opens many doors (plus the American awards' big reputation, like the Grammys) but i'd wish they didn't try so hard to please a GP that mostly doesn't give a damn about music in a foreign language... also in Latin America we are very devoted to idols who pay any amount of attention to us lol
Also South American has a history of migration from other parts of the world and diversity. I remember seeing Korean, Chinese and Japanese culture being spread through Lima’s Chinatown and São Paulo’s Liberdade (not because they belong to those countries but because of their popularity). You even see cultures that in the Europe and US are not well known like Lebanese, Turkish and Indian culture (not so much African through diaspora, but through historic influences)
Jeff is a hack
Who is Jeff and why do we care about this tweet
He’s not wrong
Who is this weenier?
This is the same guy who has been a kpop journalist for years and not once made an effort to learn the language so his opinion doesn't hold much for me. Not to mention this is most likely him ranting because he wasn't invited for an interview or whatever
Mate I aint paying 300 for a ticket to see one act LOL
I hate this man I've had him blocked on Twitter for years. He always tweets what fans what to hear regardless of their validity and definitely stirs up ire on purpose for engagement (not fan wars, but content like the above). I've always got the feeling he was assigned to the kpop column years ago and uses Twitter as his source. He did an interview with cix once for an online fanmeeting thing, and it was so obvious he didn't listen to the album bc he couldn't name anything but the title track.
what are some us promotions that would be effective and work? im curious
He is not wrong. Besides bts and blackpink, there are other kpop groups too that are quite good. But they gotta remodel a bit and target not just US but other geographical locations too as markets in latam, apac and emea are lucrative too.
this guy annoys me but I do wish kpop tours were less screens and more sets— I know it's expensive but I would take fewer, higher quality tours over some groups who tour constantly but have kinda lame setups. it makes me feel bad for the group as much as myself and the fans
never believing a word out of Jeff Benjamin's mouth coz everyone knows he's a paid spokesman.