In the west, individuality, defined as having a unique character or quality that makes a person distinguishable, is really important. This is why there are a lot of artists in the west that doesn’t have perfect vocal or rapping skills but are still popular. That is because the “imperfections” in their technique is what makes them unique and is actually part of their charm.
This is one of the factors as to why groups like BTS and Blackpink managed to breakthrough the western market. Their vocal tones are so unique that when you listen to their music you will be able to identify who is singing. Like, “oh that’s Jennie’s voice” or “Rosé is the one singing right now”. And again, the uniqueness in their voices helps increase their charisma.
I think the problem with how some idols are trained is that companies are very strict with what they deem as “perfection” that their idols end up with similar vocal tones. Oftentimes, when I’m listening to a song of a group I’m not familiar with, it’s hard for me to distinguish the parts where the one singing have changed.
What’s even awkward is that sometimes I would mistake a group for another group with how similar the idols sound. I’m not saying all idols outside of BP and BTS sound the same; I’m just saying a lot of them sounds really similar. And this makes it hard for groups to gain more fans outside of those who are already into kpop because they’ll be easily regarded as “just another kpop group”.
Another factor is the listenability of music.
Western music doesn’t really rely on visuals unlike how kpop is normally marketed which is often heavily reliant on choreography, music video and the visuals of the idols. In America, most of the time, people discover music on the radio (or random shuffle play on spotify or itunes).
The problem with kpop music, and this is most prominent in 4th and 5th gen groups, is that it’s sometimes hard to like a song in the first listen. Oftentimes one has to watch the group perform the song with the choreography before liking it.
submitted by /u/TopicLongjumping3817
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