(I really hope the title doesn’t sound too much like I’m trying to incite arguments)
I find that in the venn diagram of kpop fans and jpop fans, it looks more like a circle a lot of the time, but occassionally I come across people who try to pit the two against each other just for the sake of competition. Especially from the jpop side, where certain fans will say that jpop is authentic and underrated whereas kpop is artificial and manufactured. Then there’s the whole thing with people saying “kpop just copied from Japanese idol culture!” Like, which is it then?
I know there’s a lot to critcize about the kpop industry as a whole, but I always feel like it’s put under a lot of scrutiny by outsiders who don’t even try to understand the appeal nor culture. I once read someone put it into words really well: that kpop just doesn’t hide the business side to the music industry where others try to disguise artists as something that is organically formed and not something that is curated for success.
But back to the whole jpop vs kpop thing, the thing that bothers me is just I love both genres, but some fans feel like they have the right to get self-righteous over which one they prefer. It’s the whole “Oh, you like [super mainstream artist]? Talk about basic. I only ever listen to [super obscure underground artist which I’m going to gatekeep to feel like I’m better] because we need to support the underdogs, y’know?” dynamic all over again.
I guess it’s just on my mind ever since Ado’s manager made those comments about how Japan is losing to Korea in the global music market. And fans have been saying that Ado is better than any kpop artist that Korea has to offer. And I’m pretty sure most of the people saying this have never listened to any kpop song outside of whatever has been trending on tiktok. I don’t know if it’s the whole “Japanese filter” or whatever, but it feels like people will be more open to exploring Jpop as a genre, but than turn around and generalize kpop by saying all the music sounds the same.
But I’m just wondering what this sub thinks about on this topic. Am I thinking about this too seriously or has this been something you guys have thought about before as well?
submitted by /u/yellowdocmartens
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