Product Design in KPOP from A Product Manager's Perspective
What is the reason behind KPOP's popularity
K-Pop, Sweeping The World?
'BTS / Black Pink / Twice / ITZY / Stray Kids / (G)I-DLE…' As a Gen Z smartphone user, it's difficult to ignore the popularity of K-pop. In the past five years, the K-pop group has achieved good results overseas and is making great strides toward the mainstream markets in Europe and America. According to the Yonhap News Agency, the Korea Customs Service (Customs) released import and export statistics on Thursday; the export of Korean recorded music in 2022 reached 233.13 million dollars, up 5.6 percent yearly.
Today, the rise of global streaming platforms and the logic of large-scale industrial production have propelled South Korea's pop music industry to become the world's sixth-largest music exporter.
What factors contributed to K-pop's rapid and massive success in today's music industry? Some believe that the South Korean government's cultural overseas policy or the growing sense of Asian self-identity attributed to the rise of KPOP. As someone who works as a product manager, I have some intriguing perspectives on the product design of KPOP. Whether it is a car or a mobile phone software, there are three critical parts of a product's life cycle management:
- Requirement: what is your aim customer want
- Production: provide sustainable goods to our target customers
- Go to the market and evaluate whether your product meets the requirement.
I noticed that K-pop excels in all the aspects mentioned, which helps it in crossing borders smoothly without language barriers.
Provide more than music.
Becoming a K-pop fan involves more than just listening to music. It's a phenomenon that many scholars have noticed. K-Pop has two main features: Visual and Physical. People who were once casual music listeners are now captivated by the intricate dance routines and visually stunning props in K-pop music videos. K-pop is known for its exceptional design, whether it's in album covers, lyrics, or music videos. The level of creativity and attention to detail is consistently impressive. You can find numerous exceptional designers employed by K-pop record labels on Behance.
Furthermore, K-pop is intimately connected to the body, with simple yet memorable choreography that has sparked many dance challenges on social media platforms like TIK-TOK. K-pop is not just about listening to music but also a social behavior that involves expressing emotions through the body. K-pop is physical!
Even if you do not understand Korean, K-pop's beautiful visuals and body language transcend borders, explaining its popularity overseas.
“3A” in R&D (Research and development)
The video gaming industry uses "AAA Games" to describe high-budget, high-profile games typically produced and distributed by large, well-known publishers. "AAA" stands for "a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of resources." The product strategy of KPOP is similar to that of 3A games, as a high investment often corresponds to high returns.
KPOP's high investment is reflected in various aspects, particularly in the production of music videos. KPOP artists often use large-scale studio shooting of live-action sets and many CG shots, which are pretty expensive. The record planning budget of the top KPOP companies is even higher than that of many well-known American artists.
Apart from the significant investment in production, there is also a considerable investment in talent. Becoming a KPOP artist takes years of rigorous training, which may involve plastic surgery. This is the well-known trainee system in KPOP, which has been criticized for exploiting underage teenagers. But it is undeniable that the long-term vocal and dance training has enabled KPOP artists to display excellent stability and expressiveness in their works.
Rapid iteration and adjustment
K-Pop employs a unique product strategy known as Trilogy to help mitigate the risks of high investments in the go-to-market stage while still achieving high returns.
While American artists are viewed as hardworking if they release an album every two years, K-Pop groups often release new albums twice a year. In contrast to the mature record industry in America, K-Pop releases mini albums with 4–5 songs more commonly. Due to the intense competition in the pop music industry, there is a constant demand for fresh visual content. Therefore, Releasing as mini albums is the best choice for K-Pop.
A mini album, an EP in the hip-hop industry, is the top pick for a music release. While the album's length may not fully capture the artist's creative vision, it is acceptable to approach the same theme multiple times. This can be achieved through a trilogy of records with interconnected themes but distinct visuals, allowing consumers to form a consistent yet refreshing impression of the artist's image. Ultimately, repeating the theme three times is a crucial step in this process. Repeating three times is just stepping on the human tired line — once more will make consumers feel aesthetically fatigued.
One significant benefit of the "Trilogy" is its ability to adapt quickly to market response while balancing quality and production schedules. For example, if the first album in the trilogy doesn't resonate with audiences as expected, record companies can pivot and adjust the theme for subsequent releases. Conversely, if the idea gains popularity, they can invest more resources into the remaining installments. This approach mirrors the MVP strategy utilized by internet tech companies, which emphasizes rapid deployment and optimization based on feedback. It's a proven, effective method and increasingly more K-Pop groups are using it to express a cohesive artistic vision across multiple releases.
From business to culture, the reason behind KPOP's popularity is complicated. As a KPOP fan and product manager, I tried to analyze the excellent product strategy of KPOP from the three dimensions of Requirement, Production, and Go-to-Market. Thank you for taking the time to read through this analysis. I value your feedback and would greatly appreciate your thoughts on this topic. Please feel free to share your insights in the comments section below.
