Why We Celebrate BTS In e Music Industry

W W H H Y Y

WE CELEBRATE BTS IN THE US MUSIC INDUSTRY

Written By Alapadma | Edited by Mheer | Checked by Aury | Designed by Kels

On June 2, 2018, the Billboard 200 album chart updated with a Koreanlanguage album at #1, the rst in history to achieve this feat. at album was BTS’ Love Yourself: Tear – the group’s third full-length Korean album and second in their “Love Yourself” series. e achievement at #1 brought a wave of celebration across the globe, including a congratulatory message from the president of South Korea himself. Love Yourself: Tear had become a symbol of global accomplishment. It portrayed an unprecedented moment for a Korean artist and sent a signal that BTS was a dominant force in the music industry.

BTS has since preserved its industry dominance. Within less than a year, they followed up their rst Billboard 200 #1 album with two more: Love Yourself: Answer in August 2018 and Map of the Soul: Persona in April 2019. In February 2020, a fourth album hit the top of the Billboard 200 chart, Map of the Soul: 7. at album also gave BTS their rst top 5 Hot 100 placement with “ON,” which proved to be only a taste of the incredulous result that would soon follow: #1 hit on the Hot 100 with “Dynamite.”

But why are such achievements so grandly celebrated? Why was it a US #1 that sent a signal to the world? Since when did the “global music industry” become synonymous with the “US music industry?”

American music has been a signi cant driving force in creating global popular cultural trends, particularly through the growth of the MTV which propelled American music videos into households across the world. International

borders no longer served as barricades that prevented music from entering new regions and engaging with new audiences. And due to the American economic strength, cultural imperialism, and colonialism, America became the center for popular music.

But today, this story seems rather outdated – there is no doubt that America still remains a force of economic and cultural imperialism that continues to impact forces around the world; however, the geographic and cultural borders that were bypassed through television are even more nonexistent with the advent of the internet. e internet inspired a form of cultural exchange and distribution that was hardly even imaginable – it removed any intermediate steps required for transnational exchange and only presented inputs and outputs. is system was perfect for the music industry. Songs could be downloaded, burned on a CD, and distributed to whoever wished to listen. Soon, music became the product at the end, the output, that was then transported across the world in just minutes after its creation. at, too, for no cost. ere was a lucrative business hidden within this digital distribution of music, and companies began to take notice. One of the rst companies to revolutionize music distribution was the American tech giant, Apple. In 2003, Apple launched their music purchasing store known as iTunes and changed the music business forever. iTunes added a condition of legality to digital music downloads – while any song could be downloaded for free and illegally distributed, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was determined to change that culture. He believed that if the product was better, if the platform for music distribution was better, then people would be willing to pay for something that they could easily access for free. Job’s vision proved to be a success. With iTunes, music suddenly had a pro table global reach, one in which an American company was able to pro t o of the music downloads of someone in another country.

America’s dominance in global music stems from this ability to make money o of music. Physical album sales had always been a large industry, but the digital

age

Image Courtesy of BTS Facebook

presented a new opportunity for nancial gain – however, it did require innovation that companies like Apple managed to provide. ere are multiple forces at play in the growth of the US music industry, along with the ebb and ow of the US economy as a whole, but the impacts of this initial digital music stronghold remain today. According to IFPI, the US remains the most pro table music market in the world, followed by Japan, the UK, Germany, France, and South Korea. Consequently, the global music market continues to be led by the US. And this control extends far beyond economics.

e connection between nancial control and cultural control lies in the distribution process. ose countries with the strongest economies will likely have the largest and most pro table streaming platforms – streaming platforms that, for the most part, are able to control what music gets distributed and how it is distributed. e most pro table industries have the most potential in determining what music is presented to the world. What America is able to input into its streaming platforms will essentially become the outputs to all areas of the world that use those platforms. Hence, cultural and economic forces have convened to create a global music market centered on the United States.

Not only does this allow American music to be distributed the most, but it creates a path for artistic recognition. e Billboard charts, Grammys, American Music Awards, all exist in part due to a system that is rooted in numbers. Ranking is inherent on iTunes and virtually all streaming services, and presence on the platforms depends on “input power” – power from label, country, or industry.

erefore, achieving a number one position on a Billboard chart, or winning a Grammy award, or making any substantial American industry-based achievements is an

e stakes of succeeding in the US are high.

expression of both economic and cultural dominance. It gives artists the power of global in uence. But for non-Western artists, their US music achievements displace America’s dominant stronghold on global music – they allow an outsider to control the “inputs,” presenting their music and culture through the same omnipresent, widely used music distribution channels created for American artists. A nonWestern artist at the top of the US industry leads to a complete remodeling of popular music as we know it.

Such remodeling is driven overwhelmingly by fandoms. Fandom manifests itself in many ways in the industry, but one outlet in particular that has allowed the public to contribute directly has been YouTube, another US company that managed to capitalize on the digital music market. YouTube has achieved a global presence akin to hardly any other company in today’s day and age. It transformed from a simple video sharing, social media platform to a legitimate music-streaming space, one that has an added bene t of visual content. But most importantly, YouTube allowed any artist to post whatever music video they wished for the world to see. While these rules have become more regulated and less inclusive over the years, the foundation of YouTube helped add a cultural exchange to music that, although not nancially bene cial, created exposure for artists from countries that did not have as much economic control as the United States. Today, this structural shift, this remodeling, is felt throughout the global industry. e American industry today has a new sound – one that is rooted in South Korea. BTS’ dominance in America has shifted the understanding of what popular music is, and in doing so, they have displaced some of the power that the US music industry had. BTS has not only brought the Korean language and culture to America, they have also diverted signi cant in uence, economic power, and attention from America back to South Korea. e impact of such events is massive – they help nourish the Korean industry with new resources and talent, they enable Korean artists to gain exposure through powerful US platforms, and allow Korea to become more competitive in the music business.

e stakes of succeeding in the US are high. e reward is re-de ning music for the whole world. While this reality stems from years of imperialism, today’s era of globalization puts this outdated system to test. Millions of fans from countries across the globe working together to put the global control center for popular music in the hands of a non-Western artist is nothing less than a revolution. A revolution that BTS continues to fuel themselves with their music, authenticity, and consciousness of identity.