Consuming Korean Popular Music (Kpop): An Anthology of Experiences within Fan Communities

Abstract

The globalization of Kpop has been explored by Hallyu scholars and popular music academics, but the humanization of fan experiences in relation to globalization has yet to be explored. In this study, I collected the accounts of Kpop fans outside of Korea on how they consume Kpop, why they consume Kpop, and what Kpop means to them. In choosing to interact with a more accessible form of academia, fans accounts have been provided in full. Their experiences are then placed beside existing scholarship on the genre to better understand how fans drive Kpop’s globalization, as well as better understanding the globalization of popular music forms. Findings suggest that successful globalization is a result of Kpop existing as a multimedia, exploratory, and emotional experience for fans. This leads to the formation of global Kpop communities which ensure the genre’s longevity and further globalization. A playlist was also created to exemplify fan’s multimedia consumption of Kpop.