BTS and BE:FIRST Showcase the Future of the Music Industry

J-POP finally got a strategic marketer

Many Japanese musicians lament the declining album sales today, but K-POP superstar BTS has been unstoppable. It earned three number one albums in less than a year and claimed the fastest four chart-topper since The Beatles.

In 2022, HYBE—the label that produces BTS—made TIME Magazine's list of the 100 most influential companies.

How are they succeeding in the relentlessly evolving global music scene for so long? And what differentiated K-POP from other countries' music scenes? I did some research and found a promising J-POP group after assessing the critical factors.

HYBE Seeks Future Business Model

The producer of BTS and other HYBE groups, Bang Si-hyuk, says HYBE is a music business company to maximize the value of music and artists.

The chairman has been proactive—HYBE groups including BTS released uplifting pop songs during the endless lockdowns, while the chairman and producer utilized streaming platforms to offer virtual concerts. Even though Bang Si-hyuk’s NFT ambitions caused serious backlash from fans, he’s determined to be an innovator against lowering the value of music itself.

One of the factors of their success could be attributed to The Presidential Council on Nation Branding of the Korean government. The council has been investing a huge amount of money in the international soft power of South Korea by boosting the nation's public image through many avenues, from traditional culture to K-POP and Squid Game.

Japan Still Focuses on the Domestic Market

The legendary Japanese producer Yasushi Akimoto claims Japanese pop stars should pursue originality because they cannot speak English and compete with dedicated Korean stars who practice it like military training.

I wonder why Akimoto still writes lyrics for female performing artist groups that resonate with middle-aged Japanese men. (Thanks to the lack of gender-equal perspectives, one song was so filthy that a Korean TV network wouldn’t broadcast it in an audition program, which left Japanese fans puzzled.)

The persistent denial of the importance of technology has also prolonged J–Pop’s failure to launch. For instance, Johnny & Associates—the biggest label for boy groups in Japan—has been extremely strict when it comes to its image policy.

Even the media couldn’t use photos of groups represented by Johnny & Associates without official permission until 2018, so magazine covers looked like this photo on Amazon. It’s weird, isn’t it?

They finally relaxed the policy and opened an official YouTube channel in 2019, but obviously, it was too late. Japan had already moved under the constellation of K-POP stars.

What Japanese Listeners Have Witnessed

I've never become a huge fan of pop groups, but my friends have always loved them. During my high school days, they talked a lot about the groups represented by Johnny’s. And gradually, they started mentioning K-POP groups.

I still remember when my best friend introduced a live music video of SHINee to me in 2016. Their performance was so intense and flawless, and the lyrics were a hybrid of English and Japanese.

“Wow, they’re truly professional,” I agreed. After watching them, I couldn’t bear watching Japanese boy groups on TV. It was painful to see their poorly choreographed performances.

Members of boy bands in Japan are constantly hustling for their fifteen minutes. They seem to do everything in the showbiz field—acting, modeling, and appearing in any TV program from quiz battles to talk shows. Alas, is that the way to dominate the domestic market if they can’t practice enough?

Girl groups like Perfume and BABYMETAL have been successful abroad. How about boy groups—hopefully, a little more impactful ones?

I was a bit frustrated every time I saw BTS on American talk shows, though their performance was always great. Who can understand the insanely beautiful rhyming of Japanese hip-hop are only Japanese speakers and learners, after all.

But now, J-POP might have a winner. One boy group has made a spectacular debut with a relatively new label.

BE:FIRST Unleashes the Power of Fandom

I have high expectations for a group aptly named BE:FIRST. The producer of this group, SKY-HI, is a Japanese musician himself, and he has invested his own funds—over $782k—to build this group from the ground up with talent.

A morning TV show aired these audition steps and all the dramas. SKY-HI’s passionate attitude toward music moved many viewers, regardless of their taste in music.

The marketing strategy of BE:FIRST is setting the new standard for innovation in the music industry in Japan. The members appear on the official social media accounts frequently, and the producer has announced that fans can use images of the group freely for online posts to support them.

BESTY, the official fan club of BE:FIRST, shares their content across a number of social media platforms, and fans fill the comments section on the group’s dance practice video from the official YouTube channel.

As a result, their second single Bye-Good-Bye which premiered in March has gotten 22 million views so far, marking 33k downloads in the first week and topping weekly charts in Japan.

Also in May, their digital release Betrayal Game topped both the weekly digital single chart and streaming chart—which led to making BE:FIRST the first artist who topped two digital rankings in the same week with one single cut for three times or more.

The arrival of streaming services might have brought down the value of music, but there are a wide range of digital tools to offer virtual concerts and events.

Now, the global scene is within everyone’s reach from any corner of this planet. And to grow the brand power of the musicians, fandom is more critical than ever. Social media is the fastest, most convenient place for singers to interact with fans, spread information, and attract future potential fans.

One of the members of BE:FIRST is fluent in English, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I hope to see them on my favorite American talk shows in the near future.

I mean, what’s the originality that we can pursue without tough practice? I’d like to see seriously dedicated artists, and who doesn’t think so in this internet era that brings brutal transparency?

It’s never too late to venture into the global market. Go BE:FIRST, go J-POP!!!

If you enjoyed this article, discover other works of the author at Japonica.

Follow Yuko for more stories about cross-cultural topics, travel, business, parenting, and equality. You can also subscribe from the referral link, which Medium uses a portion from followers for author support without any additional cost. Mediumの購読は、こちらのリンクからどうぞ。