Joseph Hwang
If I were to define the essence of K-pop from an industrial standpoint, I would describe it as ‘prefabricated templates.’ A ‘template’ refers to a pre-designed framework that simplifies the production and manufacturing process, making iterations more efficient. The benefit of using a template lies in its repeatability, which enhances productivity and minimizes errors when a successor attempts to replicate the previous work.
The entertainment industry is characterized by high box office risk. If you can reduce box office risk, producers can try more different things, and the probability of a hit increases. Even if no formula always wins, many people believe there is a similar pattern to successful works or projects. They think they can expect a higher chance of success if they mimic that pattern.
In the K-pop business, especially in the form of idol groups, there is a template that reflects this hit formula. Of course, not everyone who uses this template will be a hit. The phenomenon of K-pop artists debuting and maintaining a career as a boy group or girl group - mixed groups are rare - is a template. Producers follow all the examples of success that came before them to avoid failure. Many other producers have followed producer Lee Soo-man’s success with SM, and the template for K-pop has been created.
Now, what do you think of this?
1. idol template + trainee = idol group debut
2. idol template + foreigner = K-pop localization
3. idol template + Koreans + foreigners = globalization of K-pop
4. idol template + fans mimicking = fandom
The template is the same, but the phenomenon changes depending on the assembled elements, so I define this phenomenon as an “Assemblable Template.”
This Assemblable Template has the same basic framework (idol template), but the combined or exchanged variables change to create a different phenomenon. However, this phenomenon is manifested within the enormous scope of the K-pop industry. For K-pop producers, following this template is an easy way to reduce box office risk and increase the relative probability of success. However, the downside of this Assemblable Template is that the genre becomes artistically homogenized. This is a challenge to overcome as a weakness.
This idol template allows producers to easily swap or assemble the components of a group member. It also provides an easy way for fans to go viral. This is because K-pop fandom already recognizes an implicit template, so promoting idol groups is simplified by only communicating their characteristics and changes. This increases the efficiency of message delivery. Fandom culture already has an inherent grammar of idol group templates, just as baseball games themselves don’t need to explain the rules of the game when describing a rookie baseball player, and this creates the foundation for template-based production to have an advantage in promotion.
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