Big Take Podcast

K-Pop’s Plan for Global Dominance? Remove the K

On today’s Big Take podcast: why K-Pop’s new playbook for international dominance might threaten its very identity.

Members of the boy band Riize, managed by SM Entertainment Co., perform during a launch event for the album "Get A Guitar" in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. SM Entertainment, the South Korean company that pioneered the K-pop genre three decades ago, unveiled a new seven-member boy group named Riize in its first band debut in three years.Photographer: Woohae Cho/Bloomberg

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

By Sarah Holder, Thomas Lu, and Alexander Sugiura

July 19, 2024 at 8:05 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Never miss an episode. Follow The Big Take daily podcast today.

Is K-Pop even K-Pop without the K? A Bloomberg analysis of song lyrics shows that for the first time, almost half of K-Pop songs released this year have English lyrics.