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The world of K-pop is dominated by four major companies: SM, YG, JYP, and HYBE, formerly known as Big Hit. The latter can boast not only of having the most internationally successful idol group to date, Bangtan Boys or BTS, but also of being the highest-grossing company in 2023. Specifically, the sales generated by its artists brought in approximately *** billion won during the referenced year. This figure is not surprising considering that BTS has sold nearly ** million copies since their debut in 2013, just in South Korea and Japan, and in 2022 managed to place their latest album among the best-selling albums worldwide.

YouTube: K-pop’s Greatest Ally

YouTube has become a key element in the global expansion of South Korean pop music. Facing the language barrier, it is the filming techniques of their music videos, very different from those used in the Western music industry, that have managed to attract audiences of all ages, especially teenagers. Each new music video from BTS or Blackpink, probably the two most popular idol groups today, receives millions of views per day on the open video platform. In fact, some of them have broken records, such as BTS’s Butter. After its release in May 2021, it became the platform’s biggest debut ever by registering just over *** million views in a single day. Interestingly, until then that title was held by Dynamite, another single from the male group, which had taken it from Blackpink’s How You Like That. For all these reasons, it is no longer surprising to see one of their songs among YouTube’s most viewed music videos year after year.

The Boom of Asian Culture in the Media

Music is not the only media industry influenced by Asian culture. Long before the K-pop explosion, Japanese animation had managed to carve out a space in the Western world thanks to the success of titles like One Piece or Dragon Ball, both in their manga version and their television adaptation. This is evidenced by the number of contracts the Japanese industry signs annually with countries such as the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom for the broadcast of its content in different national markets. On the other hand, South Korea has made a strong entrance into world cinema in recent years, especially after Parasite was named Best Picture at the 2020 Oscars. The feature film by Bong Joon-ho thus became the first non-English language film to win in that category.