What U.S. Record Labels Can Learn From K-Pop’s Successes

As Billboard has already observed, Korean music companies are exporting more than just K-pop — they’re schooling Western labels on how to do business differently.

The lessons appear to be sinking in. As K-pop acts continue to boom in popularity in the United States and beyond with sold-out stadium tours, No. 1 albums and Coachella headlining slots, more American music companies are taking note — and even getting into business with Korean industry giants like HYBE, JYP and SM Entertainment in deals that amount to a win-win for both parties. For Korean companies, they provide an opportunity to establish themselves in the lucrative U.S. market. For American labels, they offer a window into the K-pop A&R model that has launched groups like BTS, BLACKPINK and Stray Kids to global stardom, all while traditional artist development at U.S. companies seemed to take a backseat to a habit of signing acts with TikTok-famous songs (to diminishing returns).

It’s just that sort of old-school artist development that K-pop companies have perfected over the past several decades. In the 1990s, SM Entertainment founder Lee Soo-man coined the term “cultural technology” to describe his highly disciplined system of producing and promoting K-pop on a global basis, and it wasn’t long before other Korean music agencies followed suit using similar methodologies. As HYBE CEO Jiwon Park previously told Billboard, “Combing through social media platforms like TikTok may give us a chance to sign artists who are technically proficient as music producers or performers, but we demand more from our artists.”

Below, we list a few of the lessons U.S. labels can learn — and in many cases, are already learning — from K-pop, from A&R to touring to promotion and more.