How does A&R work in K-Pop? Is it different from the Western Labels?
Image by Billboard
The short answer, yes, it is different. Here's how:
While many roles of A&R are to remain the same in the K-Pop industry, what may be different is the scouting process and the ‘guiding’ of an artist, a.k.a the trainee system. While in the U.S. artists may be scouted at gigs, performing on the streets, or at festivals, many are also send in demos to recording labels A&R department. In addition, in today’s digital age, having a social media presence and following is a huge bonus as it means you are established and have fans.
For K-pop, while many future artists are scouted in a similar fashion on the streets or performing, K-Pop companies and labels, such as HYBE, S.M., and YG have auditions. These can be both in-person or online. In addition, a future artist can be scouted or connected through a trainee academy, which brings my next point.
K-Pop idols go through a training program or system, once they are accepted into a label. Whereas in the U.S., an artist decides on their ‘debut’ and works to get the attention of a label to support them in their creative visions to reach the next level. However, in the K-Pop industry, becoming a trainee, especially at a major label, is the first step to stardom. Trainees can be incredibly young when they join and can train from anywhere from 2 months to 10 years. Once you have been decided as ‘good enough’ by the label, a trainee is put into a group with the potential to debut. And if your luck has it, you debut. If a trainee is with a major label, the likelihood that they become successful and well-known is significantly higher than ones that debut at a smaller, lesser-known label. Of course, that is not without exceptions, with groups like BTS and ATEEZ coming from small labels and growing into some of the most popular groups in K-pop and music as a whole.
Perhaps what is most different is that scouting and finding trainees are not even done by A&R, but rather a fully fledged casting and management team whose sole responsibility is finding young individuals with talent, potential, and desire to grow. A&R rather focuses on the song's style, sounds, and overall feel to determine whether or not it is the right fit for each group's overarching concept or goals.
And because of this, A&R and A&R consultants can be located around the world and in contact or looking for music that has roots from various different cultures. One such example is Marion Van der Wees, a K-pop consultant based in the UK who has worked with Red Velvet, Seventeen and TXT to name a few. Having consultants like this has led to a variety of different sounds that are used across the world that appear in K-pop songs. As Van der Wees said in an interview “I feel like a song is influenced by different cultures…there is a Latin vibe, Egyptian vibe and many others since people from different parts of the world are involved in it."
She had also mentioned that one key difference in A&R between K-pop and Western labels is that the song itself is more important than the person who wrote or produced it, making K-pop and Korean labels more open to different sounds, concepts, and working with unpublished songwriters.
On the differences between Korean and Western labels, Van Der Wees said that in Korea, the song is more important than the person behind it so labels are more open than in the West to a variety of concepts and working with unpublished songwriters.
Sources:
Azeez, M. (n.d.). A&R consultant for K-pop in UK discusses her profession. Korea.net. https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/HonoraryReporters/view?articleId=214363
The inner workings of idol casting are what brought txt and en- to the world - weverse magazine. Weverse Magazine - Everything K-pop, and more! (n.d.). https://magazine.weverse.io/article/view/695?lang=en&artist=ENHYPEN
Lee, J. (2021, August 30). The process of becoming a K-pop idol - korea (travel guide). Creatrip. https://creatrip.com/en/blog/11280
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