What makes K-pop different from J-pop

What makes K-pop different from J-pop
By Kang Seong Park
hree apples that have the
same color and size are put on
the table. Which apple would be your
favorite one? It would be meaningless to
choose one not until you find some
differences among them. Likewise, there
are some reasons why K-pop is so popular
all around the world. How is K-pop
different from J-pop and what kind of
similarities are there?
Both K-pop and J-pop were
influenced by American music. For
example, K-pop was influenced by hip
hop and dance music of the U.S, and J-
pop was influenced by rock and folk
songs of the U.S. Also, both in K-pop and
J-pop, individuality and charming point
are valued as well as musical ability.
Especially in South Korea, a lot of singers
or dancers appear in TV variety shows,
TV dramas, or sports events.
For all these similarities, however,
there are some differences between
them. Firstly, K-pop was influenced by
hip hop and dance music of the U.S,
such as some songs of BIGBANG or
EXO — a famous idol group of South Korea
EXO. On the other hand, J-pop was
influenced by rock and folk songs of the
U.S. For this reason, when people think
about K-pop, they tend to think of dance
music or idol music.
BTS — a global idol group of South Korea
In contrast, when people hear “J-pop”,
they can easily think of band music rather
than idol groups.

RADWIMPS — a popular rock band of Japan, well known
for original sound track of many movies.
Another difference between these two is
that K-pop values rhythm and highquality
performance, and it is famous for
its polished aesthetic. On the contrary, J-
pop values melody or lyrics.
make it global. A lot of K-pop idol group
have foreign members in their teams, and
most of Korean trainees are supposed to
learn basic foreign languages during their
training period. J-pop, however, has been
focusing on their local market. That’s
why K-pop is globally well known even
though Korean population is much lower
than Japanese population.
So, which is the better one? It’s not
easy to say which is better because it
depends on the taste of each listener, and
K-pop and J-pop are in different sort of
music. But If I have to choose one, I
would say K-pop is the better one. K-pop
has its outstanding features in terms of the
quality of performance, and compared to
J-pop, it has been well established in
global music market, such as Billboard.
Your Name — a Japanese animation which is very famous
for original sound track. Radwimps composed the whole
songs—four tracks of theme music, twenty-two tracks of
background music, a total of 26 tracks in the album.
In addition, J-pop idols aim to show that
they are enjoying music, and they
emphasize their cuteness, rather than
perfect choreography that is the biggest
distinction of K-pop. Lastly, K-pop has
been trying to expand their stages and
Seventeen, a Korean idol group, ranked 13 th on Billboard
200. It’s higher than Happier Than Ever of Billie Eilish, 25
of Adele, and Justice of Justin Bieber.