Citizens are subdued by the new culture – Kommersant

Russian marketplaces, music streaming sites and book networks note that the interest of citizens in goods related to South Korean pop culture has grown markedly. Russians buy K-pop music albums, their biographies, paraphernalia depicting their favorite bands, as well as Korean language textbooks. Domestic promoters are interested in cooperation opportunities with k-pop artists. Experts attribute such interest to the availability of k-pop against the backdrop of the loss of Western novelties.

Russians were 2.8 times more likely to buy goods related to the k-pop industry (a musical genre that originated in South Korea in the 2000s and turned into a large-scale musical subculture) in the first quarter year-on-year, Kommersant was told in “Avito”. We are talking about music albums and various paraphernalia depicting popular South Korean bands (flashlights, collectible cards, erasers, etc.). So, in April alone, more than 15 thousand items from the segment were purchased at Avito.

Compared to April 2022, this spring, album sales on the site increased by 3.2 times, and the average price was 1.5 thousand rubles: (by 5.8 times) and BTS (by 77%).” The trend is confirmed by Ozon. “Comparing unit sales in this category across the k-pop music genre, sales growth was 25.5 times year-on-year in April.”

The total audience of k-pop fans on the VKontakte social network in 2022 exceeded 9.1 million, and the number of thematic communities amounted to more than 1.5 thousand, Kommersant was told on the social network: “Mainly last year, interest in k-pop showed girls, they account for 85% of the total audience of thematic publics, the average age of subscribers ranged from 18 to 24 years.

Watch the trend and music services. Thus, MTS Music notes an increase in interest in the k-pop industry among service subscribers. “The number of plays increased by 15-20% in the first quarter of 2023 year-on-year. The top includes already familiar performers, the leader among which is the BTS group. Yandex Music reported that in the first quarter, 15% of service users listened to at least one k-pop track, and the number of listens to the genre tripled year on year. Sound and VK Music did not respond to a request.

Interest in South Korean pop culture has also influenced book chain sales. Chitai-Gorod said that in January-May, year-on-year sales in the Musical Biographies category grew by 114%: “Books about k-pop show the fastest growth.” So, in the top 10 bestseller category, four books are dedicated to k-pop groups Blackpink and BTS, and Malcolm Mackenzie’s book “K-pop Idols from BTS to Blackpink” (Bombora Publishing House) showed the largest sales growth in the first quarter of the year. year: they grew five times. Avito clarified that sales of Korean language textbooks and self-study books in April grew by 32% year-on-year.

The k-pop industry in Russia began to develop back in 2018, notes the interlocutor of “Kommersant” in the music services market: “This is not a new trend, but after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, it received an additional impetus against the backdrop of the cancellation of concerts by many Western artists in Russia” .

According to Professor Kim Se Wan from Ewha Women’s University (Seoul), in general, k-pop brings the country $ 10 billion a year (see “Kommersant” dated December 17, 2022). Therefore, it is completely logical, the interlocutor of Kommersant adds, that South Korea is actively developing this segment: “Obviously, the Asian direction remains active, and therefore many Russian promoters and concert organizers are interested in bringing k-pop artists to Russia.”

The Korean segment has grown because it remains accessible and people understand that concerts of these performers are likely, a Kommersant source in one of the music publishers believes. In general, this is a culture that is gaining momentum as quickly as possible, says Mark Khludnev, founder of the Digital Church advertising agency. The growth in sales of the segment, according to him, can be explained by the trend of shooting video bloggers under k-pop music.

Julia Yurasova