Has K-Pop Reached Its Limit For Dance Challenges? The Decline Of “Listening Music” From The K-Music Industry

“Dance challenges” have become essential in the K-Pop industry scene. Although it is true that these challenges have contributed to the spread of K-pop across borders and around the world, it is disappointing that it focuses on “music to watch” rather than “music to listen to.”

One official stated, “It is true that dance challenges became essential as soon as an album was released. As a result, there has been a tendency to focus more on point choreography rather than singing while producing music. Because dance challenges are a major promotional tool, we are focused on creating choreography that is fun and easy to follow.”

Maybe Lookkaew can cover LESSERAFIM-Perfect Night dance challenge.I think it suits you very well.#lookkaewkamollak pic.twitter.com/ymtWlAO9eJ

— Look_kura (@look_kura1219) December 30, 2023

This so-called “Dance Challenge” refers to video content of dancing of less than one minute on various social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. For modern people who spend a lot of time using social media, countless dance challenge videos like this are released every day. There is an advantage to learning new songs through this, but it ultimately leads to a phenomenon of focusing on “music to see” rather than “music to listen to.” “Music that is good to look at” is becoming more popular than “music that is good to listen to”.

Joining forces with Yeji for the Drama Challenge dance duet on TikTok was an exhilarating experience. Our synchronized steps wove a tale of emotions, promising an enchanting performance. pic.twitter.com/PtQ1LxRYRE

— ????????????????????????. (@guiselle) December 31, 2023

As a result, talented singer-songwriters, including major ballad singers who dominated the era such as Kim Dong Ryul, Sung Si Kyung, and Park Hyo Shin, are having difficulty showing off on the music charts. Of course, some non-dance genre singers, such as Park Jae Jung and AKMU, have been loved by the public for a long time, but this is becoming increasingly rare.

EXO’s “First Snow” and Girls Generation Taeyeon’s “To. X” have recently ranked high on major domestic music charts. What they have in common is that they are greatly loved through idol music and dance challenges. The dance challenge became the starting point and led to an increase in the music chart rankings.

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"Webtoonz doing #EXO ‘The First Snow’ dance challenge" pic.twitter.com/RSkg2Pr9LR

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Of course, the music itself is possible because it has good melodies and lyrics, but the “dance challenge” cannot be left out as a big factor in bringing these songs to attention.

In the case of EXO’s “First Snow”, even though it was released ten years ago, it heated up social media with the “dance challenge” craze in the winter, and eventually ranked first on the music charts.

This is a difficult result to achieve in a genre of music that does not have a large fandom like an idol singer and does not incorporate dance. In particular, on platforms with rapid consumption such as YouTube and Instagram, dance songs are spread along with challenge videos and are relatively easy to appeal to the public.

An official from a music agency that houses many singer-songwriters said, “Because the songs of our singers are far from dance, they are vulnerable to dance challenge promotions, unlike the current trend. In the current music industry, ‘listening music’ is weak. This is why famous vocalists, no matter how good they are at singing, are easily forgotten no matter how much music they release.”

talk saxy challenge with RED VELVET’s seulgi, irene and joy! pic.twitter.com/QBpbIDHXF9

— riize folder (@riizefolder) November 15, 2023

In this situation, idol singers also seem to feel pressure about the “dance challenge”. Red Velvet’s Seulgi said, “The ‘dance challenge’ culture is excessive. We need to think of a new direction (for music promotion). We need to think about how to promote this song differently, rather than just dancing.”

Now that K-pop has spread all over the world, it is to the point where some are saying that the “K” should be removed. The K-pop ecosystem is breaking away from the fence of “dance challenge”, and more diverse genres of music are appearing and spreading to the public’s ears. It’s time to find a way to do it.