K-pop’s global success sparks surge in Asian ‘copycat’ groups
Huge international appeal of Koreas boy band BTS sees entertainment agencies in Japan and China aiming to emulate the winning formula
As K-pop earns recognition and worldwide success, a new trend is rising in Asia – the emergence of “imitation” bands.
For those of you who may be familiar with OK Bang, a Chinese group that imitated South Korean band Big Bang in the late 2000s – possibly the progenitor of the K-pop “copycats” – this might not come as a surprise.
Since it’s somewhat difficult to judge ourselves objectively, we are happy to see them imitate us
However, the recent global achievements of K-pop bands have spawned another generation of imitations.
K-pop’s unprecedented success in May – after BTS won the top social artist award for the second year in a row at the Billboard Music Awards and also topped the Billboard 200 chart with its album “Love Yourself: Tear”– is encouraging entertainment agencies in neighbouring Asian countries, including Japan and China, to create similar versions of K-pop acts.
These agencies aim to emulate Korea’s winning formula of developing an idol kingdom to boost the music industries in their respective countries.
To revive the J-pop idol culture, Japan’s LDH Entertainment recently announced plans to launch a boy band called Ballistik Boyz, also known as Ballibo.
However, the appearance of the band’s members in promotional broadcasts sparked a backlash from K-pop fans because the group shares many similarities with BTS.
Many viewers, including members of BTS’ fan club ARMY (an acronym for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth), claimed Ballibo’s debut teaser images were similar to those of BTS in its song DNA.