Chinese Producer Claims BTS Isn’t Popular In China And K-Pop Will “Self-Destruct”

Billy Koh is a famous Chinese composer and producer who has created some of the hottest singers, such as A-do and JJ Lin.

He recently held a lecture speech in Korea, titled “K-Pop From The Perspective Of China After Limitations On Korea”. He discussed the predicted future of K-Pop and how it is portrayed in China.

During his speech, he claimed that K-Pop was on a path to “self-destruction” if they continued to mass-produce idol groups.

“K-Pop will self-destruct as long as the idol-production system continues.

K-Pop groups have the similar face and music. You could put on the same choreography to a different song, and it’ll look the same. If you continue to do the same things, it’s bound to get boring.

You can’t eat the same food everyday. You begin to look for something different.”

— Billy Koh

He noted that K-Pop’s popularity has recently seen a sharp decline due to political issues, such as THAAD, but he believes the problem lies further deeper with the music. He claimed even the “world famous” BTS wasn’t widely known in China.

“Idols need to show their face. If they’re not seen, it’s difficult to build a new fanbase. Even world famous BTS isn’t well known in China.

It’s because K-Pop artists haven’t been widely spread in China since the political issues that occurred in 2016.

One day the political issues will be solved, but there are problems with the music too.”

— Billy Koh

Billy Koh did recognize that Korean music producers are some of the most talented musicians in the world, but he believes K-Pop needs to find differentiation between their idols in order to continue in the long-run.

“Of course, Korean music production qualities are very good. It’s much better than China’s.

The point is… Will these amazing producers continue to create the same songs for idols? It’s time for K-Pop to show different kinds of songs like Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars have done.

It’s important for investors to think if it’s the right call to create hundreds and thousands of similar idols. ”

— Billy Koh