The Golden Melody Competition’s convention lineup in Taipei introduced collectively a dynamic mixture of business leaders from throughout Asia and past. Designed to highlight Mandarin-language music whereas fostering worldwide collaboration, the three-day gathering featured showcases, matchmaking periods, and a strong slate of boards, with one standout session diving deep into the evolving equipment behind Ok-pop’s international success.

On opening day, YG Leisure producer Mojo (Seung Nam Kim) sat down with Ryan Farley, managing director of U.Ok.-based impartial report label Cooking Vinyl, to unpack the complexities of transnational music manufacturing in a panel titled “Ok-pop Music Manufacturing Methods for the International Market.” YG Leisure is the agency behind Ok-pop sensation Blackpink.

With credit tied to acts like Treasure, Lee Younger-ji, and (G)I-DLE, Kim provided an insider’s have a look at how the Korean music business is reengineering its A&R method to resonate with each home and worldwide audiences.

“A&R matchmaking isn’t nearly model – it’s about emotional language,” Kim informed Selection. “Step one is figuring out what sort of sound the crew wants proper now. From there, we refine it by way of references and discover the appropriate creators, not essentially simply the most important names, who can translate that emotion into sound.”

Take international songwriting camps, for instance: writers from completely different international locations come collectively to craft demos, that are then handpicked by the A&R crew to match an artist’s id, from language and melody to groove and tone. The ultimate touches are formed in shut collaboration with Korean lyricists and producers.

For Western markets, immediacy is vital – catchy melodies, rhythmic readability, and intuitive construction are likely to resonate first. “Worldwide listeners usually join with tone and groove earlier than lyrics,” Kim defined. “Whereas Korean audiences crave lyrical storytelling, emotional nuance, and even silence – these ‘empty moments’ that carry weight.”

No matter area, a memorable melody stays the holy grail. Kim factors to NewJeans and (G)I-DLE as prime examples of artists who’ve mastered this stability – fusing Korean element with international polish.
Cross-cultural collaboration is crucial, and mirrored within the numbers. In 2024, over 75% of Ok-pop tracks concerned worldwide creators.

For Kim, the important thing to working with worldwide expertise lies in embracing – not fearing – distinction.
“Collaborating with international songwriters can typically contain language boundaries, completely different workflows, and cultural misinterpretations, however it’s exactly by way of these moments of friction that non-formulaic, genre-bending sounds are born,” he mentioned.

As Ok-pop manufacturing turns into more and more borderless, Kim believes the style’s future lies in its potential to remain emotionally grounded whereas embracing a broader palette. “Wanting forward, I consider Ok-pop will proceed to evolve by incorporating extra co-creators from various international locations and cultures,” he mentioned. “Music’s energy to create emotional resonance and human connection throughout languages and backgrounds is what is going to preserve Ok-pop related and thriving within the international mainstream.”