Target audience
- Young females
- 66% female
- 34% male
- 14-18 target age
- 830 million views from India
- 38 million from Thailand
- 640 million from Indonesia
History of blackpink
- They were found in global tryouts in 2010-2011 when they were teenagers
- They were training until their debut in 2016
- Songs ‘Boombayah’ and ‘Whistle’ quickly topped the Korean music charts
- In 2017 the group started its own fan club called BLINK
- In 2018 Blackpink reached 17 in the UK and 55 in the US with their track ‘ddu-ddu’
Reception theory
- Dominant: theyre a bold and talented girl group with excellent songs that reflect positive messages about being a strong independent woman
-Negotiated: have some good tracks and clear talent but im no strong stan
-Oppositional: they represent everything wrong with the music industry. They’re leaking the wrong messages to the younger generation as its artificial, shallow and materialistic
Uses and gratification theory
- Social integrative needs: importance of the fan community as they share content,hype and keep discussions going. It can also help fans make like minded friends
- Affective needs: feel connected to their journey from auditions to survival stages to now being successful
- Personal integrative needs: large female fanbase because they’re relatable young women that girls look up to. Songs lyrics usually speak to the concerns of young women, relationships and breakups
- Cognitive needs: they’re hardly educational but their music videos can teach dances
Brand image
- Powerful and united
- Vunerable and emotional
- Sassy,sexualised and strong
- Empowered
Colour scheme
- It suggests femininty and strength
- Darkness suggests their mainstrean
Cultural context - Gender and beauty
- Gender roles in South Korea are quite traditional
- Feminism is increasing in South Korea
- South Korea has high levels of plastic surgery so theres a lot of pressure on women to look traditionally beautiful
- Female pop starts usually are slim, feminine and have soft features
Cultural context - Ethnicity
- Korea is not very ethically diverse
- Lisa is Thai the first non-korean to join YG
- Western media has many stereotypes about Asian culture
- K-pop is influenced by black American music like hip-hop and R&B
Cultural context - Globalisation
- K-pop uses English to make it more accessible
- K-pop is influenced by music from all over the world
- K-pop is reaching larger international audiences
- Technology is making it easier to share content everywhere
what is k-pop?
- genre that originated in south korea in the 1990s but gained international recognition in the last decade
- became successful in asia in early 2000s becoming dominant in japan/china/thailand
- they integrate english into their music to appeal to western audience
stages
audition process - initial audition, call backs and final audition. aduitionees are judged on singing, dancing and presentation
trainee process - idol trainees are owned by companies that control their lives. such as sleeping habits and eating. long period of training since elementary
debut stage - this is when the agency launches the first song by artist or band.
survival shows - survival shows that k-pop stars win
history of music videos
- music videos were consumed through tv shows or specific music channels
- then they became a hugely important media product
- as internet grew it become easier to create and distribute
- now theyre on youtube
why do we have music videos?
- promotes both albums and singles
- promotes new or existing artists to audience
- promotes an image of artist or band
- entertain and encourages replays
- visual images convey meaning and story of song
- artists can control their image
psychographics
- in asia blackpinks audience is mainstream
- audience is inspired as group members are inspirational
how does the band reflect the brands image?
- powerful
- united
- vunerable
- emotional
- sassy
- empowered
- strong
- sexualised
