Focusing on female idols’ proliferation in the South Korean popular music (K-pop) industry since the late 1990s, Gooyong Kim critically analyzes structural conditions of possibilities in contemporary popular music from production to consumption. Kim contextualizes the success of K-pop within Korea’s development trajectories, scrutinizing how a formula of developments from the country’ rapid industrial modernization (1960s-1980s) was updated and re-applied in the K-pop industry when the state had to implement a series of neoliberal reformations mandated by the IMF. To that end, applying Michel Foucault’s discussion on governmentality, a biopolitical dimension of neoliberalism, Kim argues how the regime of free market capitalism updates and reproduces itself by 1) forming a strategic alliance of interests with the state, and 2) using popular culture to facilitate individuals’ subjectification and subjectivation processes to become neoliberal agents. As to an importance of K-pop female idols, Kim indicates a sustained utility/legacy of the nation’s century-long patriarchy in a neoliberal development agenda. Young female talents have been mobilized and deployed in the neoliberal culture industry in a similar way to how un-wed, obedient female workers were exploited and disposed on the sweatshop factory floors to sustain the state’s export-oriented, labor-intensive manufacturing industry policy during its rapid developmental stage decades ago. In this respect, Kim maintains how a post-feminist, neoliberal discourse of girl power has marketed young, female talents as effective commodities, and how K-pop female idols exert biopolitical power as an active ideological apparatus that pleasurably perpetuates and legitimates neoliberal mantras in individuals’ everyday lives. Thus, Kim reveals there is a strategic convergence between Korea’s lingering legacies of patriarchy, developmentalism, and neoliberalism. While the current K-pop literature is micro-scopic and celebratory, Kim advances the scholarship by multi-perspectival, critical approaches. With a well-balanced perspective by micro-scopic textual analyses of music videos and macro-scopic examinations of historical and political economy backgrounds, Kim’s book provides a wealth of intriguing research agendas on the phenomenon, and will be a useful reference in International/ Intercultural Communication, Political Economy of the Media, Cultural/ Media Studies, Gender/ Sexuality Studies, Asian Studies, and Korean Studies.

Whether you’re new to K-Pop or a die-hard super stan, Idols of K-Pop is your essential guide to the current K-Pop scene. This unofficial guide features the biggest names in the Korean music genre, including BTS, Blackpink, Twice, Exo, and many more. This guide contains 64 full-color pages all about the world of K-Pop, with up-close photos of the idols, facts, personal info and gossip, candid commentary, and so much more!

Converging theory and practice, this book provides a unique analysis of Korean youth’s attempts to become global celebrities within the growing K-pop phenomenon, which is rapidly becoming part of global media systems and culture. K-pop has become one of the most popular cultural forms in the global music markets, despite having a relatively new global presence. Its recent spread around the world suggests that K-pop exists as a local-based genre of music in global markets, including Western markets. Unlike other existing books on K-pop, which mainly focus solely on academic analyses or industrial perspectives, K-Pop Idols: Popular Culture and the Emergence of Korean Music Industry combines theory with industry and musical aesthetics. Following the idol group Nine Muses through a year-long chronicle, the authors portray the everyday lives of young girls relentlessly pursuing happiness, satisfaction, and the achievement of their dreams in the K-pop world.

A Korean-American girl travels to Seoul in hopes of debuting in a girl group at the same K-pop company behind the most popular boy band on the planet, in this romantic coming-of-age novel perfect for K-pop fans everywhere! Candace Park knows a lot about playing a role. For most of her life, she's been playing the role of the quiet Korean-American girl who takes advanced classes and plays a classical instrument, keeping her love of K-pop to herself. But she has a secret that she's been keeping from the world: she can sing. Like, really sing. So when Candace enters a global audition held by the biggest K-pop label in the world, she doesn't expect to actually win. And convincing her parents to go against everything they believe in is nothing compared to what's next. Under the strict supervision of her instructors at the label's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Candace must hone her performance skills to within an inch of her life, learn to fluently speak Korean, and navigate the complex hierarchies of her teammates. And the number-one rule? NO DATING - which proves almost impossible after she meets superstar idol One.J and fellow Korean-American trainee YoungBae. And when Candace finds herself in the middle of an international K-pop scandal, she must decide whether a spot in the most hyped K-pop girl group of all time is really worth risking everything ...

-How to pass k-pop audition -Tips & Advices for k-pop audition participants -How to become a k-pop idol -Stories behind k-pop stars' trainee life and debut -Written by an experienced k-pop journalist Do you want to become a k-pop idol? Do you want to become a k-pop trainee to realize your dream? Well, the most common way to start off on a long journey to become a k-pop idol is to take part in various k-pop agencies’ auditions. K-pop agencies usually have year-round audition schedules, and they always pay attention to find talented would be singers. You can take part in k-pop auditions either online or offline. If you apply for an online audition, you can put in an application by e-mail and attach a video that shows yourself singing and dancing. If you apply for an offline audition, you should attend the audition and sing in front of the judges. And if you pass the audition, yeah, you can become a k-pop trainee. It doesn’t guarantee your debut, though. Becoming a k-pop singer requires years of training, and you should compete with the other talented trainees too. As a k-pop trainee, you will take a variety of lessons such as singing lessons, dancing lessons and personality educations, while you will have a test periodically. And you will also have to go on a diet to improve your figure. It’s never easy to become a k-pop idol, huh? By the way, the question here is how you can pass your audition and become a k-pop trainee. You may be able to search for various information about k-pop auditions on the Internet, but you know, there is no one who tells you about the actual way how you can pass your audition and become a k-pop trainee. So, here’s what you’ve been waiting for. Kpop Audition Bible: How to become a k-pop idol includes all the stories about k-pop audition. The author, who has been working as a k-pop journalist since 2010 gives you answers to questions such as “What is the evaluation standard of k-pop audition?”, “I’m fat and ugly. Can I become a k-pop trainee?” and “I’m a foreigner. Can I become a k-pop trainee?”. And the book also contains tips & advices for k-pop audition participants and a variety of stories behind k-pop idols’ trainee life and debut. If you want to become a k-pop idol and you want to become a k-pop trainee to realize your dream, Kpop Audition Bible: How to become a k-pop idol must be a very useful guide for you. We dedicate this book to all the potential k-pop idols all over the world. Go for it, guys!

Gigi is a 16-year-old from South Korea, who dreams of becoming an idol for the famed talent agency, One-Shot Entertainment. As fate would have it, Gigi is recruited as their newest trainee, but winds up in a situation far from what she ever dreamed of when she’s placed in an experimental unit group project code-named “SKS.” From there, Gigi’s new life as a K-Pop idol begins to unfold more like a K-Drama after she’s assigned to the newly defined co-ed unit SKS-7, and must adjust to working with 6 male bandmates who aren’t very thrilled by her placement in their group. Will Gigi be able to survive in SKS-7 and the world of Korean idol life, or will her dreams go up in flames as quickly as they were ignited?

We all love K-pop for what they are, but few of us actually know the whole truth behind it! Since the early '90s, K-pop has slowly grown. In the mid-2000s more appealing and international bands came to life as a result of the Korean Hallyu Wave. Boybands like Super Junior followed by girl groups like Girls Generation. Now with the bigger groups like BTS and Black Pink more than 15 years later the game has changed and the competition for each new idol is harsh. Today there a many groups, idols and musicians in South Korea willing to do life-changing risks in order to become the next big hit. Young boys and girls are believed to live the dreams that we all see on the internet, YouTube and TV. With this glamorous lifestyle comes a price. A dark side we hoped never existed. With overwork, strict diets and evil contracts. Inside this book, you'll learn more about K-pop history. How Kpop idols are today, what challenges and lifestyles and sacrifices they are forced to take in order to remain their image and to continue growing the popularity and fame in South Korea and worldwide.