Literature Analysis by Ying Xin Crystal Jiang

Analyzing Bak Jaebeom using Philip Auslander’s “Everybody’s in Show Biz: Performing Star Identity in Popular Music”

In the K-pop industry where trainees are groomed to be the perfect packaged entertainers, only some will succeed. Behind their success is not only their careful selection and rigorous training but also “authorization” from fans, the music industry, and peer musicians that authorize them to “perform the role of pop star” (Auslander 2015: 320). Scholar Philip Auslander identifies each of these licensing authorities as critical components however I would further his analysis with the claim that the public has a relatively higher level of authority.

There are clear indications of licensing authorities favouring the publics’ decisions through Bak Jaebeom’s music career. When Korean citizens expressed outrage toward Jaebeom’s Myspace post where he made unfavourable comments towards Korea, JYP Entertainment responded by terminating Jaebeom’s contract. However, despite JYP Entertainment’s withdrawal of authorization, the public was later also able to re-ignite the mechanisms for authorization.

This is demonstrated through Jaebeom’s cover video of “Nothing on You” which went viral, subsequently allowing him to re-enter the music industry. This is because social media have developed a new means for artists to gain exposure (Auslander 2015: 329) thus also indicating that fans and the public are generally the first to grant authorization for people so that they can achieve stardom. While Auslander, a Professor in the School of Literature, Media and Communications (Georgia Institute of Technology, n.d.), analyzes star identity from the Western market perspective, the differences between the South Korean market and the Western market need to be taken into account. In this analysis, the South Korean music market has a distinct power dynamic where there are several large entertainment companies that dominate the market and hold a higher level of licensing authority in comparison Western entertainment companies within the licensing authority mix.

Nevertheless, it is relatively clear that each element of the licensing authorities mix does not hold equal influence in the music industry. Many Korean entertainment agencies debut idol groups however not all of them are successful despite entertainment agencies also being a licensing authority. In contrast the public is able to influence who they desire to become popular.

Auslander, Philip. “Everybody’s in Show Biz: Performing Star Identity in Popular Music.” In the SAGE Handbook of Popular Music, edited by Andy Bennett and Steve Waksman. 317-31. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications Inc., 2015.

George Institute of Technology. n.d. “Philip Auslander, Ph.D.” Accessed December 7, 2018.

https://www.iac.gatech.edu/people/faculty/auslander