I started thinking from the perspective of the Kpop hitmakers that made KDH, or others who might want to compete. Of course, they’re dependent on the people making the movie/show. I wondered if there's any ability to replace idols. Maybe not, but there's new opportunities. For a moment, it’s more popular than real idols. Is it like The Rock having one popular song because of Moana? I think such an analogy ignores the built-in genre audience. A successful movie that carries the songs might not be that repeatable. But KDH seems like there’s more to the story that lots of fans want to see. The success makes me think others could try. It seemed to surprise the people who made it, so they could probably get a bigger budget to do more. A show series could be a more continuous revenue than a single movie. But we don’t have animated series that carry soundtracks like Frozen, Moana, KDH. They don’t reach the widespread recognition of such movies. It won’t be easy for another talented music team to figure out how to make a show or other movie that’s compelling enough to carry the songs. But they’ll probably be on the lookout for the next opportunity. KDH itself has “first mover advantage” that would make it hard to compete with (like Airbnb, Uber). This is the first time a major part of a music genre—including a team of hitmakers who are not themselves major artists—were behind a movie soundtrack. The Black Label (Teddy, Danny Chung for the rap), Ejae, and Jenna Andrews (Butter, Dynamite). These are established hitmakers for other artists, and I think that positions them differently than say Beyonce doing the Lion King soundtrack. They already work from the perspective of delivering songs that fit the visions of different products where they aren’t the face. KDH could have enough fanbase for a bigger series. A movie series might be bigger, and be a once every few years product. From the time they needed to make this, they could need a few years for a follow up, even if the directors are already full of ideas. That anticipation would generate excitement when it comes. It wouldn’t replace a Kpop group, but could still be a good supplement for Kpop makers involved. Also, it’s marketing the credentials of the producer/songwriters/singers/Black Label. Every few years is a cadence that allows the Kpop makers time to do their main Black Label/Twice/etc work. And could have a benefit of likely revenue over a longer time frame. Something the Black Label, Ejae, or whoever participates could depend on over the course of 6 years or so. In music I’ve heard about “synchronization rights” that include movies and shows, but also video game music. On the surface, KDH seems like it would easily fit into multiple kinds of video games. Adventure, dance, maybe karaoke that could require buying some branded microphone. That reminds me of Rose playing Guitar Hero. At Black Label, I could see her doing an ad for such a game. Idk how compelling it would be as an adventure game. What do you think? Games could even out the revenue in between sequels, and make it bigger. ‘Customer lifetime value’ + teaching that Kpop is English Note: These two headings focus on business jargon if you want to skip. An advantage of KDH is that it leans at a younger audience, as well as non Kpop fans. It extends Kpop “customer lifetime value” by hooking them and setting their music habit earlier. They can graduate to ‘real Kpop’ when they’re older—a more direct transition than going from seeing Lion King to becoming a Beyonce listener. Music is not so central to the plot of other movies. The analogy would be if Beyonce did a soundtrack to a musical animated hit loosely about herself. This direct link to a genre, the participation of Twice and hitmakers for other Kpop songs makes KDH a much more direct conversion to a kind of music than other animated hits. Also, it gets younger or new fans used to Kpop in mainly English and expecting it. No Kpop company designed it this way, of course, but it happens to help them. Customer conversion + ‘Call to action’ What’s ‘Frozen’ music? I heard someone mention animated movies centered around Latin music, Coco and Encanto. I feel like it’s harder for Latin music to penetrate non Latin audiences. It doesn’t actively do this, like Kpop incorporating English lyrics or deliberately selecting dances and visuals to break language barriers. Partly due ot the native Spanish speaking audience is being larger than for Korean. This isn’t a knock on Latin or discussion of quality for those two movies. You can say Latin has more of a cultural/artistic identity. My narrow focus here is the ability of the movie to sell music that isn’t in the soundtrack. The commercial ‘upsell’ is stronger and more inherent in KDH. Also, the major difference with those two Latin movie soundtracks and KDH is they don’t rely on big, well known names or hitmakers. I only recognize Maluma. Having “Kpop” in the title of KDH is like a ‘call to action’ in marketing. The simple matter of stating what you’re selling and instructing the viewer what to do makes a difference. This is why it’s standard to hear YouTube channels tell you to “like and subscribe.” There would be meaningful ‘friction’ if the movie title didn’t specify “Kpop.” There’s no question of what genre to listen to, not only in the title. But also the way Coco/Encanto may be Latin, but don’t seem to be Latin pop—the soundtracks don’t tie to current major artists. I do think that collaborating with Twice and Kpop producers/songwriters shows that the filmmakers wanted to promote general Kpop listening. As well as the similarities to existing songs that’s been noted, such as Golden/I Am and Soda Pop/the BTS English crossovers. And generate some interest in the other songs Twice, Ejae, Black Label, etc made. It’s not an ulterior motive, director Maggie Kang and the rest are passionate about Kpop and want us to enjoy it, regardless of which company makes it. I also think “Kpop” in the title is critical for selling the movie by stating the premise, compared to Coco/Encanto being ambiguous titles. Of course, Netflix is not The Black Label; it’s not a priority for Netflix to convert viewers to Kpop. For now, it seems the ‘conversion rate’ from a single movie isn’t that high. But generally, for marketing a good rate is still in mid single digits. I wonder what it actually stands at. There might be some lag on any effect on boosting Kpop overall. I’m thinking like Gangnam Style. People are excited specifically about KDH songs for now, and that can lead to checking the covers by idols. This was a movie that had sounded like it ran into budget limits because execs weren’t sure it would do that well. Next time, they’ll feel it’s safer to do more merch upselling and promotion that could sustain excitement beyond the movie itself. But I think the budget limits (like on dance choreography or runtime) is what partly led to viewers wanting more. There’s a scarcity of content we don’t usually get from real Kpop groups. Idols themselves enjoy KDH It’s bringing out a lot of song covers by (former) idols and Korean fans. This is something that directly highlights Kpop itself, even if that wasn’t the priority. It’s bringing attention to a number of underrated vocalists and performers. Some of them are from an earlier era; they built Kpop, but didn’t benefit from the level of Kpop market penetration after BTS/Blackpink crossed over. That is, Kpop (and social media itself) as a platform didn’t have as much reach. I think a lot of other current idols would be excited to participate. A problem could be how to integrate them. More budget for more what? Idols could cost more money. But they help establish an authentic connection to Kpop. Existing top acts might attract streams, but the movie and charts show that its biggest songs didn’t need them. A good balance might be earlier idols with some name recognition. I wonder if they would prefer fluent English speakers to deliver lyrics in a way that’s impactful as the non Twice songs. Or have a few individual idols from different groups, including those who don’t speak good English to deliver just Korean lines. That would add to the feel the project is generally supportive of Kpop, similar to the current combination of Twice, Black Label, and Ejae. Maggie emphasized the animation was expensive and a limitation in the AMA. That’s part of why there aren’t full choreos. Her + team presumably want to focus on depicting the story, fleshing out characters. Dance choreo would help sell the songs later, and in the movie. I wonder if cost to animate would justify it. Where a continuous choreo shot can’t fit, they could upload separate animated “dance practices” of the characters, with some little intro of them going to the studio. That can drive streams through people wanting to cover it or hungry for content. Real idols covering the dances = more song streams. Dance choreo and production is part of what makes Kpop mildly addictive. It’s an intentional part of the formula, as the founder of SM has talked about. Dialing this up in a way that fits could bring a new experience to a sequel. The sincerity of this first installment, combined with a Kpop’s choreographed dopamine cocktail. The soundtrack deliberately evokes existing songs, per the people who made them and online reactions. Some criticized the similarity of Golden to I Am, etc. I also noticed the instrumentals seem quieter than in most Kpop. Partly this is to emphasize the vocals, so they feel less like an instrument blended into the production. (And this is part of why the songs feel less ‘Kpop.’) This choice is part of the songs’ strength, but I do think there could be point in a movie where the production sells the song, rather than doing it with the visual plot. I think they also wanted to ‘establish’ the songs as Kpop by linking to familiar sounds, especially given the other ways they differ from the Kpop sound. But a fire original instrumental seems like the thing that this soundtrack is missing. Could be something to keep the next soundtrack fresh. Now, The Black Label knows KDH is big and they don’t have to worry about ‘wasting’ a beat. Imagine Teddy bringing a beat that doesn’t sound the same, but hits us the way Boombayah did. I noticed a bunch of similarities and references to Blackpink songs on How It’s Done. Instead of mimicking an old song, The Black Label could go the other way—make a hot new beat for the sequel, then reuse it in some form for their real idol work. That would be the obvious and direct conversion to their own Kpop, but of course it risks criticism, unless you directly frame it as a remix. Animated Kpop concept for adults? A lot of this probably covers what the team has already thought about. But leaning into the Kpop’s darker themes like the Saja Boys could allow a different vehicle for Kpop songs, without competing against KDH. Maybe Maggie already wants to explore that more. So maybe more freedom of speech about Kpop issues (to keep a connection to Kpop) and maybe political and social issues in Korea? Something along the lines of a South Park or Boondocks. Kpop never talks about politics or the low birth rate and single people in the land of salanghae. But it could be easier with a satirical, comedic cartoon. aespa Karina’s political controversy got a lot of attention even outside of Korea. I think that establishes a surprising degree of excitement/interest about Korean politics and social issues outside the country, even if a lot of it is agitation. Something in the vein of Boondocks could work: insightful but humorous, with a clear political bent, but not blindly ideological. After all, KDH songs broke a lot of Kpop rules stylistically, even if none of that is potentially antagonizing. I don’t know what agency would allow participation in a potentially controversial concept. Former idols might want to do it. But you might need current producers too, even if the instrumentals on KDH are quieter, less dominant than usual. Merch: Kids and adults love costumes. Current ‘low quality’ merch Will a company use hanboks for an idol dance, as in Your Idol? Will a Korean company or luxury brand make a modified version, maybe all black or modernized as an idol costume? I heard people complain about the low quality of the official merch that may have been rushed, or planned before anybody knew how big KDH would be. I even saw one of the songwriters posted a custom Derpy tiger before showing the official one. Just some brainstorming as I wrote, without knowing where I’d end up. song deep dives in later posts. submitted by /u/hyeran_jainros_fc [link] [comments]
