Twenty-five years ago, the notion that the centre of gravity in global pop music might shift away from Los Angeles, London or any of a number of Western capitals might have sounded far-fetched.

Yet today, the evidence is unmistakable: first Japanese pop, then Korean pop, has turned East Asia into the most potent cultural export engine of the early twenty-first century. In terms of reach, fan loyalty and the all-important concept of soft power, neither the United States nor Europe has produced anything to match it in decades.

Japan

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, J-pop emerged as a formidable force across the region. Groups such as the all-girl group Morning Musume and five loveable but somewhat zany lads in SMAP dominated Japan’s highly choreographed entertainment industry while also finding enthusiastic audiences across East and Southeast Asia.

At the same time, solo artists like Ayumi Hamasaki and even the US-based Utada Hikaru topped charts in Japan and overseas, with Utada’s English-language debut Exodus perhaps the earliest indication of Japanese ambitions to one day cross over to Western markets.

The magic lay in a combination of flair and formula. The Japanese idol system perfected model training, branding and relentless media exposure on TV shows, by way of manga tie-ins, and through merchandising that turned performers into household names long before social media ever existed.

For a brief period just after the turn of the century, Tokyo rivalled London and New York in shaping the pop world. In the eyes of Asia – Tokyo led by a length or more.

Yet J-pop remained curiously inward-looking. Regional sales across Asia were strong, but language barriers coupled to conservative management practices and what seemed like a fear of overseas touring meant Japanese acts never truly broke into Western consciousness.

As many in the entertainment industry predicted though – it was only a matter of time. The blueprint had been produced and, somewhat ironically, it would be acts from Japan’s biggest rival - South Korea – that would pick up the baton and run with it onto the global stage.

South Korea

To this end, by the mid-2000s, Seoul’s entertainment companies had not only learnt from Japan, they had refined the way things were being done in Tokyo.

The ‘idol system’ as it existed, and as it still does in Seoul, operated with near-military precision by adding a sharper global outlook. Trainees were selected with the stamina of athletes and groomed intensively in dance, vocals, and multiple languages.

The result was K-pop, a meticulously engineered cultural product tailor-made for the YouTube, Twitter and more recently, TikTok era.

Girls’ Generation’s Gee (2009) was an early breakthrough, smashing Korean chart records and catching attention across Asia – including back in Japan where the idol-turned-singer / entertainer industry started.

But it was PSY’s Gangnam Style in 2012 that truly exploded worldwide, becoming the first YouTube video to surpass a billion views and introducing Western audiences to the phenomenon that is – and remains - Korean pop.

From there, a succession of acts built empires across Asia and increasingly into the Western world that J-pop could only dream of. The boy-band BIGBANG and girl-band 2NE1 commanded stadiums across continents. EXO and TWICE became household names across Asia. BTS – all boys – were up next and all but redefined the global pop culture landscape.

BTS and the mainstream

Where J-pop hinted at East Asia’s potential, BTS made it undeniable. Formed by Big Hit Entertainment (now HYBE), BTS started with modest expectations but quickly grew into the biggest boy band in the world, eclipsing even the heights of the Backstreet Boys or One Direction.

Hits like DNA, Boy With Luv, and Dynamite racked up billions of streams. BTS topped the Billboard Hot 100, sold out Wembley Stadium in London, and even addressed the United Nations.

Their fandom - ARMY (meaning "Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth") - became a global movement in its own right, organising online in ways that blurred the line between fan club and political force.

During the 2020 US presidential election campaign, ARMY’s coordinated hashtag campaigns and playful interventions drew attention even from analysts.

No Western pop act in the past 25 years has commanded such sustained global devotion, and while The Beatles may for all time remain the benchmark for influence, in terms of scale, infrastructure and digital reach, BTS in Asia and much of the rest of the world at least, surpasses the Fab Four.

BLACKPINK

Then came Lisa, Jennie, Rose and Jisoo – BLACKPINK.

While BTS rewrote the rules for boy bands, BLACKPINK reshaped girl group dynamics and have since taken the world by storm – routinely selling out stadiums across the US and Europe including Citi Field in New York, Wembley in London and Stade de France in Paris. Their 2019 Coachella performance, the first by a K-pop girl group, was a watershed moment, cementing their place in Western festival culture.

In the meantime, the world still has stars produced in the West - Taylor Swift remains a global powerhouse, commanding sold-out tours as do Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Dua Lipa.

But K-pop, built on the foundations of J-pop, sets itself apart in the scale and intensity of its fan ecosystems. No American or European act has a global, multilingual fanbase mobilised with the devotion of ARMY or BLINKs (BLACKPINK’s fans).

No Western artist gets close to combining the music, choreography, fashion collaborations, and constant digital engagement to the degree K-pop groups do. Behind the scenes, K-pop operations resemble Silicon Valley start-ups more than traditional record labels. Data-driven marketing, global auditions, multilingual strategies and perfectly timed release schedules make Western models look sluggish by comparison.

It is something even governments have noticed. South Korea’s government openly embraces K-pop as a cornerstone of its national brand, integrating it into cultural diplomacy. The “Korean Wave” (Hallyu) encompasses not only music, but also TV dramas, film and even cosmetics, amplifying Seoul’s soft power far beyond its size.

Japan, despite inventing the idol system, never leveraged pop culture in quite the same way. Its anime industry remains influential, but in music, it is South Korea that now leads.

Geopolitics

And the geopolitical stakes are real. When BTS visited the White House in 2022 to speak on anti-Asian hate crimes, it both made headlines around the world while at the same time highlighting how a pop act can double as a diplomatic envoy.

This was followed in an even more renowned setting by BLACKPINK when they were invited to Buckingham Palace in November 2023, to receive an honorary MBE – see pic above – an event marked by a post on X by the UK’s Royal Family account stating: “The King, joined by The President and First Lady of the Republic of Korea, has welcomed @BLACKPINK to Buckingham Palace, as they are awarded Honorary MBEs,” continuing “The K-pop band have been awarded the honours in recognition of their role as Advocates for the COP26 Summit in Glasgow.”

Beyond Korea

The only big question now is whether K-pop’s dominance will endure, or if others will catch up. China has experimented with idol groups, though censorship and restrictions on fan culture have limited their global impact. Other countries in Asia are dabbling but nothing yet compares to the efforts and levels of success reached first by Japan, and later Korea.

What is clear is that the US and Europe no longer control global pop culture. In the streaming age – viral choreography, visuals, and digital content comes from the East.