As K-pop dominates domestic scene, Korea's indie musicians look abroad to find audiences

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As K-pop dominates domestic scene, Korea's indie musicians look abroad to find audiences

Published: 24 Nov. 2025, 07:00

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Korean rock band Wave to Earth poses for a photo after their performance at Lollapalooza Chicago, a music festival in Chicago, in August [WAVY]

Korean indie musicians, squeezed by fierce competition at home, are increasingly turning to overseas markets where multilingual content, social media popularity and broader genre openness offer a far smoother path to global listeners.

One might wonder why a private English tutor would be needed for rock musicians, but a mid-sized entertainment agency recently assigned such a tutor to one of its artists as part of plans for an overseas debut.

“The first target markets are in Southeast Asia — Indonesia and Thailand,” a representative from the agency said. “In Korea, the music scene is heavily dominated by K-pop in terms of genre and by major agencies in terms of marketing. So it’s difficult to survive the competition, and that led us to explore opportunities abroad.”

In an example of Korean indie bands making efforts to reach a larger market, rock band To More Raw, which debuted this year, uploaded its most recent music video to YouTube with subtitles in Korean, English and Thai.

“The three of us are all working day jobs while continuing our activities as a band, and we study English whenever we can,” said bassist Yang Jun-hyeok of To More Raw. “We’re not aiming to debut in a specific country, but we think having music that can be understood in English opens up more possibilities.”

Independent Korean musicians are increasingly turning to international markets to avoid the intense competition at home. Social media-driven viral marketing has lowered the entry barrier, and once momentum builds, artists can access far larger listener bases than in Korea.

Concertgoers are seen during Korean electronic hip-hop duo Hypnosis Therapy's performance in Belgium in July. [CJ CULTURAL FOUNDATION]

There have been previous cases of success abroad, such as Jambinai, a band that blends traditional Korean music with rock.

But since the Covid-19 pandemic, and in an age when online platforms like YouTube Music and Shorts have become central to music listening and promotion, a more diverse range of acts have found success overseas. These include modern rock band wave to earth, alternative pop band The Rose, synth-pop group ADOY, surf rock band Say Sue Me, R&B and ballad singer-songwriter Dept and the electronic hip-hop duo Hypnosis Therapy.

wave to earth is considered the most prominent success story. As of November, its monthly Spotify listeners stood at 7 million, with the number once reaching 9 million — more than singer IU, who has around 4 million.

The band kicked off its international performance career at VERY Festival in Bangkok in 2023 and has since held two world tours, performing 107 shows overseas and drawing 200,000 audience members.

Korean alternative pop band The Rose [WINDFALL]

In North America, all 51 of wave to earth's concerts in the two tours sold out, and the band even held a separate seven-show encore tour in response to the positive reception.

Regions that have responded positively to Korean music include Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Europe and North America.

A common thread among the acts that gained popularity in these regions is that their lyrics are largely written in English.

At least one member in each group is fluent in English and takes on songwriting responsibilities, making such output possible. The typical trajectory has been to go viral online, gain visibility through festivals, then follow up with world tours.

“The Rose’s debut song ‘Sorry’ [2018] gained traction in Europe through word-of-mouth, and we began receiving offers for local tours,” said a representative from Windfall, the agency that manages The Rose. “We started with small shows for 500 people, and now each concert draws 5,000 to 7,000 fans.”

Why are indie musicians from Korea gaining traction overseas? The reason lies in the variety of music genres listened to by music lovers overseas, say experts.

Korean rock band wave to earth [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“In foreign markets, listeners consume a wider range of genres and artists from various countries compared to Korea,” said music critic Kim Hak-seon.

Korea ranked sixth in terms of listening to domestic artists — 77.4 percent of streamed music came from Korean acts, according to data analytics firm DataPulse, which analyzed Spotify’s Top 200 tracks in different countries between May last year to July this year. In comparison, France ranked 17th at 61.9 percent and Spain 39th at 27.6 percent.

Countries with the highest share of K-pop consumption included Taiwan, with 36.3 percent, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and Malaysia.

“Countries in Southeast Asia have a large population in their 20s and 30s, making them highly active in video content and viral campaigns. Their loyalty to Korean culture is also strong,” said music critic Lim Hee-yun, regarding the strong response from Asian countries. “Just as K-pop acts BTS and Blackpink built massive fan bases there, fans in the region are key to spreading not just K-pop but also Korean indie music through video content.”

Korean surf rock band Say Sue Me [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Overseas debuts by indie musicians are expected to increase. For instance, Korea's Zandari Festa in Hongdae — which drew attention in 2018 when the curator of the Britain’s Glastonbury Festival attended — featured artists from Spain, Germany, Slovakia, Indonesia and Taiwan on this year’s stage.

This indicates that international collaborations among musicians and labels are expanding. Government and private support programs, such as those offered by the Korea Creative Content Agency and CJ Cultural Foundation, continue to assist in these efforts.

However, continued success will require stronger on-the-ground support, especially for interpretation and contract negotiations.

Korean synth-pop group ADOY [JOONGANG ILBO]

“There was a case where we discovered only later that a concert contract in Southeast Asia included simultaneous broadcast and recording clauses we weren’t aware of,” said a representative from music label WAVY. “Situations like this are common once you go abroad.”

Some argue that overseas activity should ultimately lead to a positive feedback loop that benefits the domestic market as well.

“If musicians are finding success overseas before they break out at home, it shows how difficult it is to gain recognition within the hypercompetitive Korean market,” critic Kim added. “For real growth, we need an environment where music genres beyond K-pop can thrive as well.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHOI MIN-JI [[email protected]]