'Composed in Sweden, recorded in Korea': K-pop production goes global
Megahit K-pop songs are no longer produced within a single country. Their melodies are written by European composers and their tracks refined by American producers, before final recording and performance are completed in Seoul. This globally distributed production system has effectively become the industry standard in K-pop. As K-pop cemented its place in the mainstream global music market, its production system has also undergone a rapid expansion. In a bid to secure candidates for new songs, major K-pop entertainment agencies now run “song camps,” inviting large numbers of composers from around the world to intensive multi-day sessions that produce dozens of tracks. The songs created through these sessions are designed to reflect global sound trends and appeal to audiences worldwide. In that sense, K-pop has evolved into a “hybrid pop genre,” engineered simultaneously across multiple cities around the world. What drove K-pop’s shift to global production At the heart of K-pop’s global production system is its network of overseas composers. Among the most prominent are Swedis
