The “Korean Wave” ignited by K-Dramas has started to grow in popularity in the late 1990s. Recently, Korean pop music has been internationally marketed to not only Asia, but America, and Europe. Consequently, Taiwan has also become one of the areas impacted by K-POP while the Neo-Korean Wave is sweeping the world.
The objectives of this thesis are to study the success factors and development status of K-POP in Taiwan. The primary frame of this thesis comprises three parts. Part One deals with the background and developing progress in various phases in Taiwan. Part Two presents the analysis for the factors leading to K-POP’s success in the international markets. To be properly considered objective, I have carried out a questionnaire survey to the local general public on how Korean pop music has been successfully promoted and developed in Taiwan. Part Three details the analysis on the results of the said questionnaire.
The findings of this study disclose that Korean pop music has earned more and more popularity in the 1990s while some Taiwanese singers tried to sing Korean-originated songs, and some Korea-born singers began to develop their new career in Taiwan. Meanwhile, several idol groups’ success in the late 2000s has created an ever-than-before fever for K-POP as Neo-Korean Wave in Taiwan. Anyhow, the path to success for K-POP has never been easy. The phenomenon attributed its success to Korean’s long-term training programs and dedicated efforts for music/dancing compositions before launching a new singer, along with Korean media’s efficient marketing communication and effective propaganda. The researcher of this study would like to share the findings with the pop music industry in Taiwan with a hope that the information disclosed hereafter would be of help.
