The Korea Times claims that annual sales of physical albums total about 100 million, which feeds the K-pop craze. The music industry is starting to become greener as a result of growing awareness of the need to lessen its environmental impact. However, the government of South Korea believes that the K-pop sector isn’t doing enough.
Yes, South Korean pop isn’t exactly environmentally friendly. This is mostly because followers of this musical genre purchase a colossal amount of recordings to support their heroes. The Korea Times claims that annual sales of physical albums total about 100 million, which feeds the K-pop craze.
Some 90% of the material that makes up CDs is polycarbonate, a transparent plastic with excellent scratch resistance. They are also quite challenging to recycle since they include aluminium along with minute amounts of silver, gold, and nickel. Not to mention the packaging they come in, which increases their carbon footprint. According to the Korea Times, the top 15 producers in South Korea are expected to sell more than 390 tonnes of plastic packaging in 2022.
Taking into account South Korea’s recent ecological and climate promises, this number is significantly too high. In 2020, the Asian nation committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions to become carbon neutral by 2050, joining China and Japan as neighbouring countries. The music industry is among the corporate sectors that the South Korean government is pressing to increase their commitment to the environment.
K-Pop Influence
Because of this, the Korean Ministry of the Environment is about to start a campaign to draw attention to the excessive use of plastic packaging in the music business. Specifically, it will be arranging consultation sessions with members of the Record Label Industry Association of Korea (RLIAK) with assistance from the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to call their attention to the enormous amount of CDs and other plastic garbage that they produce.
Although it’s a well-meaning endeavour, it probably won’t be very successful. The Korea Times reports that there are presently no formal rules in South Korea controlling the excessive use of plastic packaging in the music industry. Stated differently, there isn’t anything forcing industry participants to alter their practices.
However, there’s a possibility that K-pop enthusiasts will push their hands. Yes, fans of Korean music are cognisant of climate change. A few of them have even banded together to form the militant group Kpop4Planet, which advocates for climate action. Members of this NGO are urging fans of Korean pop music to sign petitions and donate money to put pressure on decision-makers to address the severity of the environmental situation. With enough time and tweets, K-pop fans might persuade the Korean music industry to adopt more environmentally friendly practices, considering their considerable impact on social media.
According to the Ministry of Environment, the government will begin a campaign this month to persuade the K-pop business to adopt more environmentally friendly practices, such as reducing the amount of plastic used in record packaging. In defiance of K-pop agencies’ pledges to sustainable management methods, the idea is a reaction to mounting criticism of the K-pop industry’s use of vinyl and plastic in physical albums.
Nevertheless, since the campaign will be based on suggestions rather than legally binding directives, its efficacy is still unknown. Members of the Record Label Industry Association of Korea (RLIAK) will have consultation sessions with the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism over government rules concerning over-packaging. Also, they will present ways to reduce the amount of packing used in record album merchandise.
The ministry intends to provide rules to the entertainment industry to encourage voluntary participation in climate activism, as there are currently no over-packaging regulations for music records in Korea.
Amid the K-pop frenzy, some 100 million physical albums are sold annually. However, the industry’s marketing tactics, which frequently push fans to buy numerous albums to collect photo cards and other mementoes, are unregulated by the government.
By the 50th week of 2023, physical record sales in the top 400 chart had reached 115.2 million, a 49% rise from the same period the previous year, according to the local music and album sales tracker Circle Chart. Compared to the 8.3 million copies sold in 2013, this amount is almost 14 times higher.
The situation in the United States, which has the biggest music market in the world, is in contrast to this trend. RLIAK statistics indicate that physical album sales in the world’s largest economy have been steadily declining, falling below 73 million in 2003 and to 37 million last year from 172.2 million in 2013.
A global K-pop fandom campaign called Kpop4Planet claims that the mass manufacture of records and the consequent generation of plastic garbage are the results of entertainment businesses’ marketing practices, which capitalise on fan loyalty to increase profits.
Campaigners for the group claim that K-pop fans frequently buy hundreds or even thousands of records as soon as they come out to support their favourite artists’ sales and raise their chances of winning tickets to fan events.
Although precise data regarding the resources utilised in the production of K-pop albums is not available, it is estimated that 15 major manufacturers, such as HYBE, SM Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment, sold over 390 tons of plastic packaging in 2022 based on records of waste contribution expenses from entertainment companies. Experts, however, contest the ministry’s plan’s efficacy.
According to music and culture analyst Lim Hee-yun, the government effort will be little more than “window dressing” and unlikely to result in a significant shift in the industry’s perspective on climate change.
According to Lim, the majority of RLIAK’s members are medium- to small-sized record firms that don’t often release overly packaged albums or use sleazy marketing strategies aimed at idol aficionados.
He stated that worldwide K-pop fans have been pressuring the industry to go green and take climate action for years.
“Instead, Korea needs to build an effective regulation system in the music industry, where the government mandates entertainment companies to pay environmental charges on certain sizes and quantities of physical albums, for example,” he said.
When given multiple-choice responses in the Kpop4Planet survey from 2021, 95.6% of participants stated that entertainment firms bear responsibility for the climate activities of the K-pop industry.