Contextual Essay: Difference in JYP groups in Kpop

Contents- Introduction, Ethnographic Research, Secondary Sources, Conclusion

Introduction

My DA on Kpop was inspired by my love with kpop and fascination for how groups promoted themselves. Before I knew of the companies, I had assumed every group was with a different company. I was shocked to find that most groups belonged to a select few companies, and from then I was interested in how the companies differentiated them, either in demographics, design or music. I chose JYP as my focus for this DA as I am most familiar with their groups, and they have the most active roster right now out of the “Big 3”. So, I set out to find what differs each group from each other, using social media.

Ethnographic Resources

For ethnographic resources, the easiest way to collate differences was to go through their social media profiles and see their accounts. I chose Social media accounts because thought it would be a quick and effective way of seeing the difference between each group. Seeing the comment reactions was also a priority, and I aimed to be informed by these comments for my ethnographic research. The groups each have their own social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, which I could use to see differences.

Going on Reddit is where I got my information about people’s thoughts on the Division structure and concerns they had about individual groups. They had more detailed and in-depth discussions than throwaway comments on Twitter

Secondary Resources

For secondary resources, I used a clip of JYP speaking at a conference about the Division structure to inform me. I also got all the album sale and tour information from sites, to add extra detail to the differences in JYP groups. The secondary resources outline the relative popularity of each group and provide a basis of difference between the two groups.

I also used myself as a loose resource, as I have been to two JYP group concerts, Stray Kids and DAY6 and follow the groups casually.

Conclusion

In concluding this DA, I found that Social Media was a boring way to show differences between idol groups. In hindsight, I could have used a different distinctive metric for observation, such as Music Videos, which could showcase the different music and video styles of each group better. In observing social media, I instead found the opposite of difference within groups, I found unity in the company structure. It was only through observing my secondary sources of album sales and tours could we see the difference in groups. The comments for each group were also just people endlessly praising them. It was a missed opportunity to do this DA but not look at their music. Though I was more focused on visual aesthetical differences, I barely found any on social media like I was expecting.

So, I found no significant information to support my difference though the ethnographic research.

Link to Digital Artefact Blog Post-

https://amelyswebsite.home.blog/2020/11/12/differences-in-jyps-kpop-groups-bcm241-digital-artefact/

References

JYP 2.0

JYP Entertainment (2018). JYP 2.0. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08257W8sdNs.

Kpop Album Sales

Admin (2020). Big Hit, SM, and JYP – Most Sold Album on Gaon for 2019. [online] Kpopthing. Available at: https://kpopthing.com/bighit-sm-and-jyp-most-selling-album-on-gaon-for-2019/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2020].