Ongoing Changes in the Music Industry as Science Explains K-POP’s Appeal

There are continuous key personnel changes within the music industry. MySeat Media has hired Dave Cool, former CRO of Bandzoogle, as its new president. Cool brings over 20 years of experience in the music industry and will oversee efforts at MySeat to secure artists’ data ownership, foster superfan engagement, and generate revenue through branded mobile apps. Eastern Acoustic Works (EAW) has recruited Mark Posgay as vice president of global sales. Posgay possesses more than 20 years of experience in the professional audio industry and has previously held global sales positions at Sennheiser and HARMAN International. AEG Presents has promoted Andrew Klein to president of global partnerships. Klein has worked at AEG for over 20 years and played a crucial role in securing sponsorships for major events such as Stagecoach Festival and Camp Flog Gnaw. Big Machine Label Group has appointed Jodi Dawes as vice president of marketing and communications. Dawes brings experience from Universal Music Group Nashville and a boutique PR firm, and she will report directly to Scott Borchetta, president and CEO of BMLG. Catch Point Rights Partners has promoted Annie DeConto to director of business development. FBMM Entertainment Business Management has named veteran business manager Dan Killian as the company’s owner and shareholder. Killian started at FBMM in a junior role and rose to business manager faster than anyone else in the company’s history; he is now the youngest owner in FBMM’s history.

Interesting research results have also emerged in the field of music science. Dr. Gladys Heng, a researcher at the Brain-Computing Research Centre at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), explained that music activates multiple areas of the brain simultaneously. When responding to music, the auditory cortex (responsible for sound processing), the motor cortex (responsible for moving in rhythm with the music), and the frontal cortex (responsible for memory and attention) all become involved. Dr. Heng’s key finding is that familiarity with a music genre influences brain activity. The young Singaporean adults who participated in the study were exposed to songs from familiar genres (Japanese anime soundtracks) and unfamiliar genres (Greek folk music), allowing researchers to observe how music familiarity affects brain response patterns.

A ranking of brand reputations for new idol groups was also released. According to an analysis conducted by the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute in March 2025, Kiki topped the list. The big data analyzed covered a total of 15,620,000 entries from February 3 to March 3, representing a 28.11% increase compared to the previous month (approximately 12,200,000 entries). Kiki achieved a brand reputation score of 1,592,255, with participation scores at 275,714, media scores at 464,591, communication scores at 517,359, and community scores at 334,590. Hatsu Hearts came in second with a score of 1,407,391, followed by Baby Monster at 1,321,329. Overall, brand reputations declined by 21.95% compared to the previous month (1,692,919). BoiNext Door ranked fourth with a score of 1,234,963, showing an 8.11% increase from the previous month (1,142,320), while Tours finished fifth with a score of 1,158,155, a 26.10% decrease from the previous month (1,567,254).

The music industry is also witnessing changes in streaming services. Spotify has launched Music Pro, a subscription service that offers professional-grade features, including lossless audio and AI-powered remixing tools. The platform has also introduced audiobook services featuring AI narration. Additionally, Spotify and Warner Music Group have entered into a multi-year licensing agreement to keep Warner’s catalog available on the platform.