Swedish Composers See 1,000% Growth as Female Creators Rise in K-POP Industry’s Global Shift

The K-POP industry is undergoing rapid transformation centered around global creative ecosystems. Released by STIM, the Swedish music export association, revenue generated by Swedish composers through K-POP exports has increased by a staggering 1,000% since 2018. This indicates that the success of K-POP is expanding beyond South Korea into international collaboration networks. The report described Swedish composers’ success in K-POP as evidence that Swedes have fully mastered K-POP’s musical structures. Notably, the composition of Swedish K-POP composers differs significantly from that of English-speaking composers. While the top 10 composers on global English-language charts are all male, half of the top Swedish composers in the K-POP sector are female. Notable examples include Moa, “Kazi Ophelia” Karlberg, and Ilva Dimberg. There is also a significant difference in age demographics. While 70% of top Swedish composers in the English-speaking space are over 40 years old, 70% of top Swedish composers in K-POP are under 40. The economic impact of K-POP is further evident. If 1 represents the kronor earned by Swedish composers in South Korea, their streaming revenue from K-POP songs worldwide is twice that amount. Streaming volumes for Swedish artists in Latin America have even surpassed those in Northern Europe, demonstrating how the global music export system centered on K-POP is becoming increasingly diversified.

Meanwhile, the internal structure of K-POP is also evolving. As the Japanese market gains importance, Japanese members are becoming central to K-POP groups. TWICE, which made its Debut in 2015, set a precedent by achieving explosive popularity in both South Korea and Japan thanks to its Japanese members Mina, Sana, and Momo (known as the MISMOM unit). TWICE became the first K-pop girl group to surpass 20 million combined album sales in South Korea and Japan. While early Japanese members primarily served as symbols of nationality, recent groups like ILLIT and BABYMONSTER have established their presence through exceptional performance skills. ILLIT’s Iroha is the group’s top dancer, while BABYMONSTER’s Asa has attracted attention from fans in both countries with her outstanding rap abilities. In particular, BABYMONSTER’s case—where YG Entertainment recruited its first Japanese member—is a symbolic event showing just how deeply the industry has become internationalized. The normalization of Japanese members signifies that K-POP now has a self-sufficient foundation that is not dependent on external economic factors. Following the deterioration in South Korea-Japan relations in 2012, which led to a decline in Korean wave popularity in Japan, agencies adopted a strategy of bringing in local members to enhance market relevance. After Miyawaki Sakura made her Debut with IZ*ONE in 2018, connecting the J-pop idol system with the K-pop system, this trend continued to spread. This outcome resulted from K-pop’s globalization and various waves of Korean wave resurgence, enabling K-pop to establish itself as an everyday culture in Japanese society rather than merely a foreign one.