Unless you're an Asian music fan living under a rock, it's fairly obvious that K-Pop has become a global music scene, even before PSY put it on the radar of the general public with "Gangnam Style." There are K-Pop fangirls and fanboys in pretty much every country you can think of, and the groups' international concerts draw in plenty of fans, to the point where the majority of them end up being sold-out affairs. It's not even all that uncommon for bigger cities like NYC to have their own K-Pop stores with CDs, posters, and other goodies that fans want to get their hands on.
But what about J-Pop? J-Pop also has a large fanbase, one that is also international. There are AKB48 devotees, Johnny's Entertainment bloggers, fan subbers, and all sorts of people who get into Japan's very own idol culture, which was around long before Korea started trying out groups like H.O.T and g.o.d and became the force we know it to be today. It's not too difficult to come across the genre considering that anime series have J-Pop or J-Rock themes attached to them, and many otaku eventually express an interest in getting to know those acts better. There's no reason why J-Pop shouldn't be global, but there's a noticeable difference from the international spread of K-Pop to that of J-Pop. J-Pop acts rarely tour outside of Asia. Their merch is hard to come across unless shopping at a specialty online store. Even at conventions, J-Rock acts are more commonly recruited for gigs than their pop counterparts. In most cases, you're even more likely to come across a K-Pop booth selling CDs at a convention than a J-Pop one. The genre has a fanbase, and there are supporters out there in various locations, but why isn't J-Pop as truly global as K-Pop?
One of the first problems lies in Youtube. Most K-Pop fans first discover the genre by watching music videos, which are posted on Youtube through either the label itself or promoters like 1theK. One of the first videos I recall watching on Youtube was Super Junior's "Sorry Sorry," and through the recommendation bar, I found plenty of others to check out. There are quite a few fan-subbed interviews and reality shows on Youtube as well, and though broadcasters shut them down occasionally, they're for the most part left alone. International fans can't really watch them anywhere else, after all, and if they draw in fans, it's worth having them available.
J-Pop has a much more limited presence on Youtube. Most of the anime themes are there thanks to the massive otaku fanbase, and a few artists have accounts with VEVO or labels that allow videos to be posted. One or two labels, Avex in particular, have short PVs instead of full-length ones to give fans a taste of the song without revealing the whole thing (and thus opening it to Youtube to MP3 downloads). But other than that, J-Pop just isn't on Youtube. Fan subbers will try to post the music from time to time, but they will invariably get shut down for copyright infringement. To find videos for certain acts, you have to go sneaking around Dailymotion, Vimeo, and Jpopsuki, but since those aren't the most common sites for video viewing in comparison to Youtube, curious listeners still may not be able to find them. Interviews and reality shows are also difficult to find, and anyone who posts them will once again most likely be shut down for copyright infringement.
I get that the record labels have every right to do that. I really do. The music industry has taken a hit from digital downloading, and if the song is up on Youtube, you can essentially listen to it as many times as you want without paying for it (though Youtube does offer advertising to the labels themselves to keep things from being completely free). But at the same time, people just don't buy CDs without knowing what they're investing in first (and that's if they buy it all), or else we'd wind up with people buying Nickleback and expecting a hardcore rock group. If they don't know what the heck Arashi sounds like, they're not just going to purchase the CD blindly. Before you can have those fans investing in merchandise and concert tickets, you have to hook them first with music. And that's one of the benefits of Youtube-- it's a place where listeners can be exposed to the music and foster an interest in it. Copyright infringement is an issue, but it can be avoided if the label itself posts the video, such as with Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and EXILE's videos. People can rip and download tracks even if they're not on Youtube, so refusing to have them on the site is hardly preventing illegal downloading, but simply making it harder for fans to be introduced to the music in the first place.
One of the reasons K-Pop has been so successful globally is because we feel like we know the members. I can watch MTV Diary and Mydol and learn all about VIXX, for example. I get to know the six members. I figure out that Ken likes to pretend he's an ahjumma, N likes to hog the camera, Leo isn't a big talker (but absolutely loves animals and children), Hyuk wasn't planned to be in the original line-up, and Hongbin is quite the stunning visual. That these shows are left available for international fans is a huge asset to the genre. Arirang TV has even introduced English-language shows to market to global fans, giving them a chance to see that their bias groups know about them and care about their support.
J-Pop interviews are out there, but much harder to find. It typically involves hunting around livejournal or blog communities to find fan sub circles who have translated them. And without those shows, it's difficult to feel that special connection to the members. You can read about them and listen to their songs, but there are some things you can only understand by seeing it in action. If you can't watch KAT-TUN shows like Cartoon KAT-TUN, for example, you might not pick up on Taguchi's goofy personality or Koki's almost un-idol-like irreverence.
Of course, Japan's music industry is one of the world's biggest. They don't necessarily need to expand as much as Korea's does, because South Korea is a relatively small country. But at the same time, it seems odd not to cater to a fanbase that is clearly there. The value of the yen has weakened, and if the artists could be supported by their foreign fanbase, why not go there? Kyary Pamyu Pamyu has proved that J-Pop stars can be global hits, and there are others who can follow in her footsteps. I would love to go to a Kis-my-ft2 concert and shop for merchandise at a convention, and I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that way.
J-Pop's model technically works the way it does now, but I think it would be amazing if they at least progressed in the share-ability of music videos and shows involving their music acts. If fan-subbers are a concern, the bigger labels and sub themselves using Youtube's caption options (Korean labels have started doing this for shows like WINNER TV and Real GOT7), so that advertising money is still going to them. Anime themes work well in regards to exposure of the songs globally, but it's also important for artists to share in that exposure, and the best way to give fans a sense of who the artists are is to see them in action through their videos and live appearances.
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