New Populism in the Entertainment Industry

Populism is related to the people by definition, and populists usually present themselves as the choice or the representatives of “the people.” In order to become successful as a populist, it is necessary to attract peoples’ attention and support because the survival and success of a populist depends on the people’s demands and wants. In traditional populism, a populist often puts “the people” against “the elite” who are the established group of people in cultural, political, and social disciplines, and thus creating the images of antagonism, social resistance, and class struggle. New populism is defined as an ideology emphasizing “coopetition” which is a combined word meaning cooperative competition where populists can become successful through collaboration and cooperation as well as competition. Entertainment industry, e.g., the global music industry, is a perfect example to show how the principle of populism, both new and traditional, is applied and works. The musicians are the populists whose survival and success depend on the people, i.e., fan’s attention and support. They need to know how to apply the concept and strategy of populism in order to gain and maintain popularity among fans. The purpose of this entry is to explain how new populism works in the music industry by using the case of BTS, South Korean boy band, who have achieved unprecedented success in the recent years. The BTS group presents an interesting case of new populism in terms of value creation process. Cases and literature reviews about the BTS group will be used to show how they create and deliver values to the fans. Also, they are compared with the Beatles, and the differences and similarities between the groups are examined. Lessons and implications are drawn from the discussions.