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Opinion | Abba did it, and so are BTS – singing in English to reach a bigger audience and sell more albums. It doesn’t mean they’re selling out, as Netflix’s This Is Pop reminds us
- Much of what artists and experts say in This Is Pop, Netflix series, about breaking out as a Big, Global Pop Star applies to K-pop group BTS’ quest for success
- Put simply, their message is that you are going to have it much harder if you don’t play by the rules of the US music industry because of its dominance
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“We said, ‘if we are allowed to sing in English, we must’.”
So says Benny Andersson of Swedish pop group Abba in This Is Pop, a new Netflix documentary that dropped in June – but these words could just have easily been uttered by a member of BTS.
The K-pop group’s Permission to Dance, which topped the US Billboard’s Hot 100 in the week beginning July 18, is their fifth No 1 on the prestigious music chart. Of those five, only one – last year’s Life Goes On – was in Korean; the rest have been in English.
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This has led to debate about the localisation and anglicisation of BTS’ music for the American music market. Their original English singles – Dynamite, Butter and Permission to Dance – are enthusiastically upbeat and not necessarily typical of BTS’ singles.
Opinions vary as to whether this is the right move for BTS. Some declare it a new venture and era for the group and others question whether the band are “selling out” while trying to appease a sizeable US market. The group has been forthright that they are aiming for a Grammy win with their latest releases.
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