East & South Asia
The sound of South Korea
K-pop is a production system as much as a genre, and judging it by individual songs misses what it is doing. The hip-hop and R&B scenes around it are where the less engineered records are.
754 artists in the catalog.
What South Korea does that nowhere else does
Genres far more common here than across the rest of the catalog. The multiplier is how much more common, weighted by how many artists carry it.
Five records to start with
Not a canon — a way in. Each one links to what it is, who it's for and where to go next.
Korean artists worth walking into
Ordered by how much we can tell you, not just by how well-known they are.
Girls' Generation
J-pop · K-pop
Where to start →TVXQ
K-pop · dance music
Where to start →IU
K-pop · pop music
Where to start →Twice
J-pop · K-pop
Where to start →Super Junior
K-pop · synth-pop
Where to start →SHINee
K-pop · synth-pop
Where to start →BTS
K-pop · Korean hip-hop
Where to start →4Minute
K-pop · synth-pop
Where to start →BoA
K-pop · pop music
Where to start →Kara
K-pop
Where to start →Stray Kids
J-pop · K-pop
Where to start →BtoB
K-pop
Where to start →