Amid the calls for real action to reverse climate change, the discourse around personal behaviours and “doing your part” have circled the K-pop space for some time now. K-pop is notoriously known for being a wasteful hobby or lifestyle with the bulk buying of albums and the constant revolving door of merchandise ready to be gobbled up by fans.
Last year, Blackpink stepped into the ‘eco-friendly’ spotlight to promote the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) which will be held November 1st to November12th in Glasgow, Scotland. While they have since released sustainable merchandise for their 5th anniversary and a sustainable clothing line with Adidas, Blackpink have also released quite an excessive amount of merchandise that is not marketed as sustainable.
Main vocalist Rose released multiple versions of a 2 song album and main rapper dancer/rapper Lisa is set to release her solo debut in a similar manner. There was also the summer release of the Japanese version of The Album, their first full Korean album, which I understand has 12(!) different versions. Frankly, it is hard to reconcile their “love for the planet and their desire to learn more [on how to better treat the planet]” with the capitalistic nature of K-pop that basically sells anything that companies can slap their group’s name on.
Further, the competitive nature of K-pop means that hyper-consumption of albums or singles for top chart positions is not just about the sales of physical albums but also includes streaming on music platforms like Spotify, Apple, Tidal, etc. and viewing music videos on Youtube. Many are not aware but there are environmental costs associated with these actions. The environmental costs increase based on the activity and viewing videos online tend to be the most costly.
I don’t want to sound like I am throwing Blackpink under the bus or singling them out but their company did market these girls as being on the side of climate change while mass producing environmentally harmful products at the same time. What makes this odd, is that YGE certainly has the budget to provide eco-friendly albums like Chungha did with Querencia. I have also seen translations from fan call events where ( H1gher Music’s ) Jay B’s debut album SOMO: Fume is also made of sustainable material. If artists from relatively smaller agencies can make the effort then YGE has no excuse.
Now, there is still a chance that Rose’s solo, Lisa’s solo and the Japanese version of The Album has been/will be produced with environmentally-friendly materials but YGE chose not to market them as such. I don’t know why they would go that route but it is possible. I did reach out to YGE and they have not gotten back to my inquiry.
This piece came out of my desire to support Lisa’s upcoming solo and I will still do so but I am hoping that their company keeps our planet in mind when the album is released. There may still be time to remain true to their pledge, as they said it best in their video: “climate change affects us all”.