Cultivating A&Rs in K-pop: The Funnel Production Ecosystem in the Contemporary Popular Culture Industry

Studies of the K-pop industry, often cited as a paradigmatic example of contemporary popular culture shaped by strong fan communities, have tended to fall into two camps. One camp frames K-pop production through a Fordist lens, likening it to commercial, factory-like manufacturing, while the other emphasizes the agency of fans in producing, circulating, and distributing cultural objects in today’s digital era. Both perspectives, however, often overlook the lived realities of fans who seek careers within the contemporary popular culture industry. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Seoul, South Korea, this paper investigates the professionalization of K-pop fans into A&R (artists and repertoire) roles at hagwons (private tutoring centers), exploring the challenges and tensions inherent in this transition. We analyze how aspiring K-pop producers are socialized into what we call K-pop’s funnel production ecosystem, an environment in which available resources converge to shape highly polished cultural products. By examining the experiences of K-pop fans undergoing professionalization training at hagwons, our findings illuminate the contradictions fan-producers encounter as they navigate a production model that positions every participant to bear substantial A&R responsibilities. Through an exploration of how fan-producers manage the tension between personal passion and professional identity, we position K-pop as a valuable case study for understanding the complexities of fandom, professionalization, and labor in contemporary popular culture industries.