ABSTRACT
Think of the work required to make just one Justin Bieber. The production, the management, the vocal training, the choreography, the swagger coaching-all that effort to create one teenpop star in a country that’s still starving for them. South Korea has no such drought, thanks to several companies that specialize in manufacturing a steady stream of teenage idols, in groups of various configurations. One of the longest-running of these companies is SM Entertainment, which on Sunday night hosted SM Town Live, a sold-out showcase at Madison Square Garden for several of its acts, any one of which any American reality-TV talent show or major-label A&R department worth its salt would be thrilled to have discovered. American teen-pop at its peak has never been this productive. K-pop-short for Korean pop-is an environment of relentless newness, both in participants and in style; even its veteran acts are still relatively young, and they make young music.
