Coronavirus and K-pop in 2020: how BTS, Blackpink, NCT and the rest of the industry weathered the pandemic, and the risk of a pop infection cluster

K-pop had a good year, despite the limitations caused by Covid-19 and the need for social distancing

Albums sold in their millions, labels put on paid-for online concerts, and industry award events went ahead

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BTS and most of K-pop have had a good year financially, despite Covid-19. Photo: Cindy Ord/WireImage

Published: 10:15pm, 28 Dec 2020Updated: 1:45pm, 30 Dec 2020

The year started strongly for K-pop. The beginning of a new decade, it felt like anything could happen. Then the Covid-19 pandemic shut down much of the world, changing people’s lives.

Initially, South Korea had a successful response to the coronavirus, and things stabilised quickly for the K-pop industry after planned album releases and world tours were postponed or cancelled.

Paradoxically, 2020 turned out to be a major year for the Korean pop industry at a time when many others struggled.

Music of the moment

SuperM performed at an online Beyond Live concert in April.

K-pop artists over the past few years have been creating music of the moment, much of it dealing with the experiences of this generation of young people. In 2020, acts like BTS, SuperM and Tomorrow X Together released albums meant to provide comfort and insight into the period we’re living through, and many others released songs dealing with similar themes.