June 19, 2026
SEOUL – As K-pop companies expand into India in search of their next growth engine, veteran songwriter Alex Karlsson believes the country could become one of the world’s five largest music markets within a decade — a development that could reshape the trajectory of the Korean music industry.
The Swedish American producer, whose songwriting credits include BTS’ “We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal,” SuperM’s “Tiger Inside,” Enhypen’s “Fever” and Ateez’s “Bouncy (K-Hot Chilli Peppers),” said India represents a long-term opportunity rather than an immediately lucrative market.
“It’s really a conversation about the current market viability versus its potential,” Karlsson told The Korea Herald during an interview held as part of the Fete de la Musique 2026 conference in Seoul. The event commemorates the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and France and runs through June 22.
“We’ve seen other high-growth markets have (an) incredible impact on K-pop,” he said.
His comments come as major K-pop companies increasingly turn their attention to India. Hybe and JYP Entertainment have both recently established local operations in the country, seeking to replicate K-pop’s artist-development model in one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing consumer markets.
Karlsson acknowledged that significant obstacles remain.
“Let’s start with the hurdles: your classic lack of centralized reporting, low trust with local actors and limited buying power,” he said.
However, he argued that similar concerns once surrounded China before it emerged as one of the music industry’s most important markets.
“A lot of these were shared concerns with China 25 years ago, and in that market buying power changed while the rest didn’t. And this is where I believe the music industry sees the big change coming.”
What gives him confidence, he said, is the gradual improvement of the market’s underlying infrastructure.
“Buying power is going up, centralized reporting is looking to become more efficient and reliable, while there is more and more push to update copyright law to keep local players accountable,” he said.
“If the industry is successful in these other two metrics, I think there is a high likelihood India becomes one of the top five music markets in the world within a decade.”
Having worked in K-pop for more than a decade, Karlsson believes the genre’s global success stems not from any particular sound but from a unique production system that was designed from the outset for international expansion.
“K-pop is the methodology of launching the artist,” he said.
Artists under the K-pop umbrella may perform vastly different styles of music, from hip-hop and R&B to electropop and dance, and Karlsson says that the industry’s defining characteristic is its ability to combine those influences within a highly structured artist-development model.
“Clearly, they use different sounds, but another thing that I think is very much defined by K-pop is specifically the genre-bending,” Karlsson said. “It is less of a sonic genre than a process. And what they choose to bend within that, I think, remains K-pop.”
According to the Swedish songwriter, K-pop evolved from Western pop music and elements of Japan’s idol industry, but distinguished itself through more rigorous training systems, longer development periods and a stronger international focus.
“I think the recipe is an enhancement of traditional pop, but then that got picked up by J-pop. But I think the difference here is that J-pop never left its own borders. They stayed very much within their domestic market, while K-pop made the step of going international,” he said.
“The reason why it stood out so much is because the training was more intense, the selection of members was more intense, and the time and contract are longer, which gives you more time to develop a cohesive concept,” Karlsson added. “All these things combined, and specifically that it was built for export, are what gave K-pop its incredible advantage over the rest of the music industry.”
Asked which K-pop song best balances artistic ambition and commercial success, Karlsson immediately pointed to NewJeans’ 2023 hit “Super Shy.”
“Right now, in my mind, I think the best K-pop song for Korea is probably ‘Super Shy’ by NewJeans, and I think internationally that is going to be everyone’s favorite song,” Karlsson said. “I did not write it. I wish I did, but I think that is the best song.”
He praised the song’s ability to blend sophisticated musical ideas with mainstream accessibility, drawing comparisons to the songwriting philosophy of Max Martin, a Swedish record producer and songwriter known for hits like Britney Spears’s “…Baby One More Time” and the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” among others.
“It has all the elements of something that Max Martin would write as well, while still being so weird,” the songwriter said. “You have sevenths and ninths in these chords, and it is still a radio hit internationally. That is kind of weird, but it is amazing.”
He also highlighted the track’s clever use of repetition, a hallmark of effective pop songwriting.
“That song has so much repetition, but it still feels like it has the complexity of K-pop, and that is why I think it is so brilliant.”
