By Honorary Reporter Minnath Azeez from Sri Lanka
Photos = Marion Van der Wees, Pledis Entertainment

"I'm a strong believer that when there's a song, there's a home for it. Even though a person said no to a song, that doesn't mean that we have to dump the song. It's a matter of looking outside the box." 

As a K-pop consultant for artists and repertoire (A&R) based in the U.K., Marion Van der Wees in a Zoom interview on April 24 called her role in the music industry "a matchmaker between songs and artists." She seeks the best matches of writers, producers and artists to create music and manages songwriters and producers. One of her successes is Josh McClelland, who made his K-pop debut in the boy group Seventeen's mini-album "Attacca."

I saw her profile on LinkedIn and noticed that many of the songs she pitched have been on the albums of famous K-pop groups such as NCT Dream, TXT and Red Velvet. Despite being self-employed in the U.K., she has worked with leading K-pop labels Hybe and SM. Also, some of the songs she pitched have made it to Billboard charts such as "Rock With You" by Seventeen.

K-pop boy group Seventeen's ninth mini-album "Attacca" (Pledis Entertainmnet)

Since 2020, Van der Wees has worked with many Korean labels including SM and Hybe. "It was my co-worker that introduced me to BTS and K-pop," she said. "She showed me the music video of BTS' 'On,' and I was instantly hooked." 

"After watching the video, I just got obsessed with BTS for six months straight. I started to look at the business side, learning about the culture and doing a lot of research on who was behind the songs. I then started reaching out to songwriters and producers, and this was how I got my first A&R consultancy job with Frank Music Management in the U.K."

Despite having no experience in A&R, the consultant said her love for K-pop led to her first song being placed in an album last year, namely "Yummy" by K-pop girl group Weekly. Many of her promoted songs such as "Hello Sunset" by Red Velvet and "Life is Still Going On" by NCT Dream have since made it to albums and recorded millions of views on YouTube.

On the translation process of original songs, Van der Wees said, "Nowadays a lot of songs are kept in English or at least half of them are with an English chorus because K-pop wants to go international and have people sing along. But when they're translated into Korean, the labels hire a Korean lyricist or change the whole concept of the song. When that happens, it's a different set of lyrics and we might not be involved in the new concept or lyrics."

The diversity of the writers of the songs has also intrigued many music fans across the world. "I feel like a song is influenced by different cultures, and that's why it's getting so much attention," she said. "There is a Latin vibe, Egyptian vibe and many others since people from different parts of the world are involved in it."

On the differences between Korean and Western labels, Van Der Wees said that in Korea, the song is more important than the person behind it so labels are more open than in the West to a variety of concepts and working with unpublished songwriters.

"The vocals of a song are very important because they dictate whom the song will be used for," she said. "If it's a female vocal, the labels generally use it for a female artist and if it's a male vocal, it's used for a male artist. But I've pitched a song with a male vocalist but the labels used it for a girl group. And I love when that happens because it breaks down all the stereotypes."

Like most creative industries, copyright is a major issue for artists. Van der Wees said writers and producers always have to sign a document proving the originality of a song's lyrics and melody. "Nowadays it's tougher because every song has the same chords. There are so many melodies and obviously, things are going to sound a bit the same," she said. "So while being mindful of copyrights is important, it shouldn't stop someone from creating or break the creativity flow."

Red Velvet "Hello Sunset" concept photo. (SM entertainment)

enny0611@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.