It's the lucrative industry that has turned South Korea into one of Asia's pop capitals.
Known commonly as K-Pop, young men and women are scouted from all over South Korea and transformed into pop stars by record labels.
23-year-old Jason Jang, is one of the products of South Korea's manufactured pop industry.
Born and schooled in Brisbane, Jason now lives in South Korea with his family and is the lead singer of Led Apple.
“The reason why I looked into the K-Pop industry instead of a singing career back in Australia is because of the perspective that Aussies have for Asian artists,” he tells Dateline.
“And how difficult it is for an Asian artist to be successful in a Western country. That's the only reason why I came back to my parents’ home country.”
Now he is surrounded by adoring fans, especially in South Korea and Japan, and it’s something of a surprise for his old classmates in Brisbane.
"'I didn’t know you could sing' is their main reaction," he says. “Because I’ve never sung in front of my Aussie friends…ever.”
K-Pop is incredibly popular. The carefully manufactured bands have caught Asia’s attention with their perfect looks and catchy songs, but it hasn’t all been easy for Jason.
“My audition was a failure. I went back up to the CEO of the agency and I asked, begged, that he pick me to be in this group,” he reveals.
But fame hasn’t yet produced a fortune for the fast rising star. He is feeling the pressure of stardom and his parents are not happy.
“I’m not enjoying the pressure that much,” he says. “I feel as if I have to work twice as harder so that I don’t disappoint them because they’ve made a big sacrifice.”
Listen: Dateline reporter Jeannette Francis speaks to Peggy Giakoumelos and explains more on the reasons why Jason had to leave Australia to find fame.
