From Google Layoff to K-Pop Entrepreneur: The 12 Year K-pop Journey in Korea

Hello, this is Klab Insight. we’re bringing you a series of interviews featuring stories of people who make a living through K-pop.

For our feature, we’re introducing Jason Yu, the founder of Popsori, a K-pop creative agency that takes an in-depth approach to K-pop, focusing on the business and industry side.

Jason's journey into the world of K-pop started with a passion for music and culture that began in Japan in the late '90s. From there, he transitioned from journalism to brand marketing, data analysis, and contract negotiation.

Today, his work at Popsori involves content creation, consulting, and building global partnerships to bring K-pop to international audiences.

Through his diverse career path, Jason has navigated the K-pop industry from various angles, and his insights will inspire both aspiring K-pop professionals and those interested in the broader entertainment business.

This newsletter highlights:

• Innovative Career Opportunities in K-POP Beyond Entertainment Agencies

• Approach to Connecting K-POP with Global Audience

• Essential Skills for Success in the K-POP Industry

Q. Can you introduce yourself?

Hello, my name is Jason! I am the founder of a K-pop creative agency called Popsori. Previously, I lived in Korea for 12 years and Japan for 7 years. I worked as a journalist for Yonhap News, Korea Times, and the South China Morning Post. Then I transitioned in the K- pop industry as a brand marketer and data analyst.

I would say two big moments were turning points in my career. The first was in 2010 when I left my software engineering job in California to move to Korea.

My second was in early 2023 when I was Laid off from Google and I returned back to K-pop for good.

Q. What sparked your interest in K-pop and Korean culture? Was there a specific moment or artist that drew you in?

I first found about K-pop in 1997 as a kid living in Japan. I was actually looking up J-pop online when I stumbled on two K-pop groups: S.E.S and H.O.T. I thought to myself, “this isn’t J-pop! what is this Asian music?”

I soon found out it was K-pop. After hearing their songs and watching their early music videos, I started looking up more into more K-pop artists and was soon hooked. After K- pop, I started getting into K-dramas, culture, and the language.

Q. What inspired you to transition from software engineering to the entertainment and K-pop industry?

After working as a software engineer for three years in California, I was burnt out. Sadly, I didn’t find any fulfillment in programming and wanted to explore other careers for a few years.

So, when my friend, who went to the same college I did, called me one day from Korea and asked, “Jason, have you ever thought about teaching in Korea?” I started to think about moving to Korea to teach and slowly work on the side in journalism. I thought that journalism would be my gateway in getting into the K-pop industry.

After journalism, I transitioned to brand marketing, data analytics, contract negotiation, and content creation.

Q. Can you share a little about your background and how you first became involved with the K-pop industry?

When I moved to Korea in 2010 to teach English, I had this crazy idea of breaking into the K-pop industry on the side as a journalist. I basically cold-called people in Korean. Surprisingly, I had no journalism experience at the time.

So, I looked up all the big K-pop labels – SM, JYP, YG, Cube, Pledis, etc. – and called them to see if I could cover their events. I asked them if I could cover all the big groups, such as SNSD, Big Bang, TVXQ, T-ara, and 2NE1 at the time.

Naturally, I got rejected by every label, as they didn’t know who I was and I had no idea how journalism worked. One PR person at Cube Entertainment, a Korean-American, changed my entire career. Rather than reject me outright, he took 20 minutes out of his day to give me real advice.

This PR person told me to not focus on all the big artists, such as SNSD and Big Bang, but to focus on the indie artists and build journalism experience instead. So, I made a blog and for three years, I only covered Korean indie, hip-hop, and non-K-pop groups.

Q. You’ve lived in several countries, including Japan and Korea. How has this global perspective influenced your work?

I think having lived in Japan (7 years) and Korea (12 years) helped me in my career a lot. Living overseas showed me how Japanese and Korean culture plays a huge part on how the J-pop and K-pop industries work.

Q. What motivated you to start Popsori, and how does it reflect your personal vision?

I started Popsori because I wanted to talk about K-pop more in-depth, such as the business and industry side of K-pop. I found that nearly all K-pop content was, in my opinion, low- hanging fruit, such as K-pop reactions, K-pop random dance, and news/gossip videos.

I wanted to go past all the more superficial videos. I wanted to make K-pop both fun and educational, as well as be taken more seriously.

So, I decided to use my journalism experience in Korea and show foreigners how the Korean music industry works.

Q. Could you elaborate on your current role at Popsori? What does a typical day look like?

These days, I work a lot of different hats at Popsori. Brand marketer. Data analyst. Contract negotiator. Content creator.

My job changes from day-to-day, which makes it both exciting and exhausting, since my work days are not consistent.

One day, I’ll spend a majority of my day emailing and video calling brands about bringing K- pop groups to anime cons, gaming events, and K-pop stores. Another day, I’ll be working with brands as a consultant on promoting K-pop in the West. Then maybe next week, I’ll be at a concert, hired by a K-pop label or tour organizer, to take data analytics. Then the week after, I’ll be invited to a concert or convention to film and do content creation.

I would say in 2024, over 50% of my work was on the business side of talking to brands, brand marketing, and setting my contract negotiations.

In 2025, I do want to get back to my journalism roots and make more content, as I enjoy that the most.

Q. Your YouTube channel has gained substantial traction. How did you build your audience, and what do you attribute to its success?

I think two major factors helped me grow my YouTube channel. The first one was that I niched down to “exploring in-depth K-pop,” where I talked about K-pop business, industry, and history. This differentiated me from the K-pop reaction videos, dance videos, and news/gossip videos.

The second is that I had major credibility, since I have over 700 press/media/industry badges, lived in Korea for 12 years, and worked in the K-pop industry in Seoul. There’s not many foreigners that have done that, so I think that made me stand out more.

Q. How are you monetizing through Popsori?

We are monetizing Popsori through a variety of platforms. Here are our main platforms:

• Sponsorships / brand deals

• Patreon

• YouTube ads (Google Adsense)

• Consulting

• Contract negotiating

• Hosting / MCing events

In the near future, we plan on selling merch, digital courses, and fan events, which will create more recurring revenue per month.

I think it’s important for businesses to have a variety of ways to make money, rather than depend on just one or two venues. For instance, most YouTubers, for instance, only rely on YouTube ads or YouTube ads + sponsorships.

Q. What are the top challenges you’ve faced in monetizing Popsori, and how did you overcome them?