K-Pop Demon Hunters and the Value of Audience Experiences

In this 5 minute video analysis, I argue that in commercial entertainment and media, media value does not only derive from the “unique” quality of the work in isolation. Rather, commercial media continuously generates value through each fan’s unique experiences of the media. I use K-Pop Demon Hunter’s “Honmoon” as a visual representation of how the value generated by an original art (music) grows in thanks to reproduction (concerts, recordings) because each fan’s experience of the music is a valuable and unique experience. I also prove my argument through the metrics of K-Pop Demon Hunter’s performance in the real world.

I reference an article, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1935), by Walter Benjamin, a German philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist. The article argues that mediums of reproduction such as television and photography diminish the “unique” value of art, as reproductions cannot capture the “presence in time and space” of the original art fully. Simultaneously, Benjamin argues that reproduction also democratizes art so that more people may access and experience it, creating art that can be valued on its mass effect and media politics rather than solely on its ritual or object value.