One of the first differences when it comes to Kpop and western music, is there are many more boybands in the Kpop industry. The Boy band or "Idol boy" image is a highly popular one with artists in Korea, although some boy bands may veer towards the bad boy image, such as 2PM, or they may aim towards the cute image, such as Xing.
In terms of girl groups, one major difference between American girl groups/solo artists, and Korean girl groups/solo artists, is that female groups are not promoted with the idea that "sex sells", like many of the American female artists today. It's rare to see a female Korean idol dressed the same as scantily clad American female artists, which makes them much better role models to younger girls.
South Korea is still quite a respectful and honourable country, which translates into its music industry. If in a group, the oldest will usually be given the title of a leader. It is his or her responsability to take care of their fellow members, make sure they're eating right, that they can handle everything, and that in general they're doing okay. One of the best examples of a good leader in a Kpop group, is Leeteuk (real name Park Jung Soo).
Image credit: fanpop.com
Since he is the leader of 12 other guys, a lot of responsability rests on his shoulders, but he carries out his duties as a leader better than anyone else I can think of. When the father of another Super Junior member, Donghae, was dying, he asked Leeteuk to take care of Donghae when he was gone. And Leeteuk has done just that, but without disregarding the other members. He cares about each and every Super Junior and loves them like a father. He's very admirable in this sense.
The youngest in a group is referred to as the "magnae". His or her role is pretty much to not say much and just be extremely cute. He/she must respect the older members in his/her group, but is also generally taken care of by their hyungs/unnies.
One prime example of a good magnae is Lee Taemin from SHINee.
Image credit: asianpopcorn.com
He's currently sixteen years old, and is one of the youngest idols in the Kpop world. Because of his young age, he's quite innocent and therefore fulfills the role of a typical magnae perfectly. He respects his hyungs (word for older brother in Korean), and they take care of him in return. This is all part of the Korean society which is so generally followed that it's evident and expected in its pop music.
When it comes to Western music, a band or group will make an album perhaps once every year or two, and go on tour right after they release it. Go on the odd tv show, perhaps release a perfume, and then do little or nothing while they rest or work on a new album. This is not how it's done in Korean pop.
A new artist or band will typically be selected through the trainees of an entertainment company. To become a trainee, you need to successfully pass an audition, where your vocal, dance and even MC-ing skills are put to the test. If you are selected as a trainee, this means hours of practice most days, in order for you to be completely prepared if you are selected to be in a new group. When singles are released, teasers in the form of photos will we released, then a teaser of the song/Music video, then the full album is released before a group's official debut/comeback on any of Korea's 3 main music shows; Music Bank, Inkigayo, or Kchart. the group will perform their song on usually all three shows once a week for roughly six weeks, depending on the songs popularity, and how long the company choose to promote it. The lengths of albums can range from full albums (e.g. 14 songs), mini-albums (e.g. six songs) or a single (usually three songs).
Not only do the groups/individual stars perform thrice weekly on music shows, they also do radio appearances, overseas activities (in Japan, China, Singapore, etc.), TV shows, talk show spots, guest appearances, etc. You may think that it sounds strenuous on the stars who have to go out and do all these things. And yes. It very much is.
One of the prime examples when it comes to a company overworking its stars, is S.M. Entertainment.
It's one of the biggest entertainment empires in all of Korea, at the expense of its artists. Every single artist it manages is promoted to the extreme. Asia-wide concert tours. Subgroups are formed to be aimed at certain markets in the music industry. Constant appearances on variety shows, interviews with magazines, radio and TV appearances, overseas promotions, the list goes on. One could assume that this is all well and good for the artists, as they could be earning a lot of money from it.
But sadly, this is definitely not the case with SME artists. The most popular boy band in Asia, DBSK, are managed by SME and they only receive 10-20% of their total income. Three of the members finally had enough, and filed a lawsuit against SME in July of 2009. They asked for their contracts with SME to be terminated. They are under a 13 year contract, under terms which they deem as unfair. The Seoul District Court did rule in their favour, agreeing with their claims that the contract was unfair. However, SME called a press conference stating that the lawsuit was a fraud. They said that the lawsuit was not filed due to unfair contracts, but because of the greed of the members over their cosmetic promotions. SME and the DBSK members, Kim "Xiah" Junsu, Kim "Hero" Jaejoong, and Park "Micky" Yoochun, have still to resolve this issue.
Kpop to my knowledge, suffers from the most legal battles more so than any other music genre. Hopefully a time will come when all the Kpop artists can happily promote without being overworked or underpaid.
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