SEOUL — In an entertainment world increasingly built around seconds-long clips, viral hooks and algorithm-driven discovery, a group of Korean musicians is taking a very different approach: they are asking audiences to slow down and stay with the music.
The latest examples come from singer-songwriter Jang Ki-ha, rock band Hyukoh and rapper Kim Simya, whose recent projects experiment with longer films, unconventional album formats and listening experiences that cannot be easily reduced to a short social-media clip.
The movement does not mean short-form content is disappearing. Far from it. Korean entertainment executives identified short-form as one of the industry’s major trends for 2026, with dedicated short-form platforms continuing to expand.
Instead, these musicians appear to be exploring the opposite question: What happens when music is designed to be experienced as a complete work rather than as a viral fragment?
Jang Ki-ha Turns an Album Into a 33-Minute Film
Jang Ki-ha’s first solo studio album, “Sansanjorak,” released on Sept. 9, is perhaps the clearest example.
Rather than recording the music first and producing videos afterward, Jang began with a poem he wrote and developed it into a 33-minute silent film. He then created nine songs around the finished visual work, matching the music to the rhythm and progression of the film.
The project took approximately two years to complete.
The unusual production process effectively reverses the traditional music-video formula. Instead of creating a video to accompany finished songs, the film became the foundation from which the music was built.
The project was also given a theatrical life. Yonhap reported that “Sansanjorak” was screened in theaters, while the full video-music project was subsequently made available online.
Jang’s experiment arrives at a moment when many songs are increasingly engineered for immediate recognition and short-form circulation.
Kim Simya Takes the “No-Skip” Idea Even Further
Rapper Kim Simya is taking a similarly unconventional route with his second full-length album, “Dogma.”
Released Sept. 9, the project includes a physical edition that does not use the traditional CD format. Instead, it comes as a small speaker-equipped player inspired by meditation devices, with only 4,500 units produced. The physical version also contains versions of tracks that differ from the digital release.
Newsis reported that the limited edition quickly sold out at some major retailers after reservations opened.
The format is significant because it changes the relationship between the listener and the music. Rather than treating tracks as endlessly interchangeable digital files, the player encourages a more continuous listening experience.
Kim also collaborated with artist and filmmaker Park Chan-kyong on a roughly 26-minute visual work connected to the album, further blurring the boundary between music, film and contemporary art.
Hyukoh Also Stretches the Conventional Song Format
Band Hyukoh has likewise experimented with longer musical forms.
Recent coverage highlighted the group’s track “KoK,” which runs for more than eight minutes — substantially longer than the ultra-short tracks increasingly optimized for quick social-media consumption.
The point is not necessarily to declare war on TikTok, YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels.
Rather, these projects suggest that some musicians are deliberately creating works that cannot be fully understood from a 15- or 30-second excerpt.
The Bigger Battle Is Over Attention
The contrast is becoming increasingly visible across Korean pop culture.
The Korea Times has described K-pop in 2026 as developing along two parallel paths: music designed for immediate viral impact and music built around slower emotional immersion, live performance and repeat listening.
Short-form remains enormously influential. It can introduce songs to audiences around the world at extraordinary speed and give emerging artists a pathway to global attention.
But virality has a weakness: a song can become famous without the audience necessarily engaging with the entire work.
That creates an artistic dilemma for musicians.
Should they make the perfect 20-second moment — or create an album that asks listeners to spend an hour with them?
Jang Ki-ha’s film-first album and Kim Simya’s unconventional physical release represent two answers to that question.
Korea’s Entertainment Industry Is Splitting Into Different Directions
The development is particularly interesting because Korea’s broader entertainment industry is simultaneously moving deeper into short-form.
The Korean Film Council reported that short-form content has become an established market, with dedicated platforms expanding and major traditional entertainment companies entering short-form drama production.
At the same time, Korean filmmakers and musicians are experimenting with longer, more immersive formats.
That means the future may not belong exclusively to either short or long content.
Instead, the Korean entertainment market could increasingly operate at two speeds: one optimized for discovery and virality, and another designed for immersion, storytelling and artistic depth.
For musicians, that distinction could become increasingly important.
A short clip may win the algorithm.
But a film, album or uninterrupted listening experience may create something harder to measure — a deeper relationship between the artist and the audience.
And that raises the bigger question now confronting the music industry: in an age where everyone is fighting for a few seconds of attention, could taking more time actually become the next form of rebellion?
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