Looking back at writing in 2024, and forward to 2025

It is very late on January 1, 2025, and I'm just sitting down to write up my 2024 year-in-review pieces for Notes on K-pop after taking a break from newsletter writing accidentally these past few days. I hope everyone had a very happy end-of-2024 season, and hope that the new year brings you health, happiness, and a world that is perhaps less messy than last year's (though I doubt it).

I have a few 2024 retrospectives I'd like to share, but due to day job/life, I'm constantly behind on this newsletter at the moment. I hope to get those out to you over the next few days and weeks. I apologize for the delays, and thank you for your support regardless.

Firstly, thank you for reading and subscribing. I wouldn't be writing if not for you.

Secondly, I have a lot on my mind at the moment, about the past of NoK and the future.

In 2024, Notes on K-pop ended up surprising me in two major ways:

• It became a place to try to make sense of the absolute chaos that was K-pop in 2024.
  • The number one most-read article of the year was The precarity of being a hit K-pop girl group in 2024.

The burdened, blank slate of K-pop in 2024

Every year starts more or less the same: with a sense of hope that it’ll be better than the last. But for K-pop, 2023 left the industry in a tumultuous state, and 2024 is going to have to figure out what it all means. A brief, very generalized reminder of

Notes on K-popTamar Herman

• I launched a fellowship for burgeoning writers, and some readers were so kind to support it so that I could feature not the two writers I hoped to but expanded it to four. Their pieces were really great, and you should take a read if you haven't yet.
  • Tips for the Lovecraftian Horror that is K-pop concert ticketing
  • Beyond the Bias: Rising Asian and Asian-American Boy Bands You Need to Pay Attention To
  • Finding K-pop where the stars don’t go
  • Notes on K-pop interview: Isabel Jones
  • The K-Pop Fandom Ecosystem: Group Orders & What They Create

I really, really loved working with all of these writers, and hope people always feel comfortable reaching out to me (or else read my piece for people hoping to break into the industry). I'm not certain if I'll do this formal fellowship ever again, but I learned a lot through the process, and really enjoyed mentoring people formally.

In 2024, Notes on K-pop also ended up disappointing me a bit, and by that I mean I disappointed myself quite a bit in retrospect.

• I didn't do as many interviews as I hoped to.
• I focused too much on drama and business news, rather than music.
• I didn't keep to a schedule as much as I had hoped to.

Here come the career regrets

A little trigger warning right here that Tamar Is Getting Very Personal in this Newsletter. Feel free not to read. I’ll be back with normal, a bit more fun programming, next week (hopefully!) In my email to myself about a month ago, I wrote, “Eaj, Elul, and long overdue apologies

Notes on K-popTamar Herman

I also didn't freelance half as much as I hoped to this year; I had hoped this was the year I finally wrote a cover story. I also had hoped to sell the second book pitch I was hoping to.

But all of that's okay. I don't necessarily feel dissatisfied with what I did do, which was cover a lot of intense topics, speak to some cool people, consistently write despite an intense day job. I also went to Korea for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic was just hitting China (to interview Enhypen, in case you missed it).

Maybe therapy does actually work, because I am recognizing how much I did this year, even when it also feels a bit like a failure.

So moving forward into 2025, here are my hopes, both for Notes on K-pop and myself.

For Notes on K-pop:

• Create a calendar that's better well-rounded than reactionary think pieces. Aim for weekly, or bi-weekly posting.
• Feature an interview with a creative or journalist at least every other month.
• Offer up a monthly reading list along with my regular recs and news updates at the end of newsletters.
• Write at least five album deep-dives over the year.
• Listen better to reader feedback. Please fill out the survey if you haven't yet.

For Myself:

• Get that cover story I've always dreamed of.
• Pitch more, and write more.
• Rewrite Book 2 pitch. Pitch it.
• Start writing a fiction novel.

And, whatever happens, I hope to be on this journey with you all and many more new readers in days to come.

Thank you, as always, for supporting and reading Notes on K-pop.