Lisa of Blackpink performs during the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 29, 2024. Image: Sony Music Entertainment Korea via The Korea Herald
As K-pop stars continue to gain global popularity and greater recognition in the music industry, fans have come to hold higher expectations for their live performances. Many K-pop fans now expect impressive vocal performances during live shows, with little tolerance for lip-syncing.
However, music insiders explain that it is nearly impossible for K-pop idols to sing perfectly while performing dynamic choreography. The challenge lies in how well they combine prerecorded vocals with live singing onstage.
Lisa of Blackpink was recently accused of lip-syncing at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards and the Global Citizen Festival in New York on Sept. 12 and 29, respectively. The criticism intensified during the Global Citizen Festival, where stars like Post Malone and Doja Cat also performed as headliners, with some fans pointing out that the Thai musician’s lip-syncing was disrespectful for such a major event.
Pop music critic Kim Do-heon said that lip-syncing performances have been a recurring issue throughout the history of popular music.
“It used to be more prevalent. Compared to the past, there’s more flexibility now. Even world-renowned artists rarely sing live during performances with choreography as seen at the NFL Super Bowl halftime shows. The majority of them are entirely lip-synced,” Kim said on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
But with the advancement of A&R technology and the musicians’ experiences accumulated over time, the concept of the live performance has become increasingly blurred — particularly as singing live over prerecorded vocals has become more common.
Surprisingly, most K-pop idols are rumored to be singing only 10 to 20 percent of their songs live onstage, whether it’s during prerecorded music shows, press showcases, or even world tour concerts.
“What we perceive as live is often layered with pre-recorded tracks. It’s far from what we would consider a traditional live performance,” said music critic Lim Hee-yun on Wednesday. “Even at concerts, idols mostly rely on prerecorded vocals, singing only a small portion live.”
K-pop idols are often said to record special concert tracks in a studio, where they simulate the concert atmosphere by moving around while recording. These prerecorded tracks are then played during their live performances, and the idols sing along to them.
An official from one of the top K-pop agencies acknowledged that K-pop artists sometimes use performance-specific MR (music removed) tracks at concerts, though this varies depending on the artist and the concert.
“K-pop combines music and performance, and artists may not sing every line while dancing, as choreography is integral to their performances,” the official told The Korea Herald.
LE SSERAFIM, a popular girl group under HYBE’s sub-label Source Music was also accused of lip-syncing during its second performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, on April 20.
LE SSERAFIM performs during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on April 20, 2024. Image: Source Music via The Korea Herald
Harshly criticized for the underwhelming vocal performance during its first appearance a week earlier, the group replaced much of its live performance with AR (all-recorded) tracks, leaving audiences unsure whether the performance was live or all prerecorded. AR refers to a prerecorded track that includes both the instrumental part and the vocals, often used for lip-syncing during performances.
So, is it wrong for K-pop idols to lip-sync on stage? Lim suggested that it’s difficult to make a definitive judgment.
“It’s impossible for a singer to maintain pitch stability while performing intense choreography. Even legendary pop stars like Michael Jackson and Madonna engaged in lip-syncing during performances, particularly after MTV launched in 1981 and video-centric dance performances became popular.”
Lip-syncing is not exclusive to K-pop stars.
Trot singer Jang Yoon-jeong, one of South Korea’s most beloved artists, recently faced similar accusations of lip-syncing during a performance in Incheon on Aug. 31. Jang flatly denied any lip-syncing. In this case, music critics pointed to the poor sound system at the concert as a likely trigger for the accusations.
“At some regional venues, inadequate sound systems can affect the quality of live performances. Additionally, if only some artists sing live while others rely on prerecorded tracks, the audio quality can be inconsistent,” Lim explained.
Lim added that artists who perform at multiple events in a single day may not always be in optimal vocal condition, making lip-syncing a practical choice.