Multiple industry insiders expressed on Friday that they believed K-pop's overseas success relies on diversification.

Both the CEO of FNC Entertainment, the K-pop company home to FTISLAND, CNBLUE, and AOA, and Billboard's Tokyo bureau chief, Rob Schwartz, spoke about the necessity of K-pop to promote differences among K-pop in the future to gain global popularity. Each highlighted the stereotypes of K-pop as factors in keeping Korean music from growing in popularity worldwide.

The pair expressed their ideas at the Asia Music Network program, held in Seoul on Friday and Saturday.

FNC Entertainment's CEO, Han Seung Ho, pointed to FTISLAND and CNBLUE's band concepts as the cause of their success overseas, reports the K-Pop Herald.

"In the beginning, the general notion was that K-pop was another name for 'dancing teams,'" said Han. "I think in that setting, band music appealed in the overseas market."

"A country with one specific color has its growth potential truncated," he continued, discussing the limitations that K-pop has by keeping to stereotypical business plans.

Han also added that FNC Entertainment is diversifying by expanding into television in Korea, and promoting its musical acts in China.

At the same event, Schwartz presented his opinion that K-pop grew popular because "the music is extremely well produced...the presentation is all very slick. This is going to appeal to markets all over the world."

The problem with K-pop, according to Schwartz, is that K-pop isn't expressing it's differences enough from other markets when trying to break into the U.S, English-language music market.

Rather than fit K-pop artists into the American music scene, Schwartz suggest K-pop play up the cultural differences between K-pop and the U.S.

"If K-pop is going to appeal in the U.S. they have to play more on the differences than the similarities," Schwartz said while appearing on a panel.

Schwartz discussed that K-pop's innately Asian values could help, rather than hinder, K-pop's growth internationally.

"K-pop has a much different look from the American bands. If a member of an American band were an Asian that would be an eye-catcher. I think K-pop should accentuate that idea," he said.

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Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy and Noisey