They're not paid if they don't mention that they're sponsored content. More likely everyone and their sister label are sending out press releases and it was a slow day at Fuse so they threw something together.
When it comes to the magazine write ups, do you seriously think that being paid is the only reason a music journalist would write about K-Pop? They have to write a minimum of words per issue if they want to keep their jobs, and American music is fairly awful at the moment. There's a much greater depth of musical influences in K-Pop, and it's something that is new and different if you're not already down the rabbit hole.
When it comes to the magazine write ups, do you seriously think that being paid is the only reason a music journalist would write about K-Pop? They have to write a minimum of words per issue if they want to keep their jobs, and American music is fairly awful at the moment. There's a much greater depth of musical influences in K-Pop, and it's something that is new and different if you're not already down the rabbit hole.