Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Some of the Things I Learned In K-Pop

 That you should know too.

Members of Girls' Generation, Super Junior, and SHINee.  (Photo by: Allyza)

As a writer and photojournalist for a Korean entertainment news site and also a fan of K-Pop, I've come across some things that I've learned and realized. Though these are basic and common sense, I think they should be shared to a mass that doesn't really know much about K-Pop. So through a medium of a vlog, I decided to do something similar to BuzzFeed where they present their list of things. In this case, I list some of the things I learned in K-Pop.

From production to the artists, I try to mention some key things people should know. I introduce the concept of K-Pop globalizing; all thanks to the internet where YouTube plays a huge factor, many discover the music genre and learn about it.
 



Top 7 Things I Learned in K-Pop

1. Low budget music videos rarely exist.
Have you seen a K-Pop music video? There's so much effort and work production companies and entertainment labels put into it. According to an article by MTV Iggy, some music videos are in the hundred-thousands range closing up to a million (and maybe surpassing it). From the lights, settings, and clothing, management labels try to top eachother when it comes to new music and videos.

 2. If you're pale, toned, and skinny, you're the next IT celebrity in Korea.
Korea gets a good influence from western culture. Pale, tall, skinny, and toned are key one's succesful career. Millions of dollars ring in especially to those who are young in the industry and continue to grow. From advertising contracts to tv dramas and even movies, having that type of look, whether female or male, will you get you a long way.

3. K-Pop Artists Are All Around Talented People
ALL K-Pop artists began their career through training. Vocal, model, dance, and everything a celebrity should do, is taught before these artists debut. Some artists train for as short as a month to even ten years depending on how much they improve.

 4. Fans are CRAZY and are heavily influenced from celebrities.
Plastic surgery, fashion trends, and even trying to be the celebrity by posing as them or even stalking them in their own private homes and schedules are the levels of K-pop fans.

 5. Colored skinny jeans are for everyone.
Duh.

 6. If your song is catchy as hell, it will be #1.
Girls' Generation's "Gee" placed #1 for 9 weeks in the beginning of 2009 that marked the beginning of their global popularity. There is also the viral phenomenon "Gangnam Style" by rapper PSY in 2012 which literally took the whole world by storm.

7. Music is a an international language.
I think this is self-explanatory.

To introduce K-Pop to the mass, I've also created a radio segment piece with interviews conducted with people in the industry such as Jae Chong, CEO and producer of AStar Entertainment, as well as Aziatix, a Korean-American R&B trio who recently signed with YMCMB.

 The Globalization of K-Pop - Listen HERE!
Aziatix, the New Face of YMCMB - Listen HERE!



Resources:

  • Fujita, Akiko. "K-Pop Boot Camp". Nightline on ABC News. 2012.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)