K-POP MUSIC? YOU NEED TO KNOW

You’ve probably heard of K-pop, the Korean music phenomenon that’s sweeping the Internet and mainstream media. K-pop is more than just music—it’s a global phenomenon that has introduced people to Korean language, dress, music and culture.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

the Korean Wave: A Brief History

K-pop has been around longer than you think. H.O.T. pioneered k-pop in the 1990s. K-pop had a three-year slump after 2000 as the global boy-band craze faded, until TVXQ and BoA broke through in Japanese markets. With global sales rising and more K-pop acts appearing on East Asian variety shows and interviews, we know

The Korean Wave has now become powerful enough to completely remove the K-pop mania from the Internet. K-pop CDs and other merchandise have entered Target, Newbury Comics, and McDonald’s due to its popularity in North America. Western network television programmes interview and advertise K-pop idols to new audiences. K-pop’s prominence in mainstream media and daily life has made these stars global stars..

How Are K-Pop Groups Organized?

Despite the fact that there are hundreds of K-pop groups, the most of them have a similar structure. An entertainment company houses, trains, and promotes most groups. These firms usually prepared dozens of K-pop “idols” for their debutt. The trainee procedure is famously difficult, with countless idols attesting to incredibly severe and competitive conditions. The trainees who are judged ready for their debut are then placed in a group.

Each member is allocated a role in the group based on his or her abilities. Every K-pop group has four main roles: rapper, vocalist, dancer, and visual. (Visuals are frequently seen as the “face” of the group, as their facial traits are the most marketable.) After forming a group and assigning duties, the firm introduces the group’s song on many promotional stages, where the idols are outfitted in stylish apparel to match the aesthetic of the song. These live performances are shown on Korean network television but are also available on YouTube for overseas visitors.

What Role Do K-Pop Fan Communities Play?

While most fan bases try to remain quiet as they appreciate their favorite specialty, K-pop fan groups function in a different manner. Because k-pop fans can be found on practically every continent, the audience is far larger than that of the normal TV show’s fan community. Its extensive reach is also nearly completely confined to social media platforms like as Twitter and Instagram. These fans have the capacity to make a major difference because of their numbers and internet presence – and they have.

When hate groups tried to network on Twitter, the K-pop community caught on and flooded the tags with spammed K-pop fan content, making them unusable for the dangerous people who were trying to use them.

K-pop fans also promote streaming culture, which entails a fan viewing a photo or video hundreds of times to gain mainstream media and fan community attention. This streaming method has resulted in hundreds of millions of views for k-pop videos..

The Korean Language Boom and K-Pop

Korean language and culture are prominent due to K-pop’s growth in popularity. Most k-pop fans outside of Korea want to learn Korean to connect with their idols and each other. Korean language and culture are a common thread across fans from various backgrounds.

However, K-pop entertainment companies know their audiences: while most songs are in Korean, most hit K-pop songs contain English words and phrases. This helps non-Korean speakers to feel included while simultaneously encouraging them to learn more about the song’s significance.