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PSY dancing to the legendary horse choreography of 1 billion hit track,
Gangnam style.
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How does a whimsical subculture like K-Pop draw in so many fans around the world?
As far as the general population of the Western Hemisphere knows, K-Pop was a headliner a couple of years back, spectacularly modeled by a "slick" overweight Korean man called PSY.
But before the summer of 2012 graced us with Park Jae-Sang, better known as rapper PSY's satirical Gangnam Style, the world of K-Pop had never reached a level of popularity so permeating! This is debatable - after all, in a world where most of our media consumption can be pinpointed to the manufacturing of Hollywood and the West, niche subcultures like K-Pop are reserved for the otakus of the Internet. Nerdy teens glued to their modern gadgets and screens. An image that is typically depicted of anime and video game fanatics. For outsiders of the phenomena, K-Pop is merely another geek culture. Even within the homeland, South Korea, K-Pop idols are marketed towards the average secondary and high school students - many of these being the young female population.
So the big question from all of us is whether K-Pop can outdo its world record?
In regards to its staying power after Gangnam Style, despite Girls Generation or other big name groups not being blasted out on UK radios just yet, more and more nods to Korean culture are declared. Like the recent upsurge of kimchi as a food trend for the year 2015. Where people would often quote food to bringing people of different nations together, I would argue in my case, K-Pop and the love of music has strengthened a community that was overlooked before. As well as introducing interested newcomers into the family. Not only are the wider masses recognizing the new musical export, fan or not, K-Pop has permeated into foreign markets. Take for example, 2NE1's I Am The Best track featuring on Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 ad. And if your senses aren't engaged enough, several popular American TV shows have already featured world renown K-Pop acts or paid homage to their songs. Some including America's Next Top Model, The Bachelor, Glee, Selfie and not to mention all the talk shows and news broadcasts on K-Pop.
Although the popularity of K-Pop has always been irrefutable on the other side of the world, i.e. Asia, the methods in which K-pop, or rather Hallyu, is branching out in Europe and America, are more strategic than their growing success in the Eastern world. The upbeat tunes and flashy dances are undeniably K-Pop's magnetic force, aside from the abundance of beautiful people. But to really stand firm in these global markets, particularly as a musical act/artist rather than just another foreign commodity, does K-Pop need to assimilate? An old case to refer back to, would be the venture of Wonder Girls back in 2012. Needless to say, The Wonder Girls TV movie did little to make a ripple in its target audiences' scene. So it's clear that conventional methods, such as touring with then popular Jonas Brothers, and partnerships with Nick Cannon in particular (hint hint Nickelodeon's Make It Pop), are not substantial ways of assembling new fans.
Instead, the universal (exempt of China, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea) platform of YouTube has been a resounding tactic in terms of acquainting people with the wonderful world of K-Pop and Kdrama and just Hallyu in general. Not only has it spurred an interest in newcomers, YouTube themselves had awarded Girls Generation Video of the Year award. Thus as far as we can tell, K-Pop with its magnificent force of fans throughout the world - selling out concert tickets in a hot flash - will have no trouble marching into the hearts of international fans. It's whether a decline in international interest - groups outside fan communities, i.e. TV, news, radio and other mediums - will eventually forgo the musical genre as just another viral hit.
- Louise c:
P.S. In the meanwhile, go check out the latest song I've been bopping along to this week!
Or two songs... >_<
So the big question from all of us is whether K-Pop can outdo its world record?
In regards to its staying power after Gangnam Style, despite Girls Generation or other big name groups not being blasted out on UK radios just yet, more and more nods to Korean culture are declared. Like the recent upsurge of kimchi as a food trend for the year 2015. Where people would often quote food to bringing people of different nations together, I would argue in my case, K-Pop and the love of music has strengthened a community that was overlooked before. As well as introducing interested newcomers into the family. Not only are the wider masses recognizing the new musical export, fan or not, K-Pop has permeated into foreign markets. Take for example, 2NE1's I Am The Best track featuring on Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 ad. And if your senses aren't engaged enough, several popular American TV shows have already featured world renown K-Pop acts or paid homage to their songs. Some including America's Next Top Model, The Bachelor, Glee, Selfie and not to mention all the talk shows and news broadcasts on K-Pop.
Although the popularity of K-Pop has always been irrefutable on the other side of the world, i.e. Asia, the methods in which K-pop, or rather Hallyu, is branching out in Europe and America, are more strategic than their growing success in the Eastern world. The upbeat tunes and flashy dances are undeniably K-Pop's magnetic force, aside from the abundance of beautiful people. But to really stand firm in these global markets, particularly as a musical act/artist rather than just another foreign commodity, does K-Pop need to assimilate? An old case to refer back to, would be the venture of Wonder Girls back in 2012. Needless to say, The Wonder Girls TV movie did little to make a ripple in its target audiences' scene. So it's clear that conventional methods, such as touring with then popular Jonas Brothers, and partnerships with Nick Cannon in particular (hint hint Nickelodeon's Make It Pop), are not substantial ways of assembling new fans.
Instead, the universal (exempt of China, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea) platform of YouTube has been a resounding tactic in terms of acquainting people with the wonderful world of K-Pop and Kdrama and just Hallyu in general. Not only has it spurred an interest in newcomers, YouTube themselves had awarded Girls Generation Video of the Year award. Thus as far as we can tell, K-Pop with its magnificent force of fans throughout the world - selling out concert tickets in a hot flash - will have no trouble marching into the hearts of international fans. It's whether a decline in international interest - groups outside fan communities, i.e. TV, news, radio and other mediums - will eventually forgo the musical genre as just another viral hit.
- Louise c:
P.S. In the meanwhile, go check out the latest song I've been bopping along to this week!
Or two songs... >_<
