When we are only crazy about the western pop music, a K-pop tornado swept across the world rapidly. K-pop, with its unique development model and catchy songs, be a big hit in the western music market.

Xue Han 120307237 Class 4

For the longest time, the people around the world are crazy about such as Michael Jackson, Akon, Madonna Ciccone. But one day, an Asian guy broke into our eyes, with his music video for “Gangnam Style” obtained over 1 billion views on YouTube, and becoming the first video to do so in the website’s history, many people especially the western people unimagined. Why so popular and successful? Maybe it is the biggest puzzle in their heart. Okay, I try to solve the problem, so refer to a lot of data. My answer is:“ The great success of k-pop due to the wise operation pattern. Their characteristics are totally different from the western’s, because of this, they get a new way in the music road.”

There are three biggest agencies in South Korea: S.M. Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, often referred to as the “Big Three.” Like S.M. Entertainment, their artists started the Hallyu wave in K-pop and managed to break into Japan. The common point of the three agency is all of them has an integrated Trainee System. Such as S.M. Entertainment have created a process to train singers and dancers in its groups. The journey to stars often starts around age 9 or 10, when tightly supervised trainees begin dance and voice classes at night and live together while attending school. Besides singing and dancing, trainees are also taught foreign languages, especially English, Japanese and Chinese. According to the CEO of Universal Music’s Southeast Asian branch, the Korean idol trainee system is unique in the world.

In addition to this, the selection of the trainees is very special. They are not only limited to their own country, but face to the whole world. Certainly, almost all of them are Ethnic Asians. So, “The concept of global entertainment” come out. The concept of global entertainment aim to provide sensations rather than only music. For the Korean cultural industry, trainee system is an important part of the global entertainment, it was called the cultural technology by the founder of SM Entertainment.

Except the Trainee System, there are many other parts of k-pop’s operation are also worth studying. Korean regard k-pop as an industry, they have a particular marketing. For instance, the promotional activities of a K-pop artist involve the so-called “comeback”, In order to make their new albums known to the public, K-pop artists participate in various promotional activities, such as appearing and performing on national television.

K-pop is more than music or pop culture, it is also a new type of business model. Besides what I mentioned above, there are many other sides like the Fan Base, the use of social media, the Fashion in South Korea and so on. The popularity of k-pop also makes tourism work in a global scale. Fans from all over the world are coming to South Korea for tours and this has contributed positively to the total sales and market value of K-pop.

In 1996, there was a song “We Are The Future” let us know who is “H.O.T” and what’s k-pop. Nowdays, each of us would have several k-pop songs in our playlist. Form “H.O.T” to “EXO” ( a South Korean-Chinese boy band produced by S.M. Entertainment in 2012), great changes have taken place in k-pop. If you like k-pop, come with me and finding the k-pop’s yesterday and today!

Xue Han 120307237 Class 4

Look back to the history of Korean popular music, there are four important periods: the early K-pop, the turning point of k-pop, the birth of the Korean wave, and the global k-pop.

Begin talking about K-pop, we should know some of its history. The history of K-pop music can be traced back to 1885 when an American missionary, Henry Appenzeller started teaching American and British folk songs at a school. At this time, the western music started enter into Korea and started influencing Korean music. From one perspective, this is the originating of K-pop.

At the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s, Korean pop music has a very important change. Because people in this time, unlike their predecessors who had to experience war and Japanese oppression. Additionally, these young musicians were heavily influenced by American culture and lifestyle. So they had a more open and free mind, and their music pay more attention to fun and self entertaining.

Different time has different fashion cycle, for example: in the 1970s, DJs started to become popular, but 10 years later, the era of ballads become more popular. Because of more and more different kinds of music come into vogue in Korea, the k-pop started blooming.

There was a time has to mention. In the 1990s, early Korean pop musicians mixed American popular music styles like rap, rock in their music. The Seo Taiji & Boys brought a true turning point in the history of K-pop. The lyrics of Seo Taiji & Boys dealt with the problems of Korean society, which other entertainers of the era failed to do. And their sound paved the way for the “success format” of K-pop songs. In other hand, the 1990s were also a successful period for underground music clubs, punk rock bands managed to gain mainstream popularity.

In 1995 Korean entrepreneur Lee Soo-man founded South Korea’s largest talent agency and record label, SM Entertainment. By the late 1990s, YG Entertainment, DSP Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and FNC Music had become the most important part of k-pop music market. And SM, YG and JYP often referred to as the “Big Three.”

Towards the turn of the 21st century, the K-pop music began spreading out to other regions of the world as part of the global Korean wave. In 2012, the number of fans in Turkey over 100,000 for the first time, and reached 150,000 in 2013. That year, there were 70 K-pop fan clubs in Mexico, with at least 60,000 members altogether. All this number shows the k-pop music become an indispensable part in present international music market.

If now you are only know western pop music, you are out of fashion. K-pop, the new music bomb had already threw to the global  music market. Maybe the song “We Are The Future” really predicted the future of k-pop. Like the lyric in this song “I want to create my own world, don’t force me to live the same life, I want to set up my own life, we are the future!” The special, bright future belong to K-pop!