Kpop or Korean pop is a music genre from South Korea, but there is much more to it than a simple definition
Kpop took Korea in the top 10 in the world
when it comes to the music market. recent reports claim BTS the biggest group in the world
brings in nearly 5 billion dollars for Korea's economy
Just one group
Kpop hanks performance sort out stadiums across the world even with a language only a fraction of the world speaks
Having the most loyal and dedicated fans I have ever seen
K-pop continues to have their biggest year year after year with no end in sight. But how did we get here?
How did kpop become a billion-dollar industry? Do you understand how we got here? We need to take a look into the past
the beginning of kpop more specifically in the 1990s
The 1990s Korean music scene wasn't what it is today the most popular music at the time was trot music
Which I can only explain it as the country music of Korea, that'll change
When a group later dubbed the grandfather's of kpop was formed Seo Taiji and boys
Seo Taiji and boys were formed from the breakup of a metal band called Sinawe. While Sinawe was metal
Seo Taiji and boys went in a
totally different route and introduced Korea to hip-hop. While Seo Taiji and boys was heavily inspired by the American hip-hop scene
They turned around and made it their own but Seo Taiji and boys debuted they weren't met with praise
Actually, they were met with criticism. This is 1990 Korea
We're talking about I would compare Seo Taiji and boys beginning sadhana for rock music in America
The older previous generation would see this music as deteriorating the minds of the youth
Censored for lyrics, criticizing in Korea school systems, societal norms and the government. Yet
Seo Taiji and boys were able to succeed by being the highest selling group of their generation with over 8 million albums sold and regarded as
legends in Korean music history
so the beginning is a k-pop weren't all bright and cheerful as many know what today but in order to break the chains of
Conservative Korea Seo Taiji had to be the first they would pave the way for the first k-pop idol group, which was
H.O.T.
H.O.T. was the first look at the real vision of a k-pop group
Created by Lee Soo-man the founder of SM Entertainment
One of the three biggest k-pop companies in Korea H.O.T. had a brighter image than their predecessors
producing a more pop sound
choreography and catchy songs unlike Seo Taiji and boys, H.O.T. was beloved by the public when they
debuted they went on to be quite successful and led to the creation of more first generation k-pop idol groups like G.O.D and
S.E.S fast forward to the 2000s and the second generation of k-pop.
While the first generation was inspired by American pop the second generation had to create something new and that they did.
This is where we see Big Bang, Girls Generation
2ne1, SHINee
Wonder Girls, BoA when he asked k-pop fans today what caught them into kpop
most will respond with one of these groups. The second generation of k-pop became the most influential and known by many as the
the golden era of kpop
but the innovation with style and sound of the genre in the first attempt to tackle more than just Korea. BoA would lead these take
over in Japan. BoA was a solo artist who was known to do it all dancing singing the looks
She was a top Idol even at a young age. Wonder Girls would be the first to break ground in America coming from JYP entertainment
Another company from the big three. Wonder Girls would adapt and create an English version of their breakout hit "nobody"
Even performing on US television and going on tour with the Jonas Brothers while they were making efforts physically
others from making efforts from home the internet and YouTube are an undeniable reason kpop would even make it to people's ears groups like BIGBANG,
2ne1 and girls generation would have music videos that surpassed millions of views in a day
Steam was building up and on the verge of bursting in the form of one song
-Oppa Gangnam style- everyone watching has caught wind of a viral video by PSY a solo artist in Korea
His new song Gangnam style found overnight success
For some reason, people were intrigued by a comedic odd yet catchy song. Most people didn't know PSY
was a singer in Korea for years before Gangnam style
He was considered one of the top performers in the country, but no one knew who he was internationally
Gangnam style was meant to just be a new song by PSY but it grew out of control
becoming the most viewed video on YouTube at the time with 800 million views and out today with over 3 billion views, with this
PSY was all over the world radio, TV even New Year's Eve shows
PSY without knowing it opened the first window for kpop with times dying down a
A second wave was on the horizon in the form of groups NCT 127, Monsta X, black pink and of course
BTS
while PSY opened a window
BTS kicked down the front door
BTS origins were a humble one, coming from BIGHIT entertainment
They were practically unknown at debut similarly debuting with a hip-hop style like Seo Taiji
but the star BTS was able to explode in Korea with lyrics that spoke to the youth and
music that spoke to everyone. BTS would make history as the first k-pop group to attend and be nominated at the Billboard Music Awards in
2019 and then made history the same night as they won social artists of the year
BTS would repeat this two more times after this
BTS couldn't be stopped, breaking music video views, record number of streams and a lot more first for a kpop act
including selling out stadiums
BTS would perform for over 1 million fans on the latest tour as people are, more importantly, companies
saw the numbers and support BTS had
They wanted too. Which led them finding interest in finding the next group. BLACKPINK would be the talk of Coachella in
2019 when they perform there
NCT 127 would hold a US tour and Monsta X signed with a US label and have plans to come over as well.
Now that we caught up to today, why is k-pop a billion-dollar industry? Well, there are a number of factors one is
Tourism
kpop is so beloved by fans that many dream of the day to make the pilgrimage to Korea
It isn't just to see if they can find their favorite idol on the streets, many fall in love with the music first
Then the culture Korea has a beautiful history and a culture alongside it which can be a mired no matter where you're from
Crazy fact here one in every 13 tourists recent travel to Korea is BTS
Like I said before BTS is responsible for 5 billion dollars of Korea's economy
Imagine all of the other groups combined as well. A catalyst that ties into this reason is Korea's government
Korea has a unique Ministry of Culture where they have a budget of 500 million dollars to spend on just culture
culture ministry has unveiled its mid and long term plans to strengthen the nation's arts and culture education
in line with the president's strong emphasis on boosting culture
in our expecting a ten billion dollar cultural export by 2018.
BTS they're halfway there and probably surpassing it by now.
The second reason behind kpop success is how different it is. Now with the music drama that got its start from America music
How differ can it be? Well a lot actually, kpop is made of idols that run through a rigorous training system
Where young people auditioned to be the next big thing
but some as young as ten years old and being a kpop idol was one of the most popular career choices among young adults
the trainee system is meant to polish a diamond in the rough
Until it's shining the system focuses on singing, rapping,
Writing, composing, producing, dancing, public speaking, English, Japanese, Chinese and acting
huh
All of this on top of their normal school, this system proves itself for the amount of talent
You see out there in kpop really earning their name of an idol
Another thing is if you sit a person down and have them watch a music video
The first thing they'll say is "wow"
This music video is amazing
The color, dancing, outfits, the effects one thing that many people admire is attention to detail.
All kpop is so meticulous and everything is planned
It is something people are missing in other music likewise physical album sales are in a decline across the world
Except Korea. why? when you can just listen to it in a second on your phone
Well in kpop an album is much more than just a CD, a k-pop album will come with a CD, of course,
But also random photo cars of a member from that group and a poster, kpop is able to market and advertise
Everything to a max, they will sell anything from shirts, hats, cups, bag,
stickers, pants, figures and even trash cans shout out the chou, sales on products like these are
insane but one product that sticks out to me that no other music has is
lightsticks
Lightsticks are these devices that light up and sync to others at a concert and flashed with the rhythm of the music
It is designed with the group's colors and is another way a fan can be more involved. It's truly an amazing device
Symbolic, but also great functionality fan chants are something that catches non kpop fans off-guard fans chant proudly along
with their favorite groups showing support
creating an electric atmosphere
-KIM NAMJOON-
-KIM SEOKJIN
-MIN YONGI-
-JUNG HOSEOK-
-PARK JIMIN-
-KIM TAEHYUNG-
-JUNG JUNGKOOK-
BTS
Fans are what make k-pop, k-pop. Really k-pop fans are unmatched when it comes to voting
fan covers, reaction videos, dancing covers,
Everything fan culture and kpop is vital and kpop as a music success
There is just something special about
kpop that I can't even explain to put it simply kpop was able to utilize each and every technology and
Opportunity to grow with maybe a couple breaks here and there but this doesn't happen by accident
Kpop is able to be more than a music
It's a niche community where people looking for something different
can learn a whole new culture a music where so much time effort and dedication
are invested
it's plain to see. It is more available to connect the fans than ever before
even with the language barrier from homegrown beginnings of
Censorship and suppression to a culture which is the pride of the country
That's why kpop is a billion-dollar industry and will continue to expand literally the sky is the limit
I know that this can be a like 15 part documentary
exclusive series
That is like an hour and 59 minutes each. Okay. I know I just tried to fit everything
I possibly could within this video
Hope you guys enjoy and I hope to see the comments from like new people like people that aren't necessarily
into kpop as much as me or you know, my subscribers I
Want to hear your guys's opinion down in the comments of how like, what do you think about kpop? Why?
Why do you think it became so popular and I'm asking everybody at this point?
Why do you think kpop became such a billion-dollar industry with Korea's government involvement and investing into it?
I want to see what you guys think about the video any of the points that I talked about
Let me know what you think down in the comments as well
If you enjoyed this video give this video a like if you knew and see my stuff in the are subscribe yet come
Oh, man, hit the subscribe button and that bell so you don't miss a thing one of the road to 100 cray- cray?
we're on the road to 100k and
Mmm, we're gonna do it. We're gonna do it boy. Thank you guys so much for subscribing and sticking around
You guys are simply amazing. I love what I'm doing and I love that
I could put my efforts and my passion into something that I am
Passionate about thank you guys so much
If you wanna help out head over to patreon consider supporting if you can't financially no problem at all
You can also help by clicking one of these videos
Below helps these videos performance and you get to check out more of my content, man
then maybe you're subscribed try to work on a what happened video for Friday a lot of writing a lot of editing a lot of
all kinds of stuff but I'm gonna keep to my schedule and
Hope you guys look forward to it you guys so much again and I'll catch you guys in the next one. 안녕 (annyeong)