For years, the Korean pop music industry has been training their acts to be successful in countries other than Korea; specifically, the United States and Europe. Many have become famous throughout the 2000’s, such as groups like Girls’ Generation (SNSD), Big Bang, and, of course, Psy with his hit “Gangnam Style” in 2012. How could we ever forget?
http://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/20121029/LOHANgang…
However, since those groups became popular in the mid-to-late-2000’s, no group has gotten as much recognition as boy group BTS has in the past year thanks to the rise of social media.
https://0.soompi.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/07080403/bts-love-yoursel…
BTS (which stands for “Beyond the Scene” in English) is a seven-member Korean group that formed in 2013 under entertainment company BigHit Entertainment. Since their debut, they have reached many milestones for Korean pop music including three world tours, the most sold copies of a K-Pop album with their album “Wings” in 2016, and once again with their newest mini-album “Love Yourself: ‘Her’”, which opened at number seven on the US Billboard 200 as soon as it was released on September 18, 2017.
With all of these achievements under their belt, it’s easy to wonder: how come we don’t hear them on the radio, or see them on TV?
While we may not always be hearing them the way we hear most other pop artists on the radio, we can be almost certain that we’ve seen them all over our Twitter feeds. Ever wonder who those guys with colorful bowl cuts may be? You guessed it! BTS even won the “Top Social Artist” award at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards because of how present they are in social media and in the United States.
http://popcrush.com/files/2017/05/bts-DavidBecker.jpg
So how did they become so popular if so many Americans may not even know they exist? Well, the reason K-Pop has gotten as popular as it has is because of the internet itself. Thanks to websites like YouTube and Twitter, it’s extremely easy to become exposed to music from all over the world. Music not on the radio has become popular underground through the internet. And since the Korean pop music industry specifically makes its music international by using Western influences and English words in its lyrics, Americans and Europeans are bound to find some interest in it. Add in attractive performers (called “idols”) who can sing, rap, and dance extremely well, it’s no wonder they have gained so many fans worldwide!
So the next time you’re on YouTube and you see a K-Pop video under “Trending”, check it out to see what the hype is all about! I’ll help you get started:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBdVXkSdhwU
Sources:
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/bbma/7801136/billboard-music-awards-2017-winners-list
http://khnews.kheraldm.com/view.php?ud=20170911000392&md=20170912003102_BL