This post is to act as a video introduction to various artists across the music genres I have written about.
All video credit goes to Youtube.
American/British Pop Music
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA
Jpop
Ayumi Hamasaki - Glitter
KAT-TUN - Lips
Puffy AmiYumi - Asia no Junshin
Morning Musume - Kimagure Princess
Kpop
Super Junior - Sorry Sorry
DBSK - Mirotic
2PM - Heartbeat
Wonder Girls - Nobody
2NE1 - Fire
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Thursday, December 17, 2009
What's Korean pop?
Korean pop or, Kpop as its commonly shortened, is the name for pop music made released and published in Korea, North and South, but almost all Kpop derives from South Korea. Kpop popularity has risen overseas in conjuction with the Korean Wave, where contemporary pop culture has risen overseas.
One of the first differences when it comes to Kpop and western music, is there are many more boybands in the Kpop industry. The Boy band or "Idol boy" image is a highly popular one with artists in Korea, although some boy bands may veer towards the bad boy image, such as 2PM, or they may aim towards the cute image, such as Xing.
In terms of girl groups, one major difference between American girl groups/solo artists, and Korean girl groups/solo artists, is that female groups are not promoted with the idea that "sex sells", like many of the American female artists today. It's rare to see a female Korean idol dressed the same as scantily clad American female artists, which makes them much better role models to younger girls.
South Korea is still quite a respectful and honourable country, which translates into its music industry. If in a group, the oldest will usually be given the title of a leader. It is his or her responsability to take care of their fellow members, make sure they're eating right, that they can handle everything, and that in general they're doing okay. One of the best examples of a good leader in a Kpop group, is Leeteuk (real name Park Jung Soo).
Image credit: fanpop.com
Since he is the leader of 12 other guys, a lot of responsability rests on his shoulders, but he carries out his duties as a leader better than anyone else I can think of. When the father of another Super Junior member, Donghae, was dying, he asked Leeteuk to take care of Donghae when he was gone. And Leeteuk has done just that, but without disregarding the other members. He cares about each and every Super Junior and loves them like a father. He's very admirable in this sense.
The youngest in a group is referred to as the "magnae". His or her role is pretty much to not say much and just be extremely cute. He/she must respect the older members in his/her group, but is also generally taken care of by their hyungs/unnies.
One prime example of a good magnae is Lee Taemin from SHINee.
Image credit: asianpopcorn.com
He's currently sixteen years old, and is one of the youngest idols in the Kpop world. Because of his young age, he's quite innocent and therefore fulfills the role of a typical magnae perfectly. He respects his hyungs (word for older brother in Korean), and they take care of him in return. This is all part of the Korean society which is so generally followed that it's evident and expected in its pop music.
When it comes to Western music, a band or group will make an album perhaps once every year or two, and go on tour right after they release it. Go on the odd tv show, perhaps release a perfume, and then do little or nothing while they rest or work on a new album. This is not how it's done in Korean pop.
A new artist or band will typically be selected through the trainees of an entertainment company. To become a trainee, you need to successfully pass an audition, where your vocal, dance and even MC-ing skills are put to the test. If you are selected as a trainee, this means hours of practice most days, in order for you to be completely prepared if you are selected to be in a new group. When singles are released, teasers in the form of photos will we released, then a teaser of the song/Music video, then the full album is released before a group's official debut/comeback on any of Korea's 3 main music shows; Music Bank, Inkigayo, or Kchart. the group will perform their song on usually all three shows once a week for roughly six weeks, depending on the songs popularity, and how long the company choose to promote it. The lengths of albums can range from full albums (e.g. 14 songs), mini-albums (e.g. six songs) or a single (usually three songs).
Not only do the groups/individual stars perform thrice weekly on music shows, they also do radio appearances, overseas activities (in Japan, China, Singapore, etc.), TV shows, talk show spots, guest appearances, etc. You may think that it sounds strenuous on the stars who have to go out and do all these things. And yes. It very much is.
One of the prime examples when it comes to a company overworking its stars, is S.M. Entertainment.
It's one of the biggest entertainment empires in all of Korea, at the expense of its artists. Every single artist it manages is promoted to the extreme. Asia-wide concert tours. Subgroups are formed to be aimed at certain markets in the music industry. Constant appearances on variety shows, interviews with magazines, radio and TV appearances, overseas promotions, the list goes on. One could assume that this is all well and good for the artists, as they could be earning a lot of money from it.
But sadly, this is definitely not the case with SME artists. The most popular boy band in Asia, DBSK, are managed by SME and they only receive 10-20% of their total income. Three of the members finally had enough, and filed a lawsuit against SME in July of 2009. They asked for their contracts with SME to be terminated. They are under a 13 year contract, under terms which they deem as unfair. The Seoul District Court did rule in their favour, agreeing with their claims that the contract was unfair. However, SME called a press conference stating that the lawsuit was a fraud. They said that the lawsuit was not filed due to unfair contracts, but because of the greed of the members over their cosmetic promotions. SME and the DBSK members, Kim "Xiah" Junsu, Kim "Hero" Jaejoong, and Park "Micky" Yoochun, have still to resolve this issue.
Kpop to my knowledge, suffers from the most legal battles more so than any other music genre. Hopefully a time will come when all the Kpop artists can happily promote without being overworked or underpaid.
One of the first differences when it comes to Kpop and western music, is there are many more boybands in the Kpop industry. The Boy band or "Idol boy" image is a highly popular one with artists in Korea, although some boy bands may veer towards the bad boy image, such as 2PM, or they may aim towards the cute image, such as Xing.
In terms of girl groups, one major difference between American girl groups/solo artists, and Korean girl groups/solo artists, is that female groups are not promoted with the idea that "sex sells", like many of the American female artists today. It's rare to see a female Korean idol dressed the same as scantily clad American female artists, which makes them much better role models to younger girls.
South Korea is still quite a respectful and honourable country, which translates into its music industry. If in a group, the oldest will usually be given the title of a leader. It is his or her responsability to take care of their fellow members, make sure they're eating right, that they can handle everything, and that in general they're doing okay. One of the best examples of a good leader in a Kpop group, is Leeteuk (real name Park Jung Soo).
Image credit: fanpop.com
Since he is the leader of 12 other guys, a lot of responsability rests on his shoulders, but he carries out his duties as a leader better than anyone else I can think of. When the father of another Super Junior member, Donghae, was dying, he asked Leeteuk to take care of Donghae when he was gone. And Leeteuk has done just that, but without disregarding the other members. He cares about each and every Super Junior and loves them like a father. He's very admirable in this sense.
The youngest in a group is referred to as the "magnae". His or her role is pretty much to not say much and just be extremely cute. He/she must respect the older members in his/her group, but is also generally taken care of by their hyungs/unnies.
One prime example of a good magnae is Lee Taemin from SHINee.
Image credit: asianpopcorn.com
He's currently sixteen years old, and is one of the youngest idols in the Kpop world. Because of his young age, he's quite innocent and therefore fulfills the role of a typical magnae perfectly. He respects his hyungs (word for older brother in Korean), and they take care of him in return. This is all part of the Korean society which is so generally followed that it's evident and expected in its pop music.
When it comes to Western music, a band or group will make an album perhaps once every year or two, and go on tour right after they release it. Go on the odd tv show, perhaps release a perfume, and then do little or nothing while they rest or work on a new album. This is not how it's done in Korean pop.
A new artist or band will typically be selected through the trainees of an entertainment company. To become a trainee, you need to successfully pass an audition, where your vocal, dance and even MC-ing skills are put to the test. If you are selected as a trainee, this means hours of practice most days, in order for you to be completely prepared if you are selected to be in a new group. When singles are released, teasers in the form of photos will we released, then a teaser of the song/Music video, then the full album is released before a group's official debut/comeback on any of Korea's 3 main music shows; Music Bank, Inkigayo, or Kchart. the group will perform their song on usually all three shows once a week for roughly six weeks, depending on the songs popularity, and how long the company choose to promote it. The lengths of albums can range from full albums (e.g. 14 songs), mini-albums (e.g. six songs) or a single (usually three songs).
Not only do the groups/individual stars perform thrice weekly on music shows, they also do radio appearances, overseas activities (in Japan, China, Singapore, etc.), TV shows, talk show spots, guest appearances, etc. You may think that it sounds strenuous on the stars who have to go out and do all these things. And yes. It very much is.
One of the prime examples when it comes to a company overworking its stars, is S.M. Entertainment.
It's one of the biggest entertainment empires in all of Korea, at the expense of its artists. Every single artist it manages is promoted to the extreme. Asia-wide concert tours. Subgroups are formed to be aimed at certain markets in the music industry. Constant appearances on variety shows, interviews with magazines, radio and TV appearances, overseas promotions, the list goes on. One could assume that this is all well and good for the artists, as they could be earning a lot of money from it.
But sadly, this is definitely not the case with SME artists. The most popular boy band in Asia, DBSK, are managed by SME and they only receive 10-20% of their total income. Three of the members finally had enough, and filed a lawsuit against SME in July of 2009. They asked for their contracts with SME to be terminated. They are under a 13 year contract, under terms which they deem as unfair. The Seoul District Court did rule in their favour, agreeing with their claims that the contract was unfair. However, SME called a press conference stating that the lawsuit was a fraud. They said that the lawsuit was not filed due to unfair contracts, but because of the greed of the members over their cosmetic promotions. SME and the DBSK members, Kim "Xiah" Junsu, Kim "Hero" Jaejoong, and Park "Micky" Yoochun, have still to resolve this issue.
Kpop to my knowledge, suffers from the most legal battles more so than any other music genre. Hopefully a time will come when all the Kpop artists can happily promote without being overworked or underpaid.
Monday, December 7, 2009
So what's Jpop?
Pop music doesn't only exist in countries that speak English, despite the sometimes close minded views of some westerners. Pop music unique to a language or country exists everywhere. First off, Japan.
Image source: hanabisky.tumblr.com
Jpop is sometimes used to abbreviate Japanese pop, but it mainly represents the contemporary pop in today's Japanese music industry. Mainly, the music originates from electropop, new wave, adult contemporary, and glam rock. Although, dependant on the group, insipiration of Jpop can originate from anywhere. The term Jpop came about to mark a difference between Japanese contemporary pop, and trditional Japanese music. These days, Japan has one of the world's biggest music industries, second only to the US.
Unlike most Asian pop industries, Jpop has actually made a significiant mark in Western pop music. Solo artist Utada Hikaru, who has the best selling album in the history of Japan, sang the themes for SquareEnix's popular video game franchise Kingdom Hearts, which gained her recognition and high credibility, particularily amongst gaming fans. Her debut English language Exodus was partly produced by Timbaland and she made a considerable impact with Asian music in the West.
Jpop duo PUFFY (Puffy AmiYumi in the States) are possibly the most popular Japanese act to ever cross over to America. The group consists of Yoshimura Yumi and Onuki Ami, and have been huge in the Japanese music industry since the release of their first singl "Asia no Junshin" in 1996. They first gained overseas notice by singing the theme song to the popular super hero cartoon Teen Titans, broadcast on Cartoon Network. They were then gievn their own animated series on Cartoon Network, in which their music was constantly played, and they made personal appearances in every episode. The show ran for three seasons and helped them to gain a substantial fan base in the US.
Image source: jpopexpress.com
To encourage tourism in Japan, Ami and Yumi were appointed by the Japanese government to Good Will embassadors to the United States.
Japan as a nation is heavily influenced the West, and mainly America, so much of the aspects of Jmusic has been tailored to match artists in the west, apart from one lone aspect of Japanese music: rock.
JRock is one of the most popular styles of music in Japan, with the sub genre of Visual Kei being iconic amongst the younger generation. Jrock and Visual Kei derive inspiration from glam rock, and androgyny is a staple part of the Jrock image.
Naturally, pop music will always have much more impressive fan bases but Jrock is certainly making a notable impact in its own nation.
Image source: hanabisky.tumblr.com
Jpop is sometimes used to abbreviate Japanese pop, but it mainly represents the contemporary pop in today's Japanese music industry. Mainly, the music originates from electropop, new wave, adult contemporary, and glam rock. Although, dependant on the group, insipiration of Jpop can originate from anywhere. The term Jpop came about to mark a difference between Japanese contemporary pop, and trditional Japanese music. These days, Japan has one of the world's biggest music industries, second only to the US.
Unlike most Asian pop industries, Jpop has actually made a significiant mark in Western pop music. Solo artist Utada Hikaru, who has the best selling album in the history of Japan, sang the themes for SquareEnix's popular video game franchise Kingdom Hearts, which gained her recognition and high credibility, particularily amongst gaming fans. Her debut English language Exodus was partly produced by Timbaland and she made a considerable impact with Asian music in the West.
Jpop duo PUFFY (Puffy AmiYumi in the States) are possibly the most popular Japanese act to ever cross over to America. The group consists of Yoshimura Yumi and Onuki Ami, and have been huge in the Japanese music industry since the release of their first singl "Asia no Junshin" in 1996. They first gained overseas notice by singing the theme song to the popular super hero cartoon Teen Titans, broadcast on Cartoon Network. They were then gievn their own animated series on Cartoon Network, in which their music was constantly played, and they made personal appearances in every episode. The show ran for three seasons and helped them to gain a substantial fan base in the US.
Image source: jpopexpress.com
To encourage tourism in Japan, Ami and Yumi were appointed by the Japanese government to Good Will embassadors to the United States.
Japan as a nation is heavily influenced the West, and mainly America, so much of the aspects of Jmusic has been tailored to match artists in the west, apart from one lone aspect of Japanese music: rock.
JRock is one of the most popular styles of music in Japan, with the sub genre of Visual Kei being iconic amongst the younger generation. Jrock and Visual Kei derive inspiration from glam rock, and androgyny is a staple part of the Jrock image.
Naturally, pop music will always have much more impressive fan bases but Jrock is certainly making a notable impact in its own nation.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Pop music in Western countries.
Western culture is one that we all are familiar with, mainly because it is the society in which we have been brought up in, and currently live in. Therefore, all aspects of Western pop music will be familiar to those of us in countries such as the US, the UK, Ireland, etc.
Many artists in Western culture are merely discovered by chance, or strive to gain fame themselves by doing smaller performances in clubs and bars, and producing home made demos. But within the past few years, the X Factor/American Idol route to stardom is one travelled down by many.
The process of becoming a famous singer by way of a reality show, is where first you must audition to take part in the show, and if your voice is good enough, you move on to the next stage in the competition. You go through all these stages where your singing ability and stage prescence is judged, and people are gradually eliminated until you are left with roughly a dozen people left, who are supposed to be the very best out of everyone who auditioned. Those who are chosen to go through to the live shows which air every week - where the contestants are judged by the public - were chosen by apparent experts in the music industry, who know what will make a good pop star.
This path to take on the route to fame and fortune, is one largely based on musical ability, which some would say makes the artists more credible, as pop artists have frequesntly been critiqued on their singing capability, or lack thereof.
Pop music has been made widely available and popularized by MTV, a music television network. In the past, MTV would broadcast the latest music videos by the popular, and not so popular artists. These days, MTV usually only shows reality shows.
Image source: lovetripper.com
In Western pop music, image is everything. These days it sometimes seems like genuine musical talent is hard to come by. Technology in music has become so advaced these days that producers can make someone with the voice of a crow appear to have the voice of an angel. Regardless, there are some genuine artists with real talent who are keeping music alive today.
Some of the most well known artists in Western pop music from past and present, include:
• The Beatles
Image source: bluealien.org
• Lady Gaga
Image source: starpulse.com
• Michael Jackson
Image source: phayemuss.wordpress.com
• Beyoncé
Image source: thehollywoodgossip.com
Many artists in Western culture are merely discovered by chance, or strive to gain fame themselves by doing smaller performances in clubs and bars, and producing home made demos. But within the past few years, the X Factor/American Idol route to stardom is one travelled down by many.
The process of becoming a famous singer by way of a reality show, is where first you must audition to take part in the show, and if your voice is good enough, you move on to the next stage in the competition. You go through all these stages where your singing ability and stage prescence is judged, and people are gradually eliminated until you are left with roughly a dozen people left, who are supposed to be the very best out of everyone who auditioned. Those who are chosen to go through to the live shows which air every week - where the contestants are judged by the public - were chosen by apparent experts in the music industry, who know what will make a good pop star.
This path to take on the route to fame and fortune, is one largely based on musical ability, which some would say makes the artists more credible, as pop artists have frequesntly been critiqued on their singing capability, or lack thereof.
Pop music has been made widely available and popularized by MTV, a music television network. In the past, MTV would broadcast the latest music videos by the popular, and not so popular artists. These days, MTV usually only shows reality shows.
Image source: lovetripper.com
In Western pop music, image is everything. These days it sometimes seems like genuine musical talent is hard to come by. Technology in music has become so advaced these days that producers can make someone with the voice of a crow appear to have the voice of an angel. Regardless, there are some genuine artists with real talent who are keeping music alive today.
Some of the most well known artists in Western pop music from past and present, include:
• The Beatles
Image source: bluealien.org
• Lady Gaga
Image source: starpulse.com
• Michael Jackson
Image source: phayemuss.wordpress.com
• Beyoncé
Image source: thehollywoodgossip.com
Monday, November 30, 2009
What is pop music?
The term "pop music" can sometimes be used to shorten popular music, but actual pop music started around the 1950s. It began as a gentler, softer alternative to those who didn't have a taste for Rock n' roll. Pop music has been typically geared towards the younger generation, teenagers mainly. Musically, it is more emphasised on harmony and melody, rather than lyrics. Disputes occur between fans of pop music and rock music, with the rock fans stating that pop music is "soulless" and "shallow" and that pop stars "lack any musical abilities", with some extreme haters of pop music calling it a "joke of a genre".
But this is totally incorrect, as pop is a genre just as credible as rock, or folk.
Generally, pop music is the most marketable of all music genres. The aim of music music is to make its sound desirable to the listener, and companies aim to promote their artists by way of music videos, catchy singles, and extravegant concert tours.
Pop music gathers its influence from a wider variety of seperate genres, and combines them in a commercial manner which easilty attracts fans. Pop stars are so widely known, that they are approached by companies in order to promote their products, as their support in advertisement promotion is worth gold in the advertising world.
But this is totally incorrect, as pop is a genre just as credible as rock, or folk.
Generally, pop music is the most marketable of all music genres. The aim of music music is to make its sound desirable to the listener, and companies aim to promote their artists by way of music videos, catchy singles, and extravegant concert tours.
Pop music gathers its influence from a wider variety of seperate genres, and combines them in a commercial manner which easilty attracts fans. Pop stars are so widely known, that they are approached by companies in order to promote their products, as their support in advertisement promotion is worth gold in the advertising world.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Introduction
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Hello, my name is Clare and this is my blog on the differences in pop music between those countries in the east, and those in the west. I'll be discussing the differnces that occur between the genres of pop, which may differ due to their country's culture and history. The picture above is of Super Junior, a phenomenally popular Korean boy band. I will be referring to them and other associated artists.
I'll also be showing how, dependant on the country that the music derives from, there are vast differences in terms of sound, promotions of songs, music charts, tours, lyrics, compostion, etc. I hope that you will find the information I have here fascinating. ^_^
Image credit goes to: Arirang.co.kr
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