~ Clueless episode 1: A bit of history ~

Introduction

Hey there and welcome to the first episode of our series named "Clueless"! This series is to help people gather clues around the Korean Music industry in order to gather elements, put all the pieces of the puzzle together and get a bigger picture, therefore not remaining "clueless". We'll discuss topics such as the process of becoming an idol, the relationship between idols and their fans, the role of the entertainment labels in the lives of idols, the dark sides of the industry, and many more. Some episodes will be inspired of past or recent events that marked the Kpop industry in order to better illustrate a topic. 

We'll start this series by talking about a bit of History: When did it all start? How? With whom? If you want to know, keep reading! But before we start, I want to do a little disclaimer: The information brought up in this series either come from my personal experience as a Kpop fan and/or from research (magazines, books, websites, forums, testimonies, etc.). I'll do my best to verify the source of the information beforehand, but misinformation can still happen. In this case, I'll appreciate it if you could mention it in the comments and I'll modify/delete the information as soon as possible. 

Also, if you have any trouble understanding certain terms that are specific to the Kpop industry, I created some sort of dictionary where you can find all the definitions for these words: Kpop Slang 101. If the word you're looking for is not in there, mention it in the comments! 

Without any further due, let's start looking for clues!

What does Kpop stand for?

Kpop is the acronym for "Korean Pop Music", which is not a genre in itself, but rather a label that includes various genres such as Pop (with groups like BTS, Blackpink, Monsta X, Seventeen, etc.), Rock (with groups like Day6, F.T Island, C.N.Blue, The Rose, N.Flying, etc.), Hip-Hop (with artists like B.I, Bewhy, Colde, Crush, DPR live, PH-1, etc.), R&B (with artists like Dean, Gaho, Villain, etc.). Which is why I prefer using the term "Korean Music" instead of Kpop, because we're not only talking about Korean Pop here but also about Korean Rock, Korean Hip-Hop and Korean R&B.

When did the first Kpop groups started to appear?

The "Kpop Idol Culture" (reference to the system we all know today with idols, groups of idols and their huge fandoms) started in the 1990s, with the 3-membered boy band "Seo Taji and Boys" with members Yang Hyun Suk, Seo Taji and Lee Juno. If the name Yang Hyun Suk sounds familiar to you that's normal, he's the founder and ex-CEO of YG entertainment, one of the biggest entertainment agencies in the industry and home to groups like Blackpink, Bigbang, Ikon and Winner. They debuted in 1992 and disbanded four years later in 1996. Other groups then followed, known as being part of the "first generation" of Kpop: H.O.T (debuted in September 1996), Seschkies (debuted in April 1997), S.E.S (debuted in November 1997), Shinhwa (debuted in March 1998), Fin.K.L (debuted in May 1998), G.O.D (debuted in January 1999), etc. One thing that you should keep in mind is that the number of debuts was ten times lower within the first and second generation than within the later generations. Almost 50 groups debuted in 2014 compared to 6 in 2008. 

In the meantime, South Korea was starting to open its mind to the outside world. The country was ruled by civilians and not military figures anymore, and consumer goods industries started booming due to an increase in the overall consumptions of Koreans. The arrival of Kpop in this context helped South Koreans to open their minds to new horizons. 

The different Kpop generations

Just like human populations with "Generation X", "Millennials", and "Generation Z", we divide the Kpop groups and artists according to their year of debut, and therefore according to different generations:

• The first generation is made of all the groups who debuted between 1992 and 2004: H.O.T, G.O.D, S.E.S, Seschkies, Fin.K.L, etc.
• The second generation is made of all the groups who debuted between 2005 and 2011: Super-Junior, Bigbang, 2ne1, Shinee, Girl's Generation, TVXQ, etc.
• The third generation is made of all the groups who debuted between 2012 and 2017: EXO, BTS, GOT7, Seventeen, RedVelvet, Twice, Blackpink, VIXX, Monsta X, NCTm etc.
• The fourth generation is made of all the groups who debuted from 2018 until now: Stray Kids, Ateez, TXT, Itzy, Loona, etc. 

And as I previously said, the more we advance in time, the more groups are debuting, and the harder it becomes to follow up with every group. 70 groups debuted in 2019, including TXT, CIX, OnlyOneOf, Onewe, Oneus and Itzy, compared to 13 in 2010, I don't know if you realize but the difference is huge. 

Something that also changes from one generation to another, is the level of talent groups and artists have when they debut. Back in 1999, if a group debuted, they wouldn't know how to sing perfectly on stage, dance perfectly on stage, sing the song they had composed and written, and that's normal. What is less normal is the level of talent that they have to achieve in order to debut, and then having to improve when you have such a good level from the start. Which is why competition is getting harder and harder as the years go by, and which is why idols get sick more often, sit out of performances more often, and even decide to take breaks for their mental health.

A good aspect now that they didn't have back in the days is the support they receive from professionals during their careers. I believe every decent company should have a psychologist to follow groups and artists in order for them to avoid having burn-outs and becoming crazy because the pressure is too high. Although mental health is still a taboo in South Korea, I believe that more and more people are accepting the fact that showing some weaknesses is human, which is great because two decades ago no one would talk about it. 

How Kpop became popular? 

This is a question a lot of people are asking nowadays, and it's important to specify that Kpop became popular in certain regions of the world before others. Kpop became known in Asia pretty quickly, with groups promoting in Japan and China in parallel of their South-Korean activities. Super-Junior and EXO are two groups that were split in sub-groups in order to promote their music in South Korea and China at the same time. 

Then came the US where the first Kcon (an convention where groups and artists gather to promote the Korean Culture, it will have multiple events such as dance covers, restaurants, pop-ups, and live performances) took place in Southern California in 2012. It really helped Kpop being more known in the US even though some groups like Wondergirls and Girl's Generation have tried to make their own thing in the US beforehand. 

Finally, Kcon came to Europe for the first time in 2016. It was probably easier to please to the European public who is more open to foreign cultures compared to the US, the biggest music market that was not ready to welcome such a different industry in their territory. Plus, europeans are close to the Japanese culture as well with the popularity of mangas and animes in countries like France. 

Now, to answer the "how", it's a bit more complex. In 2009, the Kpop girl group Wondergirls was the first Kpop group to enter the US billboard hot 100 chart with their single "Nobody". In 2010, Taeyang of the Kpop boy group Bigbang and the Kpop girl group 2ne1 release multiple songs that will be a success in the US, Canada and even Australia. Super Junior's fourth album "Bonamana" places 7th on Billboard's world album chart during the same year. In 2011, the Kpop girl group Girl's Generation sign with Universal Music Group/Intercore and release an album in the US. But then, why didn't it work as much as it did with BTS and Blackpink starting 2017? I think it's a question of timing. Economically speaking, it was the big depression because of what happened with the subprime crisis. The buying power of US citizens dropped, and they surely weren't going to spend hundreds of dollars in Kpop albums and Kpop merchandise when they didn't really know what it was about. And if we also look at the musical scene, back in 2009, it was the golden age of Flo Rida, The Black Eyed Peas, and Beyonce. I don't think that the mentalities were ready to welcome such a different genre of music, and such different people.  

Why is Kpop so popular?

Finally, why is Kpop popular? The answer is simple: The whole system is completely different. Think about it from a businessman/businesswoman perspective (that's where I'll be flexing my knowledge in business so brace yourself): You have multiple companies on the market that is the music market. The companies are the different entertainment labels (YG, JYP, Hybe, SM, etc.), and their brands are the different groups. So for the Company called JYP Entertainment, their different brands are Twice, Stray Kids, Itzy, 2pm, Day6, etc. And in some cases, a brand is declined in different products. For example, in the company SM entertainment, you have the brand called NCT, with the products called NCT Dream, NCT U, NCT 127 and WayV. And before a product is put on a market, you have to test it, in order to see if it works and if it will make you earn money. This is what we call the "trainee" period: You create a product with the help of different ingredients (different members to create a group), you optimise each ingredient to make the product as perfect as possible (you train the members to make them as perfect as possible) and if the testing phase works, you put your product on the market (you make the group debut). And if your product doesn't give you a sufficient return on investment at a certain point in time, well you remove it from the market (you disband the group as a company or you wait for the contract to end after the 7 year period). 

I won't get into more details as this will be the topic for the next episode of Clueless.

Don't forget to leave your thoughts on this first episode in the comments section, and I'll see you all soon for the next episode! 

Love, Swan

Hey there!

As I mentioned in a previous article, I have been working on a new blog for a few months, and this new blog is finally available! You can visit it on the following link: https://kpopandco.wordpress.com.

This blog is now obsolete and will no longer be updated. All the content available on this blog is now available on Kpop and Co. as well. 

Thank you for visiting To Infinity and Beyond the K!

Love, Swan

Hello everyone, it's Swan!

It's been long since I posted something on the blog. I've got to admit that I missed writing about groups, comebacks and dramas. But hey! I come with good news 

Indeed, I can proudly announce that the new blog will be released on April 24th, 2022! So mark your calendars and get ready for more quality content from me! 

I know you're dying to get more information, so I'm going to give you slightly more: The blog name will be "KPOP AND CO.", and the blog will be hosted by wordpress. In other words, this blog will become obsolete and I will have to delete it at some point when the other one will be launched. 

Don't worry, everything that's available here will be on the new website, and even more things are awaiting you! New articles will be available on the blog from the get-go, especially some kmusic rankings (I know I missed a lot of releases), and some groups presentations. 

I really want to thank you guys for showing interest in this blog. More than four thousands visits is a huge number for me because I have never expected people to actually like the content. I can't wait to show you what I have in store, and I hope you'll like it. 

Take care and I'll see you sooner than you think.

Love, Swan