What is Kpop?

 What is Kpop?

A question I and many others get asked on a daily basis.In short it stands for Korean Pop.Its flashy and bold yet at the same time timid and polite.Its everything at once and it wants you to know it.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in this specific Music Video.(commonly abbreviated as MV in Kpop circles).

Girls Generation I Got a Boy

Here is an example of the saying "Everything but the kitchen sink".From romantic relationships, to cheating, bad girls, good girls, good boys, flashing lights, and Electronic and RnB breakdowns.All of this in the span of 4 minutes.To not only capture the attention of the viewer but to forcefully keep it.

This idea of a concept is prevalent and drives the industry.Each group and solo act has one.Its ever changing or it can be static.Each new release is a guessing game.And that keeps fans excited.

Because the music is not the product.They are.

Indeed beyond the music the job of a Kpop performer(known as an Idol) is to well... be idolised.And the company behind them make sure they are talented, polite and good looking enough to be idolised.And when interacting with fans they will try to be the as nice and endearing as to leave the person in a good mood.

Now lets see how they achieve this.

This brings us to another aspect of the industry.Music Shows.

After a song is released the following week the artists go on promoting day in day out.Their brand new album and title track.

The biggest promotion an idol can get is on the weekly music shows.Unlike the rest of the world Korea has dedicated hour long programing where idols go live on stage and perform the song on national television.

Going with the Girls Generation theme here is one:

At the end of the, audience invite only, live stage the three most popular acts of the week go and compete to see who wins the award for most popular song.While to the people outside looking in this might seem as pure fun.The amount of awards per album or single is directly tied to an artists popularity and therefore net worth.Making them highly desirable.

In between these shows are fan interaction and numerous different stages across the country on a tight schedule

Now that you have learned the basic structure and gained some hot Kpop lingo you can go and explore bravely on your own or stay around and read some other articles.Either way thank you for reading.