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| Graphic by Cho Sang-won |
Big Bang, Girls' Generation return online
By Kim Jae-heun
A great number of Korean idol bands released new albums in the first half of the year. Starting off with popular boy group Big Bang of YG Entertainment, top girl bands such as Sistar, Ace of Angels (AOA), Girl's Day and Girls Generation pushed out new albums, creating a fierce battle on K-pop music charts.
Amid the idols' back-to-back releases, their unusual step to promote new tracks on Internet platforms first ― such as Korea's No. 1 portal site Naver's Star Cast and Afreeca TV, a live video streaming service ― was a notable change.
In the past, Internet platforms were considered a second choice where only newcomers, who had just made their debut and couldn't find a spot on major TV networks KBS, MBC or SBS, chose Naver and Afreeca TV to promote themselves.
This is all changing in 2015. Big Bang, currently Korea's hottest boy band that regrouped after a three-year hiatus, chose to release two singles on Naver on the first day of the month, starting May 1. They will continue to release tracks selectively until the full album is revealed in August. The band also hosts a talk show on Star Cast an hour prior to releasing new tracks at midnight.
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| Top Korean girl band Girls' Generation perform at the Banyan Tree Club & Spa, Wednesday. |
Sistar followed on June 22 and appeared both on Afreeca TV and Star Cast that night and the next day. This was the first time the girl band appeared on the Internet first before music programs on major TV networks. Girl's Day, too, met their fans on two Internet platforms, while Girls' Generation and AOA featured on Star Cast and Afreeca TV.
Na Sang-cheon, a director at Dream T Entertainment, which represents Girl's Day, said that using Internet platforms was a new trend to promote albums because it offers convenient accessibility to various age groups online.
"Girl's Day decided to release the new album through Naver Star Cast first because they can stage a real-time countdown with their fans," Na said.
Afreeca TV celebrity Na Dong-hyun, who uses the alias "Great Library" on his channel and hosted a show with Sistar recently, pointed out that cost-effective promotion and improved reputation of Internet media make Star Cast and Afreeca TV attractive platforms for stars.
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| Ace of Angels / Courtesy of FNC Entertainment |
"The efficiency of various promotions that stars have invested big money into is high. Also, idols don't have to go through uncomfortable appearances on major TV networks' shows, where their seniors are the hosts. Afreeca TV provides an easy atmosphere and stars can enjoy effective promotion when their names top real-time search lists on portal sites after appearing on Internet media.
"Stars began promoting themselves on live streaming services on the Internet about two years ago, but it was rather rare. Mostly, lesser-known or trainee groups would participate, but now popular bands like Sistar, Girl's Day and AOA are starring. My Little Television (TV program on MBC) brought this change," Na said.
My Little Television is a TV series, where individuals, mostly celebrities in five different fields, create their own program on Internet broadcasting platform Daum TV Pot, to air a one-person broadcast live on a particular theme. The show took the program concept from the country's popular P2P technology-based video streaming service, Afreeca TV, which has the same function as that of Daum TV Pot but has a larger number of viewers. It also creates profits for the hosts when viewers present "star balloons," or cyber-money, that are exchangeable for cash, to appreciate quality content provided by independent broadcasters, better known as Broadcasting Jockeys (BJs).
According to Na, BJs of Afreeca TV in the past, adopted sensational contents to maximize their profit, but with the diverse quality content independent broadcasters offer these days, stars have started to appear more on Internet media and fans are reacting positively.
Naver's Star Cast is different from other platforms as it focuses on the stars as the main cast and there is no BJ.
The country's top search portal launched Star Cast platform on June 2013 to share behind-the-scenes pictures of singers during concerts. From June this year, the live streaming service started promoting idols' new releases. Seven-member boy band Infinite from Woollim Entertainment is also standing in line to appear on Star Cast on July 11.
Apart from featuring K-pop bands, the Internet platform has been airing live sports events such as the Olympics, the World Cup and the Korean Series in baseball.
"One-person media on Internet platforms is not in a position to take over the markets of previous networks. I describe Internet broadcasting as personal entertainment, where independent broadcasters can cover small groups' different interests and hobbies on their own channels. Major networks and cable TV cannot satisfy every person's needs," Na said.
"For example, I like to play game GTA (Grand Theft Auto), but none of the channels on major TV networks air GTA. Even the game channel ongamenet does not cover GTA and it is an independent broadcaster's job to run content on it. Content covering the interests of a small group of fans will increase in the future and Internet broadcasting will be professionalized," he added.
Korea is ranked 4th in the number smartphone users in the world; and this is another contributing factor to boost the number of Internet broadcasting viewers as four in five Koreans own one. Internet live streaming services can be accessed without limit for smartphone users in all kinds of age groups. According to data provided by Digieco, Korea's mobile carrier KT Corp.'s research center, 83 percent of the population uses a smartphone everyday.
Riding on this, Naver is launching a new live video streaming service on mobile application "V" in August, targeting a global audience. The service will feature K-pop stars as independent broadcasters and provide content in English. Fans can take a closer look at celebrities' daily lives and their various activities through the service, which was unthinkable of in the past.
Hallyu, or Korean Wave, stars such as Big Bang, and JYP Entertainment's 2PM will appear in the premiere and fans can leave their suggestions on what they want to see about their favorite stars online.
