BTS 'Butter' music video tops 700 million views BTS / Courtesy of Big Hit MusicThe music video for BTS' 2021 megahit single "Butter" surpassed 700 million YouTube views Wednesday, becoming the 10th video from the K-pop group to hit the milestone.The video passed the 700 million threshold at 9:31 a.m., about nine months after it was uploaded online on May 21 last year, the group's agency Big Hit Music said.The upbeat summer song became a global hit upon its release, staying on the Billboard's Hot 100 main singles chart for 10 non-consecutive weeks.The song's music video earned 108.2 million views in its first 24 hours, giving it the biggest first-day view count of all time on YouTube. Including "Butter," a total of 35 music videos for BTS songs have garnered more than 100 million views and 10 of them over 700 million.Videos for "DNA" and "Boy With Luv" recorded over 1.4 billion views each, while "Dynamite" attracted more than 1.3 billion views. (Yonhap)Feb 23, 2022
Hybe tops 1 tril. won in annual sales, first in K-pop industry The company logo of Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS / Courtesy of HybeHybe has become the first K-pop management agency to surpass 1 trillion won ($838 million) in annual sales, boosted by successes of its artists led by global superstars BTS.The company said in a regulatory filing Tuesday its sales for 2021 were tentatively tallied at 1.25 trillion won, up 58 percent from the previous year. Its operating profit rose 30.8 percent on-year to 190.3 billion won with a net profit estimated at 141 billion won, up 62 percent.It marks the first time Hybe has exceeded 1 trillion won in annual sales, and Hybe also became the first K-pop agency to hit the milestone.The company's album sales rose 18 percent from the previous year to 378.5 billion won.BTS was the leading factor behind Hybe's solid performance, as the album for the group's megahit single "Butter" sold 7.4 million copies. The song stayed on the Billboard's Hot 100 main singles chart for 10 non-consecutive weeks. Albums by other South Korean boy groups under Hybe ― Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together and Enhypen ― also sold 3.7 miFeb 22, 2022
BTOB's 'The Song' conquers music streaming charts K-pop boy group BTOB poses during an online press event, Monday. Courtesy of Cube EntertainmentBy Dong Sun-hwaK-pop boy group BTOB is ruling major music streaming charts with its latest track, “The Song.” “The Song,” the lead single off the group's third full-length album, “Be Together,” is reigning atop the real-time charts of Bugs and Genie as of Tuesday. Written by member Hyunsik, “The Song” is a lyrical ballad highlighting BTOB's musical maturity, which revolves around everlasting love. “'Song' was the very first word that came to my mind when I was thinking about BTOB,” Hyunsik said during an online press event held a few hours ahead of the album's release, Monday. “BTOB is also well known for its vocal prowess, so I decided to title our lead track, 'The Song.'”Front man Eunkwang elaborated, “Through the lyrics, we reveal how much we want to stay together with our fans for a long time to come.” Unlike many other K-pop acts that put emphasis on performance and choreography, BTOB often focuses moreFeb 22, 2022By Dong Sun-hwa
45,000 fans allowed to attend BTS concerts next month A poster for BTS's upcoming "Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul" concerts / Courtesy of Big Hit Music K-pop supergroup BTS' upcoming concerts in Seoul will draw up to 45,000 fans in total to become the largest live music events in Korea since the start of the pandemic.The culture ministry has allowed the group to invite 15,000 spectators to each of its three concerts to be held at a nearly 70,000-capacity outdoor stadium next month, Rep. Jeon Yonggi of the ruling Democratic Party said Monday.It will be the largest number of spectators to attend a music concert in Korea since the pandemic began in early 2020.The septet will present the "Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul" shows at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in southern Seoul on March 10 and March 12 to 13. It will be the group's first concerts in front of a live audience in South Korea in about two-and-a-half years. The last time the band performed live in Korea was for the BTS World Tour "Love Yourself: Speak YourseFeb 21, 2022
Small K-pop labels rising K-pop boy group ATEEZ / Courtesy of KQ EntertainmentBy Dong Sun-hwaThe K-pop industry has been largely dominated by the so-called “Big 4” entertainment companies ― SM, YG, JYP and HYBE ― which represent some of the most bankable stars, like BTS, NCT and BLACKPINK. Their massive clout is most visible in the sales of physical albums, with the singers from these four labels accounting for 60.9 percent of total sales in 2021, according to sales tracker Gaon Chart.It obviously is not an easy environment to play in, but there are quite a few small- and mid-sized companies that are making breakthroughs by launching up-and-coming groups to spearhead the next generation of K-pop. Among them are KQ Entertainment and High-Up Entertainment, which house boy band ATEEZ and girl group STAYC, respectively. KQ Entertainment was formerly known as Seven Seasons, but it changed its name in 2016. It currently runs two sub-labels ― Seven Seasons and KQ Produce. The former manages K-pop act Block B, while the latter represents singer-songwriters like Eden and Maddox. In 2018, KQ debuted ATEEZ, Feb 21, 2022By Dong Sun-hwa
K-pop's global fame fueled by drama, film soundtracks BTS' “Permission to Dance On Stage” concert unfolds at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles last Nov. 29. The four-day mammoth show series, which was the band's first in-person concert held in two years, sold 214,000 tickets and grossed $33.3 million. Courtesy of Big Hit MusicSales of concert merchandise plummet in wake of pandemicBy Park Han-solEven COVID-19 could not make a dent in K-pop's global rise, as seen in the robust sales of physical albums, which surpassed $220 million in exports last year for the first time in history, according to Korean Customs Service data.This growing physical album market has coincided with the surging sales of soundtrack albums, magazines and outdoor advertising all featuring K-pop groups, recent data showed.Last year, Ktown4u, an online sales platform for K-pop albums and merchandise, sold a total of 28,939 copies of soundtrack albums for hit dramas and films ― a remarkable increase from 2,624 in 2019 and 8,784 in 2020.This meant that the profit generated from these albums also soared from 39.5 million won ($33,000) in 2019 to 480.6 million won Feb 21, 2022By Park Han-sol
More K-pop audition programs to air this year Contenders of the upcoming audition program “THE ORIGIN ― A, B or What?” / Courtesy of IST Entertainment By Dong Sun-hwaThe stellar success of K-pop groups created through audition programs ― such as Kep1er and ENHYPEN ― is prompting the launch of similar shows. Since talent search shows can help singers establish solid fan bases from the beginning of their careers, more entertainment companies are planning to produce them in 2022 to jump on the bandwagon. Kakao Entertainment and Japan's Sony Music Solutions are set to premiere “THE ORIGIN ― A, B or What?” on cable channel MBN, Feb. 26. It is a survival show featuring 13 male idol trainees at IST Entertainment, which represents K-pop acts like Apink, The Boyz and VICTON. The contenders will vie against one another to join a new 13-member group that will debut later this year. Those who receive the most votes from viewers with their performances will make their debut, but those who fail to do so will continue their tFeb 18, 2022By Dong Sun-hwa
K-pop artists postpone music releases, debuts amid Omicron surge Eight of the nine members of boy group Cravity tested positive for COVID-19. Courtesy of Starship Entertainment By Lee Gyu-leeA number of K-pop groups are postponing their scheduled activities as the current wave of COVID-19 infections is rocking the music industry. More than 30 artists have been confirmed to be infected with the virus, and the country is struggling to contain the high transmissible spread of the Omicron variant. Korea saw yet a new daily record, with the number of COVID-19 cases surpassing 93,000 on Wednesday.The rookie group, TEMPEST, which was slated to make its debut next Monday, has pushed back the release of its debut album, “It's ME, It's WE,” to next month after all of its seven members tested positive for the virus.“One of the staff reported getting infected, so we got the members tested and heard back that the results were positive,” the group's agency Yuehua Entertainment said in the statement, adding that the members had each received twFeb 17, 2022By Lee Gyu-lee
To bow, or not to bow: Should Chinese K-pop stars adhere to Korean culture? Ningning of K-pop girl group aespa / Courtesy of SM EntertainmentBy Dong Sun-hwaAnti-China sentiment triggered by recent Olympic controversies has spilled over to the K-pop scene, with internet users from Korea and China fiercely quarreling over whether Chinese K-pop stars should bow like Koreans even though both cultures have different customs.The heated debate started a few days after Korean short tracker Hwang Dae-heon was disqualified from the men's 1,000m semifinals during the Beijing Olympics, Feb. 7, despite finishing first. In the wake of his disqualification ― which most Koreans believe was due to unfair officiating ― two Chinese skaters advanced to the final and ended up winning gold and silver, respectively. The incident has prompted an online war between Korean and Chinese people, with the former insisting that the host country's athletes were given home advantage. As the war of words continued, some Koreans switched their target to Ningning, a Chinese member of the K-pop girl group aespa, who celebrated the Chinese team's success after it clinched its first gold medal inFeb 17, 2022By Dong Sun-hwa
MSG Wannabe M.O.M to drop new single, Feb. 26 Members of MSG Wannabe M.O.M / Courtesy of MSG Wannabe M.O.MBy Dong Sun-hwaMSG Wannabe M.O.M, a project group formed on the MBC reality show “Hangout with Yoo,” is slated to put out a new digital single, “Would You Want to Hear,” Feb. 26. It took about eight months for the four-member act to come up with a new song since the release of “Foolish Love” last June. Songwriters Park Geun-tae and Kim Do-hoon, who composed “Foolish Love,” have again teamed up with the group to drop “Would You Want to Hear,” a moombahton-flavored track that has a different vibe from “Foolish Love.” MSG Wannabe M.O.M, consisting of comedian Ji Suk-jin (Byuloo-G) and singers KCM (Kang Chang-mo), Wonstein and Parc Jae-jung, took the music scene by storm last year with “Foolish Love,” topping the major Korean music streaming charts on Melon, Genie and Bugs. MSG Wannabe, which is made up of two sub-units M.O.M and JDSK, was created by comedian Yoo Jae-suk, the host of “Hangout with Yoo,” who aimed to launch an all-maleFeb 17, 2022By Dong Sun-hwa
