Music streaming service Melon under fire for categorizing BTS as J-pop By Park Ji-wonMusic streaming service Melon logoMelon, the nation's leading music streaming service run by Kakao, has come under fire for categorizing K-pop sensation BTS as J-pop. The firm changed the category and listed BTS as simply a pop group, but fans have continued to criticize the platform for the misstep.The streaming service has been labeling musicians using various genres such as rap/hip-hop, R&B, pop, and J-pop. However, it has been describing BTS and other K-pop groups as J-pop for years, based on the fact that those groups released songs in the Japanese market, the platform's official said. In addition to BTS, BLACKPINK, TWICE and Seventeen have also been categorized as J-pop groups as they released songs in Japan.When a report was broadcast on SBS, a Korean TV and radio network, revealing the incorrect categorization first went viral, the platform said it would be difficult to fix the category and asked users to continue to use the streaming service.However, criticism of Melon continued. A netizen said on Twitter that “BTS is a K-pop group, not a J-pop group Dec 3, 2020By Park Ji-won
Indie musicians raise voice on gender-based discrimination Three young women prepare for a performance. / Courtesy of Wewewe ProjectBy Park Ji-wonSome indie musicians have broken their silence about discrimination based on gender in the music scene through a compilation album.A project album “We, Do It Together” by Wewewe Project was released on Nov. 26 in hopes of raising awareness on gender based discrimination issues.Kim Min-jung, vocalist of the six-year-old indie band Ego Function Error and the leader of the Wewewe Project, aims to empower female and feminist artists, and to pave the way to change the misogynic indie music scene after growing tired of the discriminative scene. After listening to a female rock compilation album from Japan, she decided to launch a similar project in 2017.Band Ego Function Error's vocalist Kim Min-jung“I was sick and tired of abusive remarks and acts against female musicians in the scene,” she told The Korea Times over the phone. “After my group's performances, we were repeatedly told 'you performed so well for women,' or 'it's strange for women to play this genre of music.' UDec 1, 2020By Park Ji-won
Pianist Sunwoo Ye-kwon hopes to bring comfort Pianist Sunwoo Ye-kwon performs during a press conference held at ODE Port, Gangnam District, Seoul, Tuesday, to promote his new album “Mozart.” YonhapBy Park Ji-wonThe cover of pianist Sunwoo Ye-kwon's new album “Mozart” Courtesy of Universal Music KoreaAward-winning pianist Sunwoo Ye-kwon released a new album, Tuesday, which he hopes will comfort pandemic-weary people.Sunwoo, the winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2017, said the double album titled “Mozart” was recorded to help people find peace amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The album is his first release since “Cliburn Gold: Van Cliburn Competition 2017.”“The first CD can help people to purify themselves and feel better while listening in the morning. I made the track list without following the time when a piece was made. The second CD can help people spend some time alone when they feel emptiness and depression in the evening. The albums cannot sort things out perfectly, but it could give people some comfort,” Sunwoo said during a press Nov 25, 2020By Park Ji-won
Pianist Choue Hee-youn holds recital Pianist Choue Hee-youn / Courtesy of Choue Hee-younBy Kwon Mee-yooPianist Choue Hee-youn will present a solo recital at the Youngsan Art Hall on Yeouido in Seoul, Nov. 25.It will include works by Bach, Mozart, Debussy and Albeniz. Choue will start with Bach's "Partita in B-flat Major, BWV 825," followed by Mozart's "Piano Sonata No.13 in B-flat Major, K.333." After an intermission, she will play Debussy's "La Serenade interromapue" and "La Puerta del Vino," and Albeniz's "Iberia Book II." The first half showcases the purity of absolute music, emphasizing the beauty of combinations of notes, while the second half presents program music, specifically Spain portrayed by French Impressionist composer Debussy and Spanish Nationalist musician Albeniz."As many of my concerts this year were postponed or canceled, I had to come up with a new program. Albeniz is a Spanish composer who used Spanish folk music elements in classical music, combined with influences from Impressionism and Romanticism," Choue told The Korea Times via a phone interview. "Debussy was his contemporary and he also wroteNov 20, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Folk singer says 'bring back hippies' to solve COVID-19 problems Hahn Dae-soo poses in Seoul with his daughter Michelle. / Courtesy of Cho Sang-hoHahn Dae-soo returns to Korea for 'final album'By Jon DunbarLegendary Korean folk rocker Hahn Dae-soo returned to his homeland recently to record and release what he promises will be his final album, “Blue Skies White Clouds,” on Nov. 14.He came here with his Russian-American wife and their teenage daughter, leaving behind their New York home with no definite plans to return. “I'm 72 now, and once again I am at the epicenter of a pandemic ― always at the epicenter,” he told The Korea Times in an interview. “So this is what was happening from March. Everybody is scared to death. I go out and get milk, coffee, meat, whatever; I just go early in the morning. And I did that for five, six months. It's getting better ― New York is now kind of controlled. Not like Seoul ― Seoul is the best.”He derided American pop stars for releasing songs encouraging people to come together and painting a rosy picture of the U.S. pandemic response, calling them “totally ridiculous.&rdqNov 16, 2020By Jon Dunbar
Na Hoon-a to hold Christmas Concerts in Seoul, Busan and Daegu By Kang Hyun-kyungTrot singer Na Hoon-a will hold Christmas concerts in Seoul, Daegu and Busan in December, following his sensational TV concert which aired on KBS2 on the eve of the Chuseok holiday in September. Starting Dec. 12 at BEXCO, Busan, his agency Yearah said, the singer will perform a total of 16 times, twice a day, in the three big cities, as part of the “Na Hoon-a: Brother Tes Jingle Bell Concert” tour.“Previously his concerts were called 'filial events' because many of his fans are elderly people and their children book tickets for their parents. Through his new album, he was able to expand his fandom to the younger generation and they reacted explosively to his new songs,” the agency said in a press release. “Due to the expanded fandom, his concerts will be something that every generation can enjoy.”Singer Na Hoon-a / Courtesy of YearahDue to the coronavirus pandemic, the organizer said seats will be assigned in accordance with the social distancing regulations. Na released a new album, titled “A Tale of Nine Stories,” inNov 9, 2020By Kang Hyun-kyung
7 billion: 'Baby Shark' becomes most-watched video on YouTube A screen capture from "Baby Shark Dance" on YouTube"Baby Shark Dance," a sing-and-dance video for the megahit children's song of the same name, has become the most-watched video on YouTube, the song's creator said Monday.The South Korean video racked up more than 7 billion views at around 1:20 p.m., dethroning Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's megahit "Despacito" that has ruled the platform since August 2017, according to media startup SmartStudy.The "Baby Shark" song, which was first released in June 2016 as part of the PINKFONG children's song series, has become a global phenom with its catchy tune and addictive lyrics, "Baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo."The song even made it to global music charts, ranking No. 32 on the Billboard's Hot 100 and No. 6 on the Official Charts.The song's creator thanked listeners for their love in the children's song."(We're genuinely) thankful to everyone who appreciates PINKFONG's baby shark. We will work hard to offer more diverse entertainment to global fans by developing various intellectual property," Kim Min-seok, the head of SmartStudy, saiNov 2, 2020
Baritone singer Kim Gihoon: Late start helped me succeed Kim Gihoon / YonhapIn a local classical music competition back in 2009, Kim Gihoon was waiting for the results of the first time he ever sang in public. The host of the contest did not call his name from the list of vocalist winners and moved on to musical instrument sections."I thought the other vocalists had done far better than me. I was so ashamed of my singing and wanted to go back home," Kim said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Wednesday. "But my name was called at the very end. It was the grand prize. That was the first trophy in my life."Born in a small rural town of Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, Kim started to learn operatic singing when he was 18 years old. Until then, he just imitated classical singers on TV and did not show this secret ability to his mother and father.His parents, who did not have professional musical careers, did not allow their only son to devote himself to classical music or other arts, even though Kim was good at many things such as singing, playing the piano, Korean traditional music and drawing."A vocal professor, who visited a practice Oct 31, 2020
CelloGayageum bridges music of East and West CelloGayageum's cellist Sol Daniel Kim performs during Jeongdong Theater's Korean music incubation program. Courtesy of Jeongdong TheaterBy Kwon Mee-yooThe cello and gayageum (Korean 12-stringed zither) are representative string instruments of Western and Korean music, respectively. CelloGayageum, a duet of Austrian cellist Sol Daniel Kim and Korean gayageum player Yoon Da-young, pursues an extraordinary collaboration between East and West featuring the two similar yet different instruments.Yoon, who majored in gayageum at the Korea National University of Arts, had a chance to teach the Korean zither at the Korean Cultural Center in Berlin in 2016. "Though I attended an art university, there was not much exchange between the School of Music and School of Korean Traditional Arts. It was the first time I listened to chamber music so closely in Berlin and performed with a cello," Yoon said during an interview with The Korea Times, Oct. 5."We thought the sound of the cello and gayageum went well with each other and suggested collaboration without a specific purpose. That's how our first Oct 15, 2020By Kwon Mee-yoo
Cassette tapes come back as retro thrives Cassette tapes are displayed in Dope Records, a record shop in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Sept. 11. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-wonBy Park Ji-wonIn the 1980s and 1990s, playing a cassette tape was one of the most common ways to enjoy music. It was small and cheap, so it was a good format for production companies to release their music on and for consumers to enjoy popular songs at lower prices. With technology advancements, sales of the cassette tape decreased along with vinyl records as CDs overtook them as the most popular format in the mid-1990s, later to be overtaken by MP3 players and then again by digital music streaming services. But the boom of the retro culture here in recent years, as well as the popularity of the film “Guardians of the Galaxy,” has led to a revival of the cassette tape, attracting both young and older generations to collect the media as it brings nostalgia to those who miss the unmistakable sound and gives those who are young the experience of discovering “new” old music and building rare music collections.Musicians still release vinyl recordSep 17, 2020By Park Ji-won
