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| BTS is named Time Magazine's Entertainment of the Year for 2020. / Courtesy of Time Magazine |
By Park Han-sol
The year 2020 saw a rare phenomenon in the Korean music industry: It was the year of mutual gains for trot and K-pop, defying the long-held belief that musicians of the two drastically different genres are inevitably pitted against each other over popularity.
While the pandemic opened new doors for the K-pop industry to experiment with livestreaming services and virtual technologies to meet global fans, albeit digitally, megastar BTS became the first Korean act to be nominated for a Grammy.
At home, veteran trot singer Na Hoon-a created a sensation after the huge success of his TV concert on the eve of the Chuseok long weekend. This contributed further to an already existing boom in the trot genre, evidenced by the popularity of "Mr. Trot," which broke TV Chosun's viewership records every week it aired.
Below are the top 10 news stories that redefined the Korean music industry this year.
1. Sustainable trot
The success of TV Chosun's next trot show saved the cable network's reputation. TV Chosun, an affiliate of Chosun Daily Newspaper, was often compared with JTBC, an affiliate of JoongAng Ilbo, due to their rivalry in the print media industry. On the small screen, TV Chosun had long been an underdog in the viewership race until it launched the experimental trot survival show "Miss Trot" last year.
It turned out to be an unparalleled success story, which carried on this year with the follow-up "Mr. Trot."
Nearly 36 percent of Korean TV watchers tuned in for the show in one of its final episodes, recording the highest viewership in the history of cable network programming. For the show's finale, an unprecedented 7.7 million text message-based votes were cast nationwide to select the winner, dubbed "Mr. Trot," among seven final candidates.
Even after the season finale, trot as a genre and its performers have continued to enjoy a renaissance, evidenced by trot singers topping the music charts and appearing in multiple commercials and on other major networks.
The follow-up show "Mister Trot: The Call Center of Love" featuring the top six contestants still posts 15 percent ratings on average. The six stars even starred in the documentary film "Mr. Trot: The Movie" released in October.
The unmatched fame achieved by "Mr. Trot" in the domestic market soon led to the birth of several other similarly themed audition shows, including MBC's "I Am a Trot Singer," MBN's "Voice Trot" and SBS' "K-Trot in Town."
2. BTS nominated for Grammy
The global megastar group BTS continued to make K-pop history in 2020, this time with its new digital single blasting in at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 as well as its Grammy Award nomination ― becoming the first Korean act ever to accomplish both feats.
Upon its release, the band's first all-English track "Dynamite" reigned in the top two spots of the Billboard chart for seven consecutive weeks.
The catchy and lighthearted disco pop song broke the record for the highest YouTube views in the first 24 hours, with 101.1 million, and ultimately earned the septet their Grammy nomination for the best pop duo/group performance. With this, the group is now the first Korean act to have been nominated for all three major U.S. music awards, including Billboard Music Awards and American Music Awards.
But it doesn't end there. BTS' latest song "Life Goes On" released last month became the first Korean song to top the Billboard Hot 100 in the first week of December.
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| Trot singer Na Hoon-a performs in his Chuseok holiday concert. / Captured from KBS |
3. Na Hoon-a craze
Singer Na Hoon-a proved again that age is just a number.
In his first return to the small screen after 15 years, the veteran trot singer created a sensation among pandemic-weary Koreans. His Chuseok holiday concert on KBS 2 scored an incredible viewership of 29 percent nationwide, according to Nielsen Korea, marking the highest figure among all broadcast programs that day.
The event, accompanied virtually by 1,000 fans in Seoul, Japan, Denmark, Australia and even Zimbabwe, awed not only his longtime middle-aged stans but also many younger audience members with Na's charismatic stage presence as well as his splendid costumes and props.
His performance of "Brother 'Tes!", where he asks the Greek philosopher Socrates the meaning of the world, love and life, captured listeners' attention with its satirical lyrics and addictive melody, leading its YouTube music video to reach more than 12 million views.
In addition to his music, his messages strewn throughout the concert resonated with many viewers, from his heartfelt thanks to the medical staff and grassroots efforts in these trying times to his sharp jab at partisan politics.
4. K-pop goes online
The strict social distancing rules to curb the spread of the virus meant a string of in-person K-pop events including concerts, festivals and meet-and-greets were canceled one after another throughout the year. The total estimated losses from the canceled performances alone came to more than 130 billion won ($120 million) as of October, according to the Record Label Industry Association of Korea.
To cope with the pandemic-led disaster, big names in the industry actively began to look for ways to incorporate the contactless trend into their business model. And this effort soon led to some new eye-catching alternatives.
From BTS' "Bang Bang Con" attended by more than 750,000 viewers to SM's "Beyond LIVE" series with SuperM, Super Junior and NCT, online livestreaming concerts became a boon for K-pop fans worldwide. Another turning point came in the form of BLACKPINK's virtual fan signing event, which featured each members' personalized avatars and drew over 46 million users.
Even an awards show made a transition to an online platform. Decked out with the latest AR and MR technologies, Mnet Asian Music Awards surprised fans by having a virtually rendered Suga, who is still recovering from shoulder surgery, rap onstage for BTS' "Life Goes On" performance.
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| BLACKPINK pose in modified hanbok costume in their "How You Like That" performance. / Courtesy of YG Entertainment |
5. BLACKPINK hanbok goes viral
In BLACKPINK's performance unveiling the new summer hit "How You Like That" on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," what mesmerized global fans other than their addictive music was their stage costume: modified hanbok.
The members' jeogori (upper garments) and chima (skirts) that form the traditional Korean attire usually worn on special occasions were reinterpreted with modern fits and colors.
But such a stylistic twist stirred up local controversy when some argued their outfits distort the authentic tradition represented by the dress and its heritage. Others also insisted that revealing cuts and short lengths made the hanbok too sexualized.
However, both the Hanbok Advancement Center and Danha, the designer for Jennie's and Rose's costume, stated that unnecessarily policing the shape of the outfit may hinder healthy promotional efforts for hanbok and undermine its appeal.
The conversation about the traditional Korean attire became especially relevant as some Chinese internet users were accused recently of cultural appropriation after claiming that hanbok derives from the Chinese traditional clothing hanfu and therefore should be considered part of their culture.
6. Documentary films of K-pop idols
This year, documentary films following some of the most popular K-pop idols behind the scenes and detailing their rise to fame have enthralled international fans, who wish to know more about their stars' seemingly candid thoughts and feelings through humanizing narratives.
Just a day after its October release, Netflix Original "BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky" ranked No. 2 in the streaming giant's global chart of top movies, according to analytics firm FlixPatrol. The nine-part YouTube docu-series "TWICE: Seize the Light" also achieved success with its first episode surpassing 5.3 million views. BTS' "Break The Silence" series, initially released on BigHit's official fan community platform Weverse, became a smash hit among the group's fans.
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| SM Entertainment's new girl group aespa / Courtesy of SM Entertainment |
7. 'Hybrid' girl group aespa
In November, aespa became the first new girl group to debut in SM Entertainment since Red Velvet burst onto the scene six years ago. Even before the premiere of its single "Black Mamba," the K-pop act made headlines with its unconventional theme centering on the interaction between the virtual world and real life.
The idea, which is in line with the agency's recent push for the incorporation of virtual technology, is that the band's four members ― Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning ― are connected to virtual avatars through a digital platform called "Synk," which allows them to collaborate both online and offline.
But the group was also accused of plagiarism for its debut music video. Multiple internet users pointed out that some scenes bear too much resemblance to those of the popular all-female virtual band K/DA's "Pop/Stars." German visual artist Timo Helgert initially took to social media to argue that they seem to have "copied" some of the concepts from his own work, although he later clarified both parties came to an understanding.
8. "Any Song" TikTok challenge
It was rapper Zico who started the year with his bouncy hip-hop track "Any Song" and popularized the TikTok challenge trend in Korea.
After its release in January, the song, with its seamless flow and light tunes, secured its place atop many local K-pop music charts and streaming services for weeks.
Its immense popularity partly owes to the viral TikTok dance challenge videos that accompanied the song, which starred high-profile K-pop artists Chungha, Lee Hyo-ri and Mamamoo's Hwasa, among many others, and inspired thousands of K-pop fans to follow suit. In just one month, such challenge videos recorded nearly 800 million views in total on the app.
"Any Song" thus became one of the most influential tracks in the first half of this year and set the trend of promoting new music releases through TikTok challenges in Korea.
9. RAIN song gets overdue popularity
The year 2020 has been a strange time for the formerly dubbed "world star" RAIN, but not because of COVID-19 ― for once.
RAIN was arguably the biggest male solo K-pop star in the early 2000s, even before the current global scale of K-pop's popularity, and starred in two Hollywood-produced films. But since 2014, his career started floundering with the artist seemingly not being able to keep up with new music trends.
It all culminated in his release of the song "Gang" in 2017, which performed extremely poorly, with critics and listeners alike calling it stale and anachronistic.
But now, after three years, the song's music video has 19 million views on YouTube. The resurgence of the popularity of the track and of Rain was primarily due to memes and parodies that began popping up online since late 2018, with internet users naming the phenomenon "1 Gang a day." This also brought about newfound interest in other users who were not familiar with the source material and wanted to check for themselves "how cringe-inducing the song is."
The online movement put RAIN back in the spotlight, with him even performing as a member of the seasonal supergroup SSAK3 with Lee Hyo-ri and Yoo Jae-seok, which hit the top spot in mainstream music charts in the summer.
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| Singer-songwriter Yang Joon-il poses for a photo during his fan meeting in Seoul in this Dec. 31, 2019, photo. / Yonhap |
10. Yang Joon-il's belated stardom
Another star who owes his sudden return to fame to a viral video craze is Yang Joon-il. The Korean American singer-songwriter was an interesting figure in the 1990s. He had several mini-hit songs including "Rebecca" and "Dance with Me Miss" but disappeared from the public eye in the late 1990s after years of activity failing to gain much traction.
At the time, Yang and his music were considered bizarre and provocative. He was even reprimanded for "inappropriately" using too much English in one broadcast performance.
But after 30 years, when his old 1990s performance videos uploaded on YouTube became viral, he soon found his belated stardom.
In summer, Yang released the new track "Rocking Roll Again," his first song to come out in 19 years. He has also published his memoir, "Yang Joon-Il MAYBE: Our Code Words," which has been well-received by his eager fans.
