This month's feature is South Korea. The producers and artists from this country have infused pop music with hip-hop freestyle dances and created a worldwide craze known as K-pop. Although it has some obstacles to overcome to make it big in America, K-pop shows promise to become the new face in pop music.
Some people may think it's far-fetched that pop music originating from a small Asian country can become the next big thing, but there are a number of opportunities that have opened for them.
1) Renewed interest in Michael Jackson. If there is one major influence around K-pop, it's Michael Jackson. The K-pop artists are skilled in hip-hop style dance and singing, and they have followed Michael's dedication to rigorous dance training.
2) The global Idols TV show franchise has waned interest in pop music. The show continues to be popular for large television audiences, but it's resulting music by-product has not fared so well. Pop music is singing and dancing, but the Idols encompass only the singing part. Pop music was king ten years ago with Britney Spears, Nsync and Destiny's Child, and their music videos featured both singing and dancing. One can look at Idols such as America's Jordan Sparks, South Africa's Jody Williams, or Australia's Jessica Mauboy and note the lack of differentiation in their sound and style.
3) It's American too. Several of the K-pop groups have American members, and the songs are sung in both Korean and English.
4) Competitive producers. There are three major producers in the K-pop scene. Each are trying to innovate and outdo one another. One noticeable difference between the pop groups from a decade ago to today's K-pop groups is their size. Older pop groups were three to five members, but the number is seven to nine for K-pop. This allows for bigger dance numbers and more publicity opportunities.
K-pop has a very enthusiastic and dedicated fan base. I hope they will enjoy this month's International Spotlight of BoA, Wonder Girls, Big Bang, 2PM, 2NE1, and Se7en.
アメリカ市場でのK-POPの可能性
1) マイケル・ジャクソンの影響を受けた厳格なダンストレーニング方式 2) アメリカンアイドルの衰退(ダンスアイドルの不在−Idols encompass only the singing part) 3) アメリカ国籍のメンバーを選抜(英語駆使能力) 4) 3大プロダクション間の競争