Kpop Genre

 K-pop (Korean: 케이팝; RR: keipap), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture^]It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, rock, jazz, gospel, reggae, electronic dance, folk, country, disco, and classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots.The term "K-pop" became popular in the 2000s, especially in the international context. The Korean term for domestic pop music is gayo (가요; 歌謠), which is still widely used within South Korea. While "K-pop" can refer to all popular music or pop music from South Korea, it is colloquially often used in a narrower sense for any Korean music and artists associated with the entertainment and idol industry in the country, regardless of the genre.^{[contradictory]}

The more modern form of the genre, originally termed "rap dance", emerged with the formation of the hip hop boy band Seo Taiji and Boys, in 1992. Their experimentation with different styles and genres of music and integration of foreign musical elements helped reshape and modernize South Korea's contemporary music scene.

Modern K-pop "idol" culture began in the 1990s, as K-pop idol music grew into a subculture that amassed enormous fandoms of teenagers and young adults. After a slump in early idol music, from 2003, TVXQ and BoA started a new generation of K-pop idols that broke the music genre into the neighboring Japanese market and continue to popularize K-pop internationally today. With the advent of online social networking services and South Korean TV shows, the current spread of K-pop and South Korean entertainment, known as the Korean Wave, is seen not only in East Asia and Southeast Asia, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Latin America, North Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa, the Middle East and throughout the Western world, gaining an international audience.

In 2018, K-pop experienced significant growth and became a "power player", marking a 17.9% increase in revenue growth. As of 2019, Korean popular music is ranked at number six among the top ten music markets worldwide according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's "Global Music Report 2019", with BTS and Blackpink cited as artists leading the market growth. In 2020, K-pop experienced a record-breaking year when it experienced a 44.8% growth and positioned itself as the fastest-growing major market of the year.

Etymology

The first known use of the term "K-pop" occurred on Billboard in the October 9, 1999, edition at the end of an article titled "S. Korea To Allow Some Japanese Live Acts" by Cho Hyun-jin, then a Korea correspondent for the magazine, which used it as a broad term for South Korean pop music. Cho himself, however, is not sure if he coined the term, since some articles stated that the word 'K-pop' was already being used by music industry insiders, even though he had never heard it personally.

The term "K-pop" is the Korean equivalent of the Japanese "J-pop".

Characteristics

Audiovisual content

Although K-pop generally refers to South Korean popular music and the associated industry, some consider it to be an all-encompassing genre exhibiting a wide spectrum of musical and visual elements.The French Institut national de l'audiovisuel defines K-pop as a "fusion of synthesized music, sharp dance routines and fashionable, colorful outfits." Songs typically consist of one or a mixture of pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, and electronic music genres.

Hybrid genre and transnational values

K-pop is a cultural product that features "values, identity and meanings that go beyond their strictly commercial value." It is characterized by a mixture of modern Western sounds and African-American influences (including sounds from Hip-hop, R&B, Jazz, black pop, soul, funk, techno, disco, house, and Afrobeats) with a Korean aspect of performance (including synchronized dance moves, formation changes and the so-called "point choreography" consisting of hooking and repetitive key movements). It has been remarked that there is a "vision of modernization" inherent in Korean pop culture.For some, the transnational values of K-pop are responsible for its success. A commentator at the University of California, San Diego has said that "contemporary Korean pop culture is built on ... transnational flows ... taking place across, beyond, and outside national and institutional boundaries."Some examples of the transnational values inherent in K-pop that may appeal to those from different ethnic, national, and religious backgrounds include a dedication to high-quality output and presentation of idols, as well as their work ethic and polite social demeanor, made possible by the training period.

Use of English phrases 

Modern K-pop is marked by its use of English phrases. Jin Dal Yong of Popular Music and Society wrote that the usage may be influenced by "Korean-Americans and/or Koreans who studied in the U.S. [who] take full advantage of their English fluency and cultural resources that are not found commonly among those who were raised and educated in Korea." Korean pop music from singers or groups who are Korean-American such as Fly to the Sky, g.o.d, Rich, Yoo Seung-jun, and Drunken Tiger has both American style and English lyrics. These Korean-American singers' music has a different style from common Korean music, which attracts the interest of young people.^[24] Increasingly, foreign songwriters and producers are employed to work on songs for K-pop idols, such as will.i.am and Sean Garrett. Foreign musicians, including rappers such as Akon, Kanye West, Ludacris, and Snoop Dogg, have also featured on K-pop songs.


Entertainment companies help to expand K-pop to other parts of the world through a number of different methods. Singers need to use English since the companies want to occupy markets in the other parts of Asia, which enables them to open the Western market in the end. Most K-pop singers learn English because it is a common language in the world of music, but some singers also learn other foreign languages such as Japanese to approach the Japanese market.Similarly, increasing numbers of K-pop bands use English names rather than Korean ones. This allows songs and artists to be marketed to a wider audience around the world.

However, the use of English has not guaranteed the popularity of K-pop in the North American market. For some commentators, the reason for this is because the genre can be seen as a distilled version of Western music, making it difficult for K-pop to find acceptance in these markets.Furthermore, Western audiences tend to place emphasis on authenticity and individual expression in music, which the idol system can be seen as suppressing. According to Elaine W. Chun's research, even though hybridity appears more and more often in K-pop, and sometimes may even make fans admire K-pop stars more because it is fresh, new and interesting, it is hard to change those who believe in a perfect ideal for pure linguistic. This means that the original form of language is still difficult to alter.

Artist names, song titles, and lyrics have exhibited significant growth in the usage of English words. No singers in the top fifty charts in 1990 had English in their names: people who worked in the Korean music industry viewed using Korean names as standard. In 1995, most popular singers such as Kim Gun-mo, Park Mi-kyung, Park Jin-young, Lee Seung-chul, and Byun Jin-sub still used Korean names, but fourteen of the singers and groups in the top fifty used English names, including DJ DOC, 015B, Piano, and Solid. After the 1997 financial crisis, the government stopped censoring English lyrics and Korea started to have a boom in English. Since the late 1990s, English usage in singers' names, song titles, and lyrics has grown quickly. Seventeen singers in the top fifty charts used English names in 2000, and thirty-one did so in 2005. In 2010, forty-one singers used English names among the top fifty songs, but usually, three or four singers and groups had more than one or two songs on the chart simultaneously. Korean names (e.g. Baek Ji-young, Seo In-young, and Huh Gak) are seen less frequently, and many K-pop singers have English names (e.g. IU, Sistar, T-ara, GD & TOP, Beast, and After School). Notably, until the early 1990s, musicians with English names would transliterate them into hangul, but now singers would use English names written with the Roman alphabet. In 1995, the percentage of song titles using English in the top 50 charts was 8%. This fluctuated between 30% in 2000, 18% in 2005, and 44% in 2010. An example of a Korean song with a large proportion of English lyrics is Kara's "Jumping," which was released at the same time in both Korea and Japan to much success.

Criticism of hybrid identity

There have been critical responses in South Korea regarding the identity of the genre since its ascendance. Some of the notable music critics in the region have criticized K-pop as "an industrial label mainly designed to promote the national brand in the global market from the beginning" and argued that it was "not formed spontaneously as a pop culture but created with the orchestrated plan led by the government with commercial considerations" although in fact "the genre has practically no ties with traditional Korean identity." There is the perspective that the name of the genre was derived from J-pop.

K-pop has at times faced criticisms from journalists who perceive the music to be formulaic and unoriginal. Some K-Pop groups have been accused of plagiarizing Western music acts as well as other musical acts. In addition, K-pop has been criticized for its reliance on English phrases, with critics dubbing the use of English in titles "meaningless."

K-pop groups have been regularly accused of cultural appropriation of cultures such as African-American culture, especially due to the frequent use of cornrows and bandanas in idol groups' on-stage styling. Some have used blackface and racial slurs as part of their performances. K-Pop groups have also been accused of appropriating Native American^{[39][unreliable source?]} and Indian cultures. However, debate exists about whether the borrowing of cultural elements from cultures outside of Korea indeed constitutes cultural appropriation, or if this cultural appropriation is negative at all. Scholar Crystal S. Anderson writes that "appropriating elements of a culture by taking them out of their original context and using them in a completely different way does not automatically constitute negative cultural appropriation."

Marketing

Many agencies have presented new idol groups to an audience through a "debut showcase" which consists of online marketing and television broadcast promotions as opposed to radio.Groups are given a name and a "concept" along with a marketing hook. These concepts are the type of visual and musical theme that idol groups utilize during their debut or comeback. Concepts can change between debuts and fans often distinguish between boy group concepts and girl group concepts. Concepts can also be divided between general concepts and theme concepts, such as cute or fantasy. New idol groups will often debut with a concept well known to the market to secure a successful debut. Sometimes sub-units or sub-groups are formed among existing members. Two example subgroups are Super Junior-K.R.Y., which consists of Super Junior members Kyuhyun, Ryeowook, and Yesung, and Super Junior-M, which became one of the best-selling K-pop subgroups in China.

Online marketing includes music videos posted to YouTube in order to reach a worldwide audience.Prior to the actual video, the group releases teaser photos and trailers. Promotional cycles of subsequent singles are called comebacks even when the musician or group in question did not go on hiatus.