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No Psy but BTS play on as Seoul bans fast gym music

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J-music industry is finally opening it's eyes tho.

The j-punk band Shonen Knife has been creating a stir in America, not just for cosplay fans either. The last two times I saw them the club was ffilled up, with many adults in their 40s and 50s.

Then at these heavy metal fests Babymetal has been making a sensation, and the J-psychedelic band Atom Mothers Temple has been filling the houses with their electic mind-blowing trippy shows. They were supposed to tour the US again this year but the pandemic shelved that for the time being. They were wonderful when I saw them in 2019.

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Jdrama is popular in Asia but is much less likely to sell in the West than Kdrama, so there is less synergy available.

Actually, Alice in borderland was the most watched non-English show in netflix last year.

SK tended to turn a blind eye to fansubbing and YT uploads

Actually, they got paid to upload them, they all even maintained English twitter pages right from the beginning regardless of whether they're popular or not while Japan didn't do that, right now, Jpop is also gaining popularity, in tik-tok and instagram reels, Jpop songs by Yoasobi etc are topping the charts and Yoasobi, king gnu, Kenshi Yonezu, eve, Zutomayo and others are gaining a Huge fanbase overseas.

I think BiSH would have gone down really well at the big Western music festivals, but the pandemic has pulled the rug from under that.

Yes, I agree too. At Coachella in 2019, Perfume was featured in the best acts of Coachella lists while blackpink was featured in none. J-music industry is finally opening it's eyes tho. Johnny and Associates opened a twitter page in English last month (they're nowhere close to their Korean counterparts in marketing but they're atleast starting to try). Sony Music Japan's "The First Take" is a Huge Hit and and gaining fans from overseas.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@drlucifer

Using YouTube, it is possible to develop an international following for very little outlay, but it is true to say that the JP entertainment sector rarely seems to want to. They seem to feel secure operating domestically.

I think BiSH would have gone down really well at the big Western music festivals, but the pandemic has pulled the rug from under that.

Kpop has proved that language doesn't have to be such a problem for music.

SK tended to turn a blind eye to fansubbing and YT uploads, which really helped promote Korean music and TV globally. Japanese companies are more likely to prosecute fansubbers. Now that global streaming companies are buying Kdrama series, they will no doubt set the lawyers on everyone, so the Korean wave may be flattened a bit.

Certainly, Japanese tech like Suica and 1Seg really should have been exported abroad a lot more. It's a pity it wasn't.

It is worth checking out music from previous eras on YouTube if you are exploring another nation's music. You can find some excellent groups and singers from past decades to add to your playlists.

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AddfwynToday  12:49 pm JST

@starpunk

It's been around a long time at this point, groups like SNSD and Shinhwa predate the big groups of today, I basically grew up listening to them. Groups like HOT or SES predate even that, my girlfriend's mother loves them. Hell, I am in my 30s and most of my music consumption these days is some mix of kpop or korean indy-rock groups.

I don't think it is going anywhere, the popularity will just wax and wane like anything else.

A few years ago I saw a punk show featuring bands from around the world - Barb Wire Dolls from Greece, Svetlanas from russia, Little Orphan Anarchy and Methmatics from the USA and 57 (say 'oh chill') from SK. They are a wwild and crazy K-rock band they amazed all of us.

I know Korea has some great rock bands out there and we need to see more of them.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Boku Dayo: "I thought I was looking at Tamori there for a moment."

Nice! I've thought that before, too. I bit younger, but definitely similar looking.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I thought I was looking at Tamori there for a moment.

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The people who are fans of K-Pop today will be nostalgic for it 20-30 years from now, Psy will be doing shows for his elderly fans, albeit with abbreviated moves.

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K-pop? Over-rated.

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@starpunk

It's been around a long time at this point, groups like SNSD and Shinhwa predate the big groups of today, I basically grew up listening to them. Groups like HOT or SES predate even that, my girlfriend's mother loves them. Hell, I am in my 30s and most of my music consumption these days is some mix of kpop or korean indy-rock groups.

I don't think it is going anywhere, the popularity will just wax and wane like anything else.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Does anybody really think this K-pop phenom will be remembered, let alone fondly in 20 - 30 years? In the late 90s there was that stupid 'neo-swing'/swing-a-billy trend and nobody wants to remember that puke music today. Nobody.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Weird overly complicated rules are the product of people that know what is needed to be done, but don't want to (or can't) do it, so they replace good and proven measures with weird pseudo-, quasi-, semi- rules that nobody knows how effective would be, if any.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

In general, Kpop has a smaller and less lucrative domestic market and has worked hard to globalise both Kpop and Kdrama, in Japan (notably Twice), in China, across Asia and now with streaming services, globally. The synergy between the two is important, with OST albums featuring major stars selling well.

Japan has a more lucrative home market and a more insular entertainment sector that has always been happier to sell domestically. Jdrama is popular in Asia but is much less likely to sell in the West than Kdrama, so there is less synergy available. Japanese anime has a global presence and does sell music, as do games (I'm a big fan of fripSide).

You make some interesting points but overall what you did was just justify why Japan doesn't need to globalise. The Japanese are already defeated when it comes to marketing out of Japan due to perceiving foreign language and culture as some impossible barrier that is impossible to surmount or thinking some foreign countries are so far off from Japan it is like those countries are on another planet, even those companies that have international presence have not done much to increase their international presence some of it is due to arrogance borne from past glory, most think so far as you put a Made in Japan sticker it is going to sell without any further effort. It is not limited to music and the entertainment industry, the effort is not there to get out of their comfort zone called Nippon and venture out to sell internationally and their chinese and south korean counterparts not deterred by language are taking full advantage, just look at their much acclaimed electronic toilet seats the models for the foreign market are so few and outdated all have not seen a model change for the past 10-15 years since they were released. The Chinese and Koreans are catching up on

technology wise on the Japanese and are gaining marketing share.

The same goes with rice cookers and whole lot of other electronic gadgets. If Jeff Bezos was a Japanese, he won't have bothered to venture out of his home market. The mistrust of foreigners and adherence to sending a Japanese who cannot socialize to run a newly opened business abroad instead of a local talent has been an

impediment for those businesses to grow. Being outgoing and sociable are a must to succeed out of Japan,

You get recruited in Japan by a foreign company like P&G, Caterpillar, Eli lily etc and they post you to a foreign country that is not your country meanwhile a Japanese company won't except it is to your country which was the original plan to employ and train you the japanese way and post you to your country. Japanese companies will continue to struggle abroad with the mindset they have. I attended a seminar by a Yamada denki marketing subsidiary where I would be supplied at 10% cheaper rate than what Yamada denki sells to the general public but when I mentioned I export abroad, I was told I was limited to the domestic market and couldn't export abroad. Thank god Samsung and Apple are not Japanese companies like we will be ordering a phone and getting delivery a year later.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

The bizarre restrictions seem like the sort of thing you get if you put scientists (who don't get out much) in a room with a bunch of desperate politicians and leave them to simmer for an hour.

This story ran in the UK by comparing the speeds of BTS and Blackpink songs. There was no need to explain to anyone who those bands were.

Popular culture is generally parochial and music more so, as foreign language tracks have rarely featured in Western charts. But Kpop has broken the mould. There are kids in the UK who hate French lessons (the default foreign language of UK schools), but who teach themselves Korean at home. Western musicians have been copying the style of Kpop for a good few years.

I'm old. I miss 4Minute, 2NE1 and T-ara. I haven't given up hope of a new Davichi album at some point.

Jpop had its Psy moment with Kyu Sakamoto and 'Sukiyaki'. Unfortunately there was no YouTube to take things further. Some current Japanese bands are bigger than you might expect globally, usually from YouTube appearances that lead to tours. Metal idols like Babymetal and Band-Maid are popular. If you take the international franchises into account, like it or not, the G46/8 groups are Japan's biggest presence in world music.

In general, Kpop has a smaller and less lucrative domestic market and has worked hard to globalise both Kpop and Kdrama, in Japan (notably Twice), in China, across Asia and now with streaming services, globally. The synergy between the two is important, with OST albums featuring major stars selling well.

Japan has a more lucrative home market and a more insular entertainment sector that has always been happier to sell domestically. Jdrama is popular in Asia but is much less likely to sell in the West than Kdrama, so there is less synergy available. Japanese anime has a global presence and does sell music, as do games (I'm a big fan of fripSide).

1 ( +2 / -1 )

DudeDeuce: "Psy is still a thing?"

Obviously not. While Gangnam Style may well be in many circles (and why not?), he is the very definition of a one-hit wonder.

Hillclimber: "It's almost like if they don't spam K-pop in (social) media, then it dies instantly."

Except it's not really like that... not at all. It is more popular than ever, especially in Japan, exceeding local 'talent' by far, and groups like BTS are among the biggest and most popular bands in the WORLD right now. But if you want to talk about trends dying instantly, you think PPAP, which was supposed to highlight the opening ceremonies last year, is getting the nod this year? AKB? Name ONE J-pop band that has ever attained the success of the most popular K-pop band worldwide, then maybe we can talk about what "almost seems like".

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

So Japan with no alcohol and South Korea with no fast gym music.

Didn't know covid liked to party so much.

Psy is still a thing?

He has always been pretty big in Korea, even prior to Gangnam Style. That was just the international explosion.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Psy is still a thing?

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