The Score Magazine January 2019 issue | Page 30

MEGHAN KHARSYNRAP disco. There’s significant influence from the 60s, 70s and 80s America as well. The eastern and western styles merging is what makes kpop unique. This Korean wave is called, Hallyu. The word was created in the late 1990s by Chinese media to define the influence of Korean popular culture in China. There are two phases of Hallyu. The first wave, in the late 1990s was characterised by an onslaught of media in forms of film, shows, dramas and popular songs. In July 1997, the Asian Financial Crisis created many losses in the manufacturing sector. The government started to create suitable environments for prompting a handful of businesses to move to the entertainment sector. From here on, through successful promotion, Korean pop music and especially dance music began to gain popularity. Chinese teenagers were particularly hooked after it was introduced in 1997 by a radio program called Seoul Music Room that was broadcast from Beijing. In India, in the 2000s, separatists had banned Bollywood entertainment in Manipur, consumers took to Korean entertainment to fill the gap. Culture was smuggled through HALLYU THE KOREAN WAVE I f you’re wondering why KPOP has been getting so popular, you’re not alone. When at one time western media used to dominate youtube, radio and television, all at once, everything is becoming Korean in the culture industry. Ariana Grande is on twitter battling it out with an ex Kpop star who used to be part of the boy band EXO. The music videos in western media and concepts are getting brighter. They’re following similar styles like that of Kpop, at least that’s what the conspirators on the internet are saying. In India as well, Korean Culture has been a big influence, especially in the late 1990’s and is recently gaining traction as of the 2016s. Kpop for non veterans, is an acronym for the word ‘Korean Pop’. It is much like your typical pop music with both types having catchy tunes and patterns, but the similarities end there. Unlike typical popular music, Kpop has more variation in tunes and structure. Melodies in Korean pop go through several transitions within the song, with interesting use of harmonies. In fact, unlike the easy listening of typical Billboard Top 100s the music tends to be more subtle. You don’t realise it’s catchy until it’s stuck in your head. Although this is not true for all music. Kpop definitely has western influence, especially from the areas of electronic, dance and 28 The Score Magazine highonscore.com Burma and ended up in the Markets of Manipur and then spread across the Northeast. The second wave of Hallyu is defined by Psy’s song Gangnam Style. Initially, when this brand of music and entertainment was pitched to American Producers and Record Labels by Mnet Media, they reacted coldly. Only a few years later, Psy’s Gangnam style went viral and became the first video to reach a Billion views on youtube. It topped several charts in the UK, US and other places. Other musical acts made their way out of Korea with EXO, BTS, Bigbang and Girls Generation securing positions across the world. It is said that the boy group of 3 members ‘Seo Taiji & Boys’ in 1992 started the wave. Their experimentative music won over fans around the world selling around 1.6 million albums, the highest then. But the real amber started the wave in the mid 2000s: Youtube. Entertainment companies took to youtube in 2009. The second wave of Hallyu ( Hallyu 2.0) took off in 2010. These entertainment companies like SM, YG entertainment and JYP entertainment helped create interest in the Korean culture. Today, user generated content is ammasing million of views. Fan reactions, dance, video and music covers of kpop and kdrama entertainment have built an interactive and loyal community, something musicians outside of Kpop have never seen and can only dream of.