Over on Ilx dayo asked "is this current phase of k-pop running out of steam?" My reply:
Well yeah, 2009 was a peak year and set so many milestones that 2010 has ended up as a "well, shall we try to do that again?" year. A very attentive global WWW audience has worked with the same zealous force as Bieber fans in pushing videos to the 'most viewed' section of Youtube and artists to Twitter TT, and we've seen a successful move into Japan and a potentially lucrative future. But the music has felt less eventful than the stories. Meanwhile, those who have actually taken different paths have silently found a bigger success -- group member gone solo Ga-In, who was cheeky enough to take some control herself and put out a record with an oddly fully-fledged tango pop sound, did a lot better than her company expected and reached #1. Secret went the Rich Harrison-route, a sound no one else is doing in k-pop now, and took off, despite a low-key media presence. Countless new rookie groups who have copied others with a lot of attention given to them, meanwhile, have failed sales-wise. That should be a wake-up call.
Prospects: Big Bang is coming back, partly this december and fully in February. They're increasingly self-made, songwriting and producing much of the material themselves now and with the rest of the YG artists represent a more feel-good view of the k-pop industry. Koreas (potential) Taylor Swift (credit: me) IU is coming back in a WEEK and I have no idea what it will sound like, but if it isn't guitar-driven and if she hasn't been given a chance at songwriting herself (obviously something she can do as per her cover arrangements) I might give up on the industry. God knows she's got the potential to single-handedly change it and inspire a flood of self-made girls/ labels giving them a chance, because every little 'featuring' she's had on a song this year has made it reach #1. She's definitely one of the most valuable assets for the industry.
I think that's where it needs to go: Stronger personalities and characters, not another girl group made of long-legged models with 10 members who don't even have the dance/vocal skills we always knew we'd get in k-pop (Nine Muses) - and I do love k-pop girl groups. But there's a reason the buyers prefer 2NE1, or Taeyang, or this year's "Korean Idol" winners. And I do think it's where they will go, because the industry's turnaround rate is pretty impressive. It's only a few years ago when girl groups were all out of fashion.
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Well yeah, 2009 was a peak year and set so many milestones that 2010 has ended up as a "well, shall we try to do that again?" year. A very attentive global WWW audience has worked with the same zealous force as Bieber fans in pushing videos to the 'most viewed' section of Youtube and artists to Twitter TT, and we've seen a successful move into Japan and a potentially lucrative future. But the music has felt less eventful than the stories. Meanwhile, those who have actually taken different paths have silently found a bigger success -- group member gone solo Ga-In, who was cheeky enough to take some control herself and put out a record with an oddly fully-fledged tango pop sound, did a lot better than her company expected and reached #1. Secret went the Rich Harrison-route, a sound no one else is doing in k-pop now, and took off, despite a low-key media presence. Countless new rookie groups who have copied others with a lot of attention given to them, meanwhile, have failed sales-wise. That should be a wake-up call.
Prospects: Big Bang is coming back, partly this december and fully in February. They're increasingly self-made, songwriting and producing much of the material themselves now and with the rest of the YG artists represent a more feel-good view of the k-pop industry. Koreas (potential) Taylor Swift (credit: me) IU is coming back in a WEEK and I have no idea what it will sound like, but if it isn't guitar-driven and if she hasn't been given a chance at songwriting herself (obviously something she can do as per her cover arrangements) I might give up on the industry. God knows she's got the potential to single-handedly change it and inspire a flood of self-made girls/ labels giving them a chance, because every little 'featuring' she's had on a song this year has made it reach #1. She's definitely one of the most valuable assets for the industry.
I think that's where it needs to go: Stronger personalities and characters, not another girl group made of long-legged models with 10 members who don't even have the dance/vocal skills we always knew we'd get in k-pop (Nine Muses) - and I do love k-pop girl groups. But there's a reason the buyers prefer 2NE1, or Taeyang, or this year's "Korean Idol" winners. And I do think it's where they will go, because the industry's turnaround rate is pretty impressive. It's only a few years ago when girl groups were all out of fashion.