Opinion | Christopher Mosley: BTS used the 2019 Billboard Music Awards to showcase K-pop's unparalleled popularity. - NBCNewsTHINK
, an achievement mirrored by their massive digital fan community.The Chinese app TikTok, an popular global social media platform — especially with teens — is a haven for the group’s fans. The hashtag #bts had 5.7 billion views on the platform at the time of this writing.What does this all mean? Social media and streaming should be considered the two most important factors in an artist's career this decade. If the mainstream industry was hoping K-pop was a trend, it has been proven wrong.
After all, K-pop says as much about American culture as it does about Korea. American pop radio and hip-hop has had an outsized influence on K-pop since its origins in the early 1990s. The rap cadence and backing tracks in '90s K-pop — from groups such as Seo Taiji and the Boys — is very similar to what was on American rap radio at the time. And yet, it is its own unique world — the choreography in particular sets K-pop artists apart from their American counterparts.
It's worth noting that the companies that release K-pop records are headed by former, or sometimes current, musicians. JYP Entertainment is headed by J.Y. Park, a singer/songwriter. SM Entertainment was founded by Lee Soo-Man,. Not all CEOs have this specific of a background related to their chosen industry, and as a result K-pop has a well-honed training process that prepares aspiring performers for a life in the music business.
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