K-Pop and Its Revolution with Technology
Technology and K-Pop is the best combination we can feel and see in 21th century.
Who doesn’t know K-Pop nowadays? Even kids already know who is Blackpink, BTS, or other groups who have enlivened this hallyu wave . K-Pop started getting popular during 2nd gen era, which is pre-2010s, early 2000s. Idol groups like TVXQ, Big Bang, Super Junior, SHINee, Girl’s Generation, 2NE1, and Wonder Girls were at the frontline and still remain as legendaries of K-Pop (referring to this). And now in 2020, K-Pop is getting bigger and globally, not only in South Korea itself but they also widen their “territory” for Western and Eastern. Based on survey in 2019, by Statista, in a survey conducted in 17 countries in 2019, around 37.5 percent of respondents stated that the genre K-pop was “very popular” in their country. The survey found that the popularity of K-pop reaches far beyond South Korean borders, as i said in the earlier. Surprised?
In line with growth of K-Pop, it has become one of the “art trends” for young people. We’re absolutely familiar with TikTok apps, has been the most popular social media app in 2020. TikTok becomes viral for Gen Z and so does K-Pop. Lately, it is undeniable that many K-Pop idols have taken advantages of the moment to promote their comeback period (the time when an idol or idol group makes a new album or single) by creating a challenge trend in the platform. We can see some examples here. TikTok is the one of so many examples of K-Pop that has a revolution from year to year using technology and we have more examples related to it.
Like most art workers, concerts are one of their activities to promote their songs as well as to meet fans. Concerts are also something fans look forward to so they can meet their idols in person and meet their circle. You know the concert vibe is always fun and fans always love it, even they actually couldn’t attend to it. This year is a hard year for both. The idols can’t hold concerts or fanmeeting because it is still Covid-19 pandemic (even in South Korea it has entered level 3 where gatherings can only be held under 10 people). Sadly, it is very difficult if they done on the spot. We may hate this year, but be grateful because this year technology has developed rapidly so we can use it for anything, including in terms of entertainment such as this online concert. Fans only need to buy a virtual ticket and they can enjoy it at home, as long as there is an adequate device and internet available at home. You don’t even need to dress pretty just to come to a concert, right? We can refer to the example like Seventeen’s fanmeeting agenda, their once-a-year agenda, called Caratland that held in August 30th yesterday. Different from previous years, this year they used a paid-live streaming feature so that fans still can enjoy it. This also applies to fansign (you know such event like the idol and fans gather in a one place and fans can ask for their signature for their album) for idols who have just made a comeback. Almost the same as an online concert, but the difference is that the fansign is more like a one-on-one video call with the idols. Sounds fun, right?
Last but not least, K-Pop nowadays gains more attention and fans too. Being a fan is not only enjoying the content they provide, but also how to appreciate and support their idols. That’s a culture that K-Pop fan brought for a long time. Especially for music show broadcasts, they usually hold voting to draw the winners each week. The interesting thing that I can find from K-Pop (and this year of course) is that there are already many music shows that use applications for voting, not only for South Koreans, but for all fans around the world. For the K-Pop fans fellas maybe familiar with Idol Champion? This apps released on 2018 and this is one of a bunch of voting apps that i know from the long time. Particularly, Idol Champion is used for vote in Show Champion (music show from MBC channel). That’s only one of a bunch of voting apps. The next article I hope I can break down more about the apps that K-Pop fans used for support their idol.
So this is the end of K-Pop revolution using technology. So, what is your favorite part? Do we need more of revolution using technology for all aspects especially for K-Pop?
