Tag - k-pop

 
 

K POP

Many of the acts making their debut at this year's "Kohaku" song contest came out for the lineup announcement at NHK's studios in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 19, 2024
NHK announces Number_i, Illit and Glay for ‘Kohaku’ lineup
Acts from the former Johnny’s were frozen out for a second year as NHK opts for new names and old favorites.
Members of the K-pop group NewJeans are embroiled in a dispute with their corporate backers over their creative relationship with an executive producer.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 28, 2024
NewJeans’ ultimatum casts K-pop’s displays of labor in a new light
A YouTube live broadcast from the girl group raises age-old questions about labor practices in the Korean pop industry.
British hard rock outfit Bring Me the Horizon delivered a dramatic set that featured a surprise appearance from local metal-meets-idol group Babymetal.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 23, 2024
Summer Sonic: The heat doesn’t matter when the lineup works
Where would you see a bill with Maneskin, Gen Hoshino, Christina Aguilera and Bring Me the Horizon in the prime slots? At a sold-out music festival, that’s where.
J-pop act Atarashii Gakko! is set to deliver a jubilant performance at Summer Sonic this weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2024
Summer Sonic bets on a more local lineup
The international music festival seeks to boost attendance figures with more domestic and Asian acts such as Atarashii Gakko!, Number_i and Creepy Nuts.
Fans celebrate BTS' 11th debut anniversary during 2024 FESTA, an event for fans of the K-pop boy band a day after band member Jin was discharged from the South Korean army after 18 months of military service, in Seoul on June 13.
BUSINESS
Jul 15, 2024
TikTok sees K-culture spend doubling to $143 billion by 2030
In the U.S. and Southeast Asia, research has found that about 80% of social media users have found Korean culture through TikTok.
NewJeans members (from left) Hanni, Haerin, Danielle and Minji attend an event at which they were named tourism ambassadors to South Korea.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jul 13, 2024
South Korea names K-pop group NewJeans tourism ambassadors
The quartet take on the role previously held by "Squid Game" star Lee Jung-jae and K-pop megastars BTS.
Fans of K-pop act BTS queue up for the annual BTS FESTA, organized by HYBE, the band's agency, in Seoul on Thursday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 14, 2024
BTS mania hits Seoul ahead of 'huggathon' with Jin
Fans flew in from around the world to get a chance to win a hug from BTS member Jin, who finished his military service earlier this week.
South Korean pop group BTS perform during the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards on April 3, 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2024
Universal Music to distribute BTS and rappers in new Hybe deal
As part of the agreement, the companies will collaborate on artist promotions and marketing activities in North America.
Baseball fans wait to enter Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Wednesday ahead of the MLB opener between the Dodgers and Padres.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 20, 2024
K-pop stars to help showcase South Korea during Seoul Series
Before Ohtani’s debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Diego Padres begins, K-pop girl group aespa will hit the stage for a performance.
The final 10 contestants of the reality show “The Debut: Dream Academy” in November. The show aimed to select the members of a new global K-pop girl group.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2024
K-pop without the ‘K’ just won’t pop
The BTS hiatus may have slowed K-pop down, but the answer isn't to take the Koreanness out of it. If not, all that's left is run-of-the-mill pop.
J-pop duo Yoasobi performed its 2023-defining hit, “Idol," during the 74th edition of NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” giving the show its best moment — and drawing anger from netizens.
CULTURE / Sound Off
Jan 12, 2024
Yoasobi delivered the standout moment of ‘Kohaku.’ Why did some music fans hate it?
The J-pop duo brought artists from J-pop and K-pop together on stage for the night's best performance, but it didn’t take long for negative voices to emerge on social media.
Yuka Tada and her friend pose for a photograph at a BTS fan cafe in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 12, 2023
BTS members head for South Korea military service; fans vow to wait
With three members already serving, the remaining four members of the K-pop supergroup begin their 18-month service.
From left: Prin, Sen and jiGook of QI.X call themselves one of the first openly queer, transgender K-pop acts.
CULTURE
Sep 30, 2023
Queer K-pop group QI.X wants to change South Korea
In conservative South Korea, few LGBTQ entertainers have ever come out. The young members of QI.X don’t see the point of staying in.
Zaein, created by artificial intelligence company Pulse9, is one of South Korea's most active virtual humans.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 26, 2023
In South Korea, AI-driven virtual humans go mainstream
Digital humans have been created for some of the country's largest conglomerates, with research indicating the tech could be worth $527 billion by 2030.
Crowds packed the Mountain Stage at Summer Sonic for Yoasobi’s set on Saturday and went wild when the J-pop duo played the opening notes of “Idol.”
CULTURE / Music
Aug 25, 2023
Summer Sonic closes out the season with one hot party
Asian artists NewJeans, Gen Hoshino, Awich and Babymetal drew impressive crowds at the summer festival despite the overbearing heat.
Creativeman President Naoki Shimizu says Summer Sonic has been featuring an increasing number of Asian acts in recent years, a change that reflects the growing number of Asian visitors attending the music festival. This year’s standouts include K-pop group NewJeans, whose Summer Sonic performance will be its first Japan show ever.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 18, 2023
NewJeans, Blur and Kendrick Lamar head to Summer Sonic
While Summer Sonic’s reputation as an international showcase holds strong, the event has become an important launchpad for homegrown performers.
This year’s Fuji Rock Festival, which took place last weekend and featured The Strokes, Foo Fighters and Lizzo as headliners, brought a cumulative total of 114,000 attendees to the mountains of Niigata Prefecture.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2023
Fuji Rock’s diversity is back — and it feels great
Millennial rock, Gen Z rap and a Sinead O’Connor tribute fill a stellar weekend of music.
BTS fans at an event in Seoul on June 17
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 3, 2023
K-pop fans fight big coal to protect beach made famous by BTS
Environmental groups are aiming to harness the immense influence that K-pop enthusiasts have to fight climate change.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 30, 2023
With ‘Idol,’ Yoasobi pens a new chapter in J-pop's story
In creating the theme song to the popular anime 'Oshi no Ko,' one of Japan’s most interesting groups wins new fans overseas.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?