K-pop kills easy listening

Members of SHINEE perform in this Dec. 31, 2012 file photo at a year-end music festival aired on MBC. / Courtesy of MBC

This is the second in a series of articles analyzing various issues caused by the deepening generational divide that is affecting Korean society. — ED.

If you check TV music shows, most of them deal with K-pop and there can be no mistaking that it is the land of the young, who beat the old in the clash of cultures.

It is hard to find stations offering easy listening or adult contemporary music and those that do exist are scheduled late at night.

The cause is primarily the market that wants and buys the music of the young.

In the last days of 2012, the nation’s networks were ablaze with dynamic and explosive shows by K-pop singers — young, pretty “idols.”

Taking the stage were new groups Teen Top and B.A.P as well as Beast, SHINEE and Big Bang.

There was not even a shadow of anybody like Cho Young-pil and Joo Hyun-mi, singers who reigned in the 1980s.The audiences were made up of youngsters.

Undeniably, K-pop has its most fervent admirers among those in their teens and early 20s.

Kim Yoon-mi, a 23-year-old college student in Seoul, has been listening to K-pop since she was 10. Her favorite artists are H.O.T and Sechs Kies, which by today’s standards sound pretty ancient.

“I think everyone knows how talented K-pop stars are now. Every single one of them is good-looking and good at singing and dancing, that’s why they are so loved by people around the world. I absolutely love K-pop and its stars,” said Kim, Tuesday.

K-pop fans are also avid consumers in a more real sense. In a recent interview with a local daily, Yang Hyun-suk, the CEO and founder of YG Entertainment said that much of K-pop revenue comes not from ticket sales but products of the company’s big name stars such as Big Bang. The purchasing power of these fans is what may have propelled the company to post 110 billion won ($103 million) in sales last year.

For adults, however, there are few television shows featuring singers who cater to their tastes.

Cha Kyung-sung, 56, usually listens to music in his office and in the car. He mostly listens to the folk songs of Song Chang-shik, Lee Jang-hee and Yang Hee-eun who were popular in the 1970s.

“If it can be said that the popular music in Korea is K-pop, the songs I liked when I was young were also K-pop. I like to continuously listen to my generation’s K-pop. I love it as those of the present generation like their K-pop.” Cha said.

Choi Hyun-wuk,a 61-year-old Korean restaurant owner in Seoul, said he hates to listen to the fast-beat music.

“I always change the channel if they broadcast the latest songs on TV,” said Choi. He thinks K-pop has become too commercial. “When I listen to music, I also consider the lyrics of the song. But, there seems to be no meaning in recent songs,” added Choi, criticizing that K-pop is only a list of meaningless words.

Jung Duk-hyun, a popular culture critic, sees the gap between generations as part of life as the younger group always keeps everything up-to-date whereas the older generation is often retrospective.

While it has not been a dominant trend, critics see in last year’s “retro trend” a longing for things older that embraces all generations.

“The recent retro trend in music, film and television drama is loved by all. For example, the film Architecture 101 was popular among all generations,” said Jung in a telephone interview.

“Television talent programs are a big hit among all generations. Singers in their 20s and 30s singing remakes from the 1980s and ‘90s put the older group in a nostalgic mood, while at the same time, younger people find the songs rather refreshing and enjoy them as well.” <The Korea Times>