INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 06: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL USE.) BTS attends 102.7 KIIS ... [+] FM's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on December 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
K-pop exploded onto the global stage about a decade ago, and since then, two consumption formats have helped keep the phenomenon growing everywhere: actual sales and YouTube. The latter platform is where countless millions of fans of the biggest names in the South Korean music industry go to watch (and rewatch and rewatch) the latest and best from their favorite singers and bands...and clearly they love what they're seeing.
A quick look at any recent list of the most-liked music videos on YouTube shows that people all around the world have diverse tastes in music...but that K-pop fans are more inclined to not just watch a music video from the band they adore, but to like it in massive numbers.
At present, five of the top 10 most-liked music videos on YouTube are by South Korean musical acts, with one toeing the line between band and brand, but the music is sung in Korean.
Further down the list comes...BTS, again, with what could be deemed their breakout single in many Western territories, "Boy With Luv." The track, which also features American pop singer Halsey, took the septet to new heights just a few years ago, and it has been liked 21 million times thus far.
On the same level as "Boy With Luv" with 21 million thumbs-ups is Psy's "Gangnam Style," which helped introduce millions of people in countries outside of South Korea to K-pop back in 2012 when it was perhaps the single most viral video of the year.
It's been less than a year since it was released, but Blackpink's "How You Like That" music video already shines as one of the most-liked of all time. The visual, which helped kick off their latest era (which saw them deliver their debut full-length The Album ) has been liked 19 million times, and it could soon improve to 20 million.
Sprinkled in between K-pop smashes on the list of the most-liked YouTube videos ever are titles like Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's "See You Again" (33 million likes), Alan Walker's "Faded" (22 million likes) and Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito," which has risen above all the rest, earning an incredible 43 million likes during its years on the Google-owned website.
In the coming months and years, more K-pop music videos are sure to rack up tens of million of likes, and there's no telling how long Fonsi and Yankee will hold on to their crown at the rate BTS is proving their immense popularity on YouTube.
Tramp Stamps: The controversy around the viral TikTok band, explained.
Over the past week, an up-and-coming pop-punk band has consumed TikTok—but not for a viral song or trend. The trio, a group of young women called Tramp Stamps, has more than 385,000 followers on TikTok and more than 27,000 Instagram followers, gaining fans on social media with only three songs out to date. But they've also attracted a lot of critics. The band has faced numerous allegations about whether their claims of being "indie" or "feminist punks" are legitimate—and whether they're just industry plants.
Despite this background, the members of Tramp Stamps pride themselves on the organic origin story they lay claim to. According to them, they're just three women coming together to make music—although even this has been called into question . They're not hiding their industry history, however, nor that their music is distributed by the company Artists Without a Label, which is also home to Finneas and Kim Petras—both artists with big followings. And Sony Music bought AWAL from the independent label Kobalt in February , meaning that Tramp Stamps are one degree of separation away from one of the most powerful entities in music distribution.
This background has earned Tramp Stamps the badge of "industry plant." The term is a pejorative aimed at artists who are found to have major label ties, despite presenting themselves as DIY or independent. In many cases, an industry plant is also considered to be someone who's found popularity in another creative medium first, like acting, and is looking to convert that fandom elsewhere, regardless of their own musical interests. The term has been in circulation since at least the early 2010s ; a 2015 Urban Dictionary entry accuses Justin Bieber of being one , for example. The allegation in this case is that Tramp Stamps don't have the grassroots following that an independent act typically does but instead have industry backing. To an extent, it comes down to marketing, inauthentic or authentic, whether it's obscuring major label ties, or whether it's simply just ineffective.
An "industry plant" can also be used to mean a more extreme case: an artist thought to be "constructed" by label or music industry executives and whose entire career was focus-tested and engineered to be popular. Many musicians receive a great deal of creative input from their teams and financial support from their label—but at what point does it go too far and become an industry plant? Helping a band stay solvent or hopefully even turn a profit is what a label is supposed to do, idealistically. And even if an artist has found success through seemingly organic, viral means, they may often be considered fakers too. Juice WRLD, Billie Eilish, Clairo, Khalid, and Cardi B have all been called industry plants—and they're all women or people of color, the groups that are most often targeted by music fandom gatekeepers.
But it's not just that Tramp Stamps are misleading their followers about their origins or connections in the music industry that's riled TikTok up in particular—it's that the band's feminist punk image might also be disingenuous. The resurging popularity of pop-punk means that it's ripe for artists and labels to start dabbling in social media, especially TikTok. That, combined with the fact that the genre and its fans were often criticized for being uncool, outdated, or melodramatic, has led many longtime pop-punk fans to be skeptical of people jumping on the bandwagon, sometimes even gatekeeping the genre from people they don't deem worthy. (This line of thinking is rife with its own, often sexist or racist issues, and it is important to note that pop-punk has had its own history with misogyny.) This is why pop-punk fans on TikTok were shocked to see that, while doing an emo song challenge, two of Tramp Stamps' members didn't recognize My Chemical Romance's "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)." Not only is that an affront to pop-punk and one of the genre's biggest artists, but it's also hard to imagine that a pop-punk fan their age wouldn't recognize that seminal song.
And then there are the band's lyrics, which come across as uncomfortable and unnatural, playing into the man-hating trope often used to deride feminists. Tramp Stamps' track "I'd Rather Die" features the line, "I'd rather die/ than hook up with another straight white guy." This is despite the fact that, as TikTokers pointed out, one of the members, Blue, is married to a white man. Many also noted that lyrics like this fetishize people who are not straight white men, rendering marginalized groups like women, nonbinary people, queer people, and people of color into a perfect, desirable monolith. Tramp Stamps' music thus far isn't dissecting or interrogating male privilege, nor is it calling attention to sexism or uplifting women; their songs are instead upholding tired tropes and encasing them in a popular aesthetic, and potentially even reinforcing the objectification and sexualization of women, as some TikTok users have alleged . (Not to mention that the rest of "I'd Rather Die" appears to be about … wanting to hook up with a guy?) The "About" section on the song's Genius page contains a notice asking contributors to "please post your critiques in the comments section, rather than as an annotation," due to the large volume of criticisms posted on the page.
There are plenty of punk bands with women, people of color, nonbinary, and queer people. But they may not get access to the same kind of label resources and social privileges that have benefited Tramp Stamps, nor do they often find anywhere near the same level of success. A similar dynamic is at play on TikTok, where marginalized groups generate the majority of the most popular and viral content. Yet while acts like Tramp Stamps, along with scores of cis white influencers backed by hefty content and sponsorship deals, continue to gain fame and popularity, marginalized TikTok creators continue to see wealthy, white, cis people take credit for their work in increasingly public ways —without the original creators reaping any of the benefits. If Tramp Stamps stood for the issues the band professes to—a traditionally punk ethos of elevating marginalized experiences—they wouldn't be seeking to benefit from the same problematic systems that perpetuate those issues. Music fans on TikTok are no longer going to be silent about that problem, even if the platform is often complicit in it: It's time for bands like Tramp Stamps to be honest about what industrial privilege they hold and what systemic problems they're playing into.
Final thoughts after migrating from Apple Music to Spotify - 9to5Mac
I also found the Spotify app a bit clunky. After two years without offering an Apple Watch app, Spotify still needs to make some improvements over its recently-launch app.
I don’t listen to a lot of songs with the Music app on the Mac but with Spotify I did. It’s an easy interface to use, I can check what my friends are listening to, and I just enjoyed it a lot. In fact, this is the place where I listen to music the most.
I’ll also miss the playlists created by artists. I know Apple Music has the same feature, but Spotify gives you additional ways to connect with artists and learn about their favorite songs and inspirations.
One thing that I didn’t appreciate about Spotify, apart from the lack of a proper library with my songs, is how much it wants me to try its playlists. Over my one month with Spotify, I felt like I was listening less to the things I already like because of Spotify’s emphasis on discovering new music.
And every time I listened to a different artist, Spotify tried hard to give me a playlist with the band and another one hundred similar artists. Again, this meant that I started listening less and less to albums and songs I already enjoyed and stayed on a loop with the same three to four everyday artists.
Two other things I felt were missing from Apple Music were a private listening mode and collaborative playlists. I always complained about Apple Music was the lack of a private listening option and creating playlists with my friends. It may have been related to the pandemic and not going out, but I actually didn’t use either of these features.
In a way, it feels like Memoji or the Slofie thing Apple promoted a few years back: it’s good to know they exist, you may try them once or twice, but with time you just forget about them. Of course, I’d be happy if Apple Music implemented these features, but now I know they’re not as important as I initially thought.
Also, I don’t think is a great idea to combo music and podcasts in the same area. I don’t know if anyone ever created a playlist with Taylor Swift songs and Office Ladies podcast episodes. It just feels weird. What about if I don’t like podcasts at all? Do I have to receive all these recommendations every day?
Apple Music feels more personal while Spotify seems like “Here’s what everybody is listening to, you should try it too.”
Louis Vuitton is Betting Big on the Korean Market and the Global Fame of K-Pop Royalty BTS | The
"Despite the ongoing pandemic, South Korean consumers are still obsessed with luxury goods," Korean Bizwire asserted this week, pointing to the fact that Gen-Z and millennial consumers – who helped to generate $12.5 billion last year – were readily lining up outside of Louis Vuitton and Chanel stores early this year even as COVID-19 cases were rising. The assertion comes several months after Korean publication Financial News revealed that Korea's three top department store chains all reported double-digit luxury goods sales for 2020 on a year-over-year basis, as consumers who have been unable to travel spend extra on personal luxury goods.
As the global luxury goods market has taken a hit as a result of the pandemic, with Bain & Co. revealing that sales for the segment dropped by 23 percent in 2020, the most significant plummet in sales Since the consultancy began tracking the market in 1996, "China and Korea have shown the biggest demand for luxury brands during the pandemic," Korea JoongAng Daily reported in February. While the overall economy in South Korea "stagnated due to the coronavirus," Seo Yong-gu, a professor of business administration at Sookmyung Women's University, told Korea Bizwire, "the income levels of between 6 and 7 million [Korean] households actually rose," prompting Korean consumers to exhibit "a strong appetite for luxury consumption."
COVID aside, the $12.5 billion Korean luxury market is growing, with Bizwire reporting this week that "the popularity of luxury goods in South Korean has bucked a global trend, as last year's luxury sales worldwide ($286.9 billion) dropped by 19 percent from the previous year ($354.4 billion)." In charging ahead, the publication revealed that "luxury sales in South Korea outstripped Germany in 2020," enabling the country to become "the world's seventh largest contributor to the global luxury market." Deloitte highlighted the strength of the market in its 2020 Global Powers of Luxury Goods report, stating that while consumers in Mexico, Chile, and India were less than optimistic about spending in light of the pandemic, consumers in Korea were among those that were "most secure about their finances," and thus, more likely to shell out on more expensive purchases.
It is presumably this luxury goods growth and willingness to spend, paired with the remarkable appeal of boy band BTS that has prompted Louis Vuitton to tap the 7-member-group as its newest global brand ambassadors. In a statement on Friday, the Paris-based group's men's artistic director Virgil Abloh said that he is "delighted BTS are joining Louis Vuitton today," and revealed that he is "looking forward to this wonderful partnership, which adds a modern chapter to the house, merging luxury and contemporary culture." Meanwhile, the superstar group asserted in a statement of their own, "Becoming global brand ambassadors for Louis Vuitton is a truly exciting moment for us. We are excited for our upcoming projects with Virgil Abloh."
The move by Louis Vuitton to put RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook at the front of its menswear division is the latest – and certainly, the most momentous – example of a Western giant looking to tap into the increasingly globalized appeal of K-Pop and its mega-stars. Worth an estimated $6 billion, K-Pop as an industry has become a global phenomenon, with brands both in and outside of Korea looking to the hyper-influential segment as a way to reach a pool of hyper-engaged fans.
Chanel, for instance, has been tapping into Korea demand by way of former boy-bander G-Dragon, who has served as an ambassador to the French fashion house for several years. Speaking about the decision to enlist G-Dragon, Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president of fashion, stated back in 2017 that "today, South Korea is the most influential country in Asia, with its energy and creativity, its youth culture and the pop music and TV celebrities, who have become incredibly powerful, even in China and Japan."
The appeal of BTS – and other K-Pop royalty – goes beyond Korea, though. "The success of its sprawling, genre-defying pop album 'Map of the Soul: 7,'" for instance, was "a sign of how the rising K-Pop act is cementing its place in American culture," the Wall Street Journal stated last year after the album hit No. 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 chart, the band's fourth chart-topper in less than two years. BTS – with its catchy, Grammy-nominated songs and sweeping social media followership – is "a success story that defies conventional wisdom about the kinds of music Americans will tune into – not least because the songs are mostly sung in Korean," the publication's Neil Shah wrote, asserting that "across style and subject matter, BTS's music and squeaky-clean image appeal to millennial and Generation Z listeners who are drawn to themes of self-acceptance and empowerment."
It is no wonder that Louis Vuitton – which seemingly foreshadowed the big BTS announcement when it dressed the band for the 2021 Grammys last month, where BTS was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance – wants in. Given there fact that its business largely depends on generating buzz in order to sell large volumes of branded leather goods and accessories, BTS seems like one of the most appropriate places to turn right now.
In a matter of 24 hours, Louis Vuitton’s first Instagram post announcing the addition of BTS to its roster of ambassadors has racked up more than 950,000 likes and nearly 30,000 comments. (For a point of reference, that is almost double the amount of traction generated by six images of Abloh’s S/S 2021 menswear campaign that Louis Vuitton posted several weeks ago combined). If such early Instagram traction is any indication, this is going to be a blockbuster pairing.
WEBBER: 'Give me the beat, boys, and free my soul' | Opinion | daily-journal.com
With apologies to my buddy, Steve, who couldn't name a musician if the prize was a brand-new Scotty Cameron putter, I'm taking a break from rebuking Biden to discuss perhaps my favorite subject, music.
Later, my tastes turned to pop music on WLS 890 in the late '60s at my neighbor's house. The Monkees and Beatles were all the rage. By the early '70s, Randy, my neighbor bought a turn-table, receiver, and speakers. We discovered Black Sabbath, Foghat and Deep Purple. What teenage boy isn't enthralled with the opening guitar riff to Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water?" My son once interrupted me while I was in an important meeting with Ford in Detroit to call me with his version. I will forever recall, "Hey dad, listen to this …"
When Randy bought his first Chevy, he and I installed a floor-mounted eight-track player. With nothing better to do in Chebanse, we'd ride around listening to Led Zepplin, and Wishbone Ash for hours. I can't tell you how many times we listened to the 18-minute version of Iron Butterfly's "In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida" with its iconic drum solo.
Mom belonged to various record clubs. They would send albums if you didn't send the card back in time, so she had albums she never heard. I'd dig around in the stack to abscond with a few nuggets that became treasures. Records by Mott the Hoople and Jethro Tull, or the "Rock Opera Tommy" by the Who were diverse from what I had previously heard, yet they attracted me like a bug to light.
Today, 50 years later, I still listen to those artists regularly via Spotify, the greatest thing since sliced bread. After all this time, I have even a better appreciation of some bands, such as Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones — their talent is extraordinary.
I probably can't express this appropriately, but in my youth, music was just a catchy song. Today, it's the musicianship itself, and I can recognize songs by the guitarists style in songs from that era. Can anyone not recognize George Harrison's Rickenbacker guitar in "While My Guitar Gently Sleeps?"
I can listen to the piano classics of Richard Clayderman all day. Songs like Bob Seger's "Roll Me Away" and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" elicit a sensation inside me that is hypnotic — there's a special place my brain goes when listening to those songs. The Eagles' song "Peaceful, Easy Feeling" can actually make me feel peaceful. My wife married me 41 years ago to the aptly titled Led Zepplin song "Thank You." I thought so much of the Allman Brother's song "Whipping Post," I named my published novel, the crowning achievement of my writing experience, by that name.
When photos began to appear of COVID patients on ventilators, I made my wife promise if something similar happened to me, put headphones on me and keep music piped into my noggin' all day. I fervently believe it will help me in recovery.
Alan Webber is a local businessman, author, and blogger. He can be reached at editors@daily-journal.com or directly at packerbacker1957@yahoo.com
'You're Still the One': Behind Shania Twain's Iconic Crossover Hit
Shania Twain is known as the one of the best-selling female artists in the history of country music and one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. Throughout the '90s and early 2000s, Twain enjoyed an incredibly successful career in country and pop music, and the height of her career all started with "You're Still the One" from her 2x-Diamond-Certified album, Come On Over .
"Looks like we made it / Look how far we've come, my baby / We mighta took the long way / We knew we'd get there someday / They said, 'I bet they'll never make it' / But just look at us holding on / We're still together, still going strong," Twain sings in the first chorus.
The song was written by Twain and then-husband and music producer/songwriter Robert John Lange (or Mutt Lange), whom she married in 1993. According to Twain, the couple often worked on songs separately and then brought them together, and on the day they wrote "You're Still the One," magic happened.
"As I sang the chorus melody repeatedly while working out the lyrics, he kicked in with the counter line, 'You're still the one,' and it gave me chills," Twain wrote in her autobiography, From This Moment On (quote via The Boot ). "All of a sudden we had a hit chorus. It was a magic moment."
Not only did Twain and Lange write the song together, but it's said the song was written about their relationship and the criticism it received in its early days. Twain and Lange were divorced in 2010 after he allegedly had an affair with Twain's best friend (Twain is now married to that friend's ex-husband, Frédéric Thiébaud), but the singer still calls the song "one of my favorite songs I've ever written."
Writing honestly about their relationship at the time proved to be successful for Twain and Lange, as "You're Still the One" became her first massive crossover hit and paved the way for the rest of Twain's high-flying career. The tune topped the US Country chart and the Adult Contemporary chart; it landed at No. 4 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart and on various other charts all over the world. It also spent nine weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and made an appearance on many other year-end charts. "You're Still the One" was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 1999 and won the awards for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The singer lost Record of the Year and Song of the Year to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On."
Beyond all the accolades and awards the song received, it most of all established Twain as a force in both the country and pop genres. This song opened the door for the height of Twain's career, which included hits like "From This Moment On," "Honey, I'm Home," "That Don't Impress Me Much," "Man! I Feel Like A Woman," "You've Got A Way," and more. Fans may also remember the song's official music video, which featured Twain singing the tune on a beach. Today, the song continues to be one of Twain's greatest hits and has been covered by many artists. Musicians that have released or performed cover versions of the song include Prince, Roper, Harry Styles with Kacey Musgraves , and more.
Grateful Web Interview with Hamish Anderson | Grateful Web
GW : I saw you play a great set at the Beale Street music festival in Memphis two years ago. Let's start there. There is no city more synonymous with American Blues than Memphis. The Beale Street festival features three main stages and a Blues tent. While the most impressive and sophisticated music arguably takes place in the Blues tent, mainstream pop acts on the other stages draw consistently larger crowds. Why do you think it is that the Blues music genre is not more popular in America today?
Hamish : I think Blues music always seems to ebb and flow out of mainstream popularity. You can trace these waves back to the beginning. There was the British rock invasion in the '60s and Stevie Ray Vaughn in the '80s. It was always kind of there under the surface in pop music, even with Rap music. For instance, after I finished my set on the Blues Stage at the Beale Street festival, I went over to one of the main stages to see Gary Clarke Jr. play. He had a massive crowd of young kids as well as older people. For people especially like Gary, it's cool to see musicians taking the Blues genre into our times and adapting it into something new like Stevie Ray did in the 80s. It introduces a whole new audience to the Blues.
GW : It's true Gary Clarke Jr. is one of the few American Blues artists that has broken through into modern-day pop music playing to huge audiences. You toured with Gary, didn't you?
Hamish : Yeah, it's funny. Actually, I did a tour with him here in Australia right before Beale Street. Then I got on a plane and went straight to play the festival in Memphis, and it was a coincidence that Gary was playing the same day at the same festival a week later and on the other side of the world from Australia. I admire Gary, who has been an inspiration to me, and watching the effect he had on the crowd was awe-inspiring.
GW : I am not sure what it is like in Australia, but I know in my past travels to Europe traditional American Blues music seems much more popular in the mainstream music culture than here.
Hamish : I know what you mean. I have toured Europe, and they very much love Blues music and, to some degree, traditional Blues music. That can be a challenge for me as the crowd may want to hear an old Freddie King song. I love Freddie King, but that's not really what I do. For me, it's like what Gary does, mixing all these other music genres and coming up with something new and innovative. That's what I strive to do in my music.
GW : It is well known that you got to open for the legendary B.B. King for his last show. That must have almost felt like divine intervention or inspiration.
Hamish : I was twelve when I got the guitar bug. It was the Beatles' White Album , and I heard "Back In The USSR." I hadn't thought about playing guitar before that. But that sound drove me crazy, and I begged my parents to help get me a guitar. My dad's record collection was really my inspiration for rock Blues. He had all the stuff I love, like The Beatles, The Stones, and Cream. Then I got inspired by the songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, and I just became obsessed with the music. I have been on the same path ever since, trying to create a mixture of music from all the artists and styles I love.
Hamish : I was based in L.A. for the last five or six years. It made sense after my 2014 tour to move there. The fan base and the music that I love were all there. Things were going well there. Then I went home for Christmas in 2019, and the pandemic hit, and I have been stuck here ever since. We went through an extreme lockdown here in Melbourne, but things are slowly opening up again. Next month I will be playing at a music festival in Queensland, and it will be my first time back on stage since January 2020.
B.T. The Artist Talks About His New Single Different - EIN Presswire
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EARMILK's Top Tracks: New Music Friday Playlist [College Edition] - EARMILK
Get ready for another episode of top new artist releases in our New Music Friday [College Edition] playlist in partnership with Quadio —the college /post-grad creative network and app fostering an incredible community of young creatives from various colleges and cities around the world. Each week, the editorial team at EARMILK carefully reviews fresh new tracks submitted through the Quadio network and picks out a handful of music from students and young independent artists that are defining the sounds of tomorrow.
Arcade Fire meets Postal Service as a wave of futuristic sounds washes over us in Max Viner 's latest cut "My Dear Friend." Viner's latest track offers an immersive soundscape featuring a multi-layer guitar sound, deep echoing vocals, and a spirited percussion performance that magically engulfs the room. Adam Paddock transitions slowly from a lightly plucked whisper to an eruption of dreamy folk sounds in his latest single "Lovely Stranger."
The graceful way Joffe conveys these impassioned pop lyrics by cautiously showcasing the full range of her vocal capabilities is why "Backseat" is my editor's pick of the week. Found in much of today's TikTok pop music, you can find a sea of female vocalists flaunting that soulless breathy conversational vocal style that tends to stay pretty flat from start to finish. But Joffe masterfully adds in subtle moments where you get a small glimpse of her powerful singing ability, while still not taking away the pleasantness of this mesmerizing ballad with unnecessary Christina Aguilera belts either. The singing performance is meticulous in its emotional expression and it's a natural skill that many seasoned singer-songwriters work years on trying to perfect. Somehow, Joffe has already managed to pull it off seamlessly and is an artist we should all keep on our radars.
Are you a college student or young independent artist looking to be featured in our New Music Friday playlist? Join the Quadio college network HERE or follow them online via: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
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