Guide to KPOP

&2. What is KPOP? (Pt. II)

Marketing:

Korean talent agencies stage manage the debut of new acts in order to create anticipation for the new act, which will often officially debut live on one of the main television music programs with a "debut stage". For the debut single acts will be have an overall "concept", a marketing hook, which influences the name of the act, clothes, choreography, catch phrases and how they are presented, within bands individual members will have a personal concept, this being a role that they will play within the band, e.g. leader, visual, maknae (youngest member), rapper etc.

Once a rookie act's debut cycle has ended they enter their second promotional cycle with a "comeback," called as such even when the musician or group in question did not go on hiatus. Each promotional cycle will be presented with its own concept.

In order to make their new albums known to the public, K-pop artists participate in various promotional activities, such as appearing and performing on national television. The first performance by a K-Pop artist on a music program specifically for the promotion of their new album or single is also known as the "comeback stage". In addition to stage performances, teaser images and video clips are commonly released to the public as part of a "comeback". These are released one after another, often within the space of a few days before the full release.

Agencies may form "sub groups", also known as "sub units", from the members of a band, this allows band members to pursue different individual projects and engagements at the same time. Sub groups will be presented with a variant of their parent groups concept. The first modern K-Pop sub-group was Super Junior-K.R.Y., consisting of members Kyuhyun, Ryeowook and Yesung of Super Junior. The group focused on ballads as opposed to the usual dance-pop style of Super Junior.

Dance:

Dance is an integral part of K-pop. When combining multiple singers, the singers often switch their positions while singing and dancing by making prompt movements in synchrony. Since the debut of Seo Taiji & Boys, multiple singers began to switch their positions while singing and dancing, a strategy called "formation changing" and a turning point for the establishment of K-pop choreography.

The K-pop choreography often includes the so-called "point dance, " referring to a dance made up of hooking and repetitive movements within the choreography. The key movements standing out and being easily remembered are supposed to match the characteristics of the lyrics of the song. "Point dance" in a song has almost become a stereotype of K-Pops as shown in the success of the key movements like rubbing hands together side to side as a Korean hand gesture for apology in "Sorry Sorry" from Super Junior.

To choreograph a dance for a song requires the writers to take the tempo into account. A fan's ability to do the same steps must also be considered: "The Korean people really want their fans to be in the music as well. That's why as choreographers we have to simplify movements," according to Ellen Kim, a Los Angeles dancer and choreographer.

A new phenomena for the Korean Wave is dance covers. Dance covers and cover groups are a popular hit on the world of YouTube. As the word suggests, it is when an individual, or group of individuals, mimic the dance moves of the original artist, as if they were really them. This involves mimicking the dance moves, the style of dance, as well as facial expressions.

Publishing dance videos on YouTube will also help in the spread of K-pop to other parts of the world. Many K-pop groups have also acknowledged dance groups for their support and help in the recognition of K-pop around the world. T-ARA once acknowledged cover videos by creating a montage video of a few.

Fashion:

K-pop also influences fashion, especially in Asia, where clothes and accessories worn by K-pop stars, as well as their hairstyles and the cosmetic brands they use are sought after by young listeners. Some K-pop idols including G-Dragon from Big Bang have established themselves as a fashion icon by attracting the attention of Western fashion designers, most notably Jeremy Scott, who expressed his interest in working with singer CL from 2NE1.

K-pop popularized high-heel shoes, sleeveless tops and fashionable accessories, although such attire is forbidden in the country.

Agencies:

The three biggest agencies in terms of revenue are S.M. Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, often referred to as the "Big Three", whose stocks are traded at the Korea Exchange. In K-pop these record labels also function as agencies for the artists. They started operating as such at the beginning of the 2000s. They are responsible for recruiting, financing, training, marketing and publishing new artists as well as managing their activities and public relations.

In terms of market share the biggest agency is S.M. Entertainment. Their artists started K-pop's Hallyu and managed to break into Japan. 

Trainee Systems:

The K-pop industry is very serious about the creation of K-pop idols and the launch of new musicians. Much of the time is spent on the production value of its idols where they do not make their debut until their brand and performances have been perfected. A significant amount of effort is invested towards crafting unique and marketable images mixed with sound and strategic promotional, advertising, and marketing decisions to increase the chances of success with the launch of new talent. South Korean entertainment companies such as S.M. Entertainment have created a process to train singers and dancers in its groups. The journey to stardom often starts around age 9 or 10, when tightly supervised trainees begin dance and voice classes at night and live together while attending school. Besides singing and dancing trainees are also taught foreign languages, most notably English, Japanese and Chinese.

KPOP Culture:

K-pop uses a set of genre specific expressions. These include traditional Korean honorifics, used by both idols and fans.  As much as age is important, the debut date and popularity of the artist also matters. Younger artists or those who debuted later are called hubae (후배) and they must greet the older and earlier debuted colleagues (선배, seonbae, "senior") with an insa (인사), the traditional deep bow. Failing to do this have met with strong criticism from the industry and the fans alike.

Boy and girl groups in Korea are referred to as idols or idol bands. Idol bands have a strict hierarchy. Every band has a leader, chosen by either the members or the managing company based on age, personality and leadership qualities. The leader is a representative of the band as well as responsible for group harmony. The youngest band member is called maknae (막내), which is a special position as it is traditionally regarded that the cuter the maknae the more potential a band has in terms of popularity. 

The Korean pop industry involves the so-called fan service, which is largely based on bromance of a non-sexual nature between band members of male idol groups. Fans pair their favourites into "OTPs" (one true pairing), who in turn reinforce the pairs by acting cute and brotherly with each other on television. The names of such bromantic pairs are contracted from the original stage names of the members, for example the G-Dragon–Seungri OTP is commonly referred to as "GRi". OTP pairs are called "ships", from the English term "relationship", and fans of these "ships" are called "shippers"

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