Korean pop music, “K-pop”, has been steadily gaining popularity outside of Korea in the recent years, especially with the Asian community. Popular idol groups such as Big Bang, Dbsk, SNSD, 2NE1, Super Junior, etc, have fans internationally, even though a majority of those international fans have no understanding of the language.
This feat would not be possible if not for the invention of Youtube.
Youtube allows us to view Music Videos and listen to music that would not be shown on our televisions or radios..
This is the song that first got me hooked on korean music: Lies by Big Bang
Word of mouth is also one of the main ways K-pop has been growing in popularity. In fact, I got into K-pop when my sister came back from her trip to Korea and began singing and dancing to korean music. After that, I was hooked. I then introduced k-pop to friend of mines and she got into it as well.
Recently, a few Korean albums has been released internationally through iTunes. Taeyang’s album “Solar”, and 2NE1’s album “To Anyone.” Both have been well received. From what I’ve heard, at the albums’ peaks, Taeyang’s and 2NE1’s reached 1st place in the R&B and Hip hop categories respectively. They also did extremely well in United States and Japan. As you can see, through word of mouth and Youtube, Korean music is doing extremely well in the global market.
Viral marketing in today’s market, is an extremely powerful and efficient advertising tool. Youtube, social media and the like, all fall under viral marketing.
As a side note, I’ve noticed that K-pop helps you make friends. Korean music is one of the topic that i bring up while trying to find common interests. I’ve mentioned this to a friend, and she also agrees with me. Korean music builds relationships. Just an observation.