LA-based songwriter Melanie Fontana and producer Michel “Lindgren” Schulz have long produced hit tracks for leading groups such as Girls’ Generation and f(x). With their recent work with Big Hit Entertainment’s beloved bands BTS and TXT, the couple is further cementing their presence in K-pop and becoming a formidable duo. Their history with the label started when Fontana wrote “Euphoria” with her friends DJ Swivel and Candace Sosa, without knowing it woul

A concert streamed by K-pop giant BTS on Sunday became the world's biggest paid online music event in terms of number of viewers, the band's management company said Monday. Big Hit Entertainment announced that "Bang Bang Con: The Live," which was streamed over around 100 minutes remotely from a studio in Seoul on Sunday, drew some 756,000 viewers from across the world. Fans from 107 countries or regions, including South Korea, United States, China, Britain and Japan, logged in to vi

Artists, institutions search for sustainable growth model amid pandemic shock

South Korean films set for release this summer are rescheduling their release dates, as cluster infections of the novel coronavirus continue to spring up in the Seoul metropolitan area. Film distributor Merry Christmas announced last week that it has postponed the release of sci-fi flick “Space Sweepers” from summer to later this year, since the danger of COVID-19 infection lingers in the nation. The company stated that it is considering opening the film around the Chuseok holidays

Kim Soo-hyun is returning to the small screen for the first time in five years with tvN’s new romantic comedy series “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” set to start airing next week. The upcoming weekend series is the first television role for the 31-year-old since he was discharged from the military last July. His most recent TV credits include “The Producers” in 2015 and “My Love From the Star” in 2013. “I’ve been waiting for so long, I&rs

Collaboration is in the works between K-pop and K-classic. The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and S.M. Entertainment signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to spread K-pop and K-classic worldwide by creating content that is not defined by a single genre. Lee Sung-soo, co-CEO of S.M. Entertainment, and Kang Eun-kyung, CEO of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, signed the memorandum, marking the first time a leading orchestra has joined hands with an entertainment company. This is also the

How the largely apolitical scene came to attract fans who are very much political

A guide to the home of K-pop and what fans will find there

K-pop giant BTS on Friday released a music video for "We are Bulletproof: the Eternal," off of its most recent album "Map of the Soul: 7," as part of the group's annual fan celebration event. The animated music video shared on YouTube features adorable versions of individual BTS members walking and running through a variety of locations. The seven later join one another to be launched above the clouds riding a whale. Included in "Map of the Soul: 7," released i

Innocence (Korea) Opened June 10 Crime, Drama Directed by Park Sang-hyun A hotshot attorney from a big law firm, Jeong-in (Shin Hye-sun) defends her long-estranged mother Hwa-ja (Bae Jong-ok) in a murder trial. Hwa-ja, suffering from dementia, is accused of tampering with makgeolli served at her husband’s funeral, leading to the death of one of the guests. Delving into the case, Jeong-in finds suspicious signs of a scheme surrounding the town’s Mayor Chu In-hoe (Heo Joon-ho) and se

Music concert hall operator Stradeum announced Thursday that it will hold the “Stage 30” concert series from June 16 to July 10 jointly with performance-planning company United Producers. The Stradeum, a 100-seat venue, will only seat 30 concertgoers to comply with social distancing guidelines. Stradeum added that everyone in the audience must go through temperature checks and wear masks. “This concert is part of the musician’s process to find ways to meet with audienc

K-pop superstar BTS will release "Stay Gold," the title track of its upcoming new Japanese full-length album, next week. The original Japanese song will be revealed to the public at 6 p.m. on June 19, according to an announcement posted on the website of the band's official Japanese fan club Thursday. "Stay Gold" is also a soundtrack of a Japanese TV series, "The Spiral Labyrinth-DNA Science Investigation." The drama was originally set to be aired in April, but i

South Korean actor Ryu Seung-beom will tie the knot with his Slovakian girlfriend this year, his management agency said Thursday. "Ryu will soon marry his foreign girlfriend," said SEM Company. "He'd planned to have a small wedding ceremony with just family members, but it has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic." He will become a father, it added. Ryu's girlfriend, an artist living in France, is about 10 years younger than the 39-year-old actor. The couple has b

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK on Wednesday announced the release date of their first new song in 14 months. The band's label-management agency, YG Entertainment, said the quartet will put out a new track on June 26. Other details, such as the title of the track, have not been shared. The song will be a track from their upcoming first studio album, which will be fully unveiled in September. YG has announced that the band's new album will be released under a three-tier scheme, with the first si

Producer Shin Won-ho discusses making ‘Hospital Playlist’