TOKYO (AFP) ― More than fifty years ago, a wiry young musician from a humble family slung his guitar on his back and boarded a cargo ship in Japan.Seiji Ozawa had pestered companies all over the country for sponsorship that would fund his voyage to Europe and help fulfil his dream of learning classical music in the place of its birth.Only one firm ― Fuji Heavy Industries ― was prepared to take a gamble on this precociously talented young man, supplying a moped to help him get around the continen

Five-member girl group to make official comeback Friday with performance-focused music video

KBS’ ban of Psy’s latest music video announced last week is not the first source of likely friction between the state-run broadcaster and the singer’s agency YG Entertainment.The decision to ban “Gentleman” over a scene where the rapper is seen “defacing public property” by kicking a traffic cone follows past disagreements that resulted in YG Entertainment artists boycotting the station’s popular year-end music festival and its weekly live music countdown shows. Since 2010, the YG family has not

  “Superstar K” Season 4 winner Roy Kim unveiled his digital single “Spring, Spring, Spring” with a music video on Monday, sweeping Korea’s major online music charts Bugs, Mnet and Melon in less than two hours.“Spring, Spring, Spring” is the 20-year-old singer’s original composition following a contemporary country style. The song features an easy-to-follow melody with a catchy chorus. The song features romantic lyrics to welcome the warmth of the season.Kim’s new single was arranged by Jung Ji-

NEW YORK (AP) ― Daft Punk has set a record on Spotify.The music service says the French electronic duo’s song “Get Lucky” had the biggest streaming day for a single track on Friday in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Spotify wouldn’t release the number of streams.Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” previously held the record for most streams in a day in the U.S. British band Bastille had the title in the United Kingdom with the song “Pompeii.”Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” features rapper-producer P

Shelton pushes sound in new directionsBlake Shelton“Based On A True Story”(Warner Bros.)The more Blake Shelton rises in stature, the more he parades his swaggering, mischievous personality. His high-profile role as a judge on NBC‘s ``The Voice’‘ has provided a platform for the entertainingly outspoken side of this tall, drawling country boy from Oklahoma. Now Shelton is creating music as brash as he is, fully integrating his colorful character into his songs. Before a career resurgence that incl

Global star Psy’s ungentlemanly behavior in his new music video is sparking controversy over its possible influence on the public. Concerns have been raised about the entertainer’s comedic “Gentleman” music video in which the rapper is seen dancing in a public library as well as “defacing public property.” Seoul City Councilman Jung Sae-hwan brought the issue of Psy dancing in a public library up at a city council meeting held on Wednesday, stating that the video could cause foreigners to want t

Psy has once again managed to penetrate the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, with his new single “Gentleman” making its debut at No. 12. Last year, the rapper’s claim-to-fame track “Gangman Style” entered the charts at No. 64 before eventually rocketing its way to No. 2, where it peaked. The song still ranks on the Hot 100 chart, at No. 48. The rapper’s follow-up single also made it onto the U.K. Singles Top 100 chart at No. 61, the exact same position that “Gangnam Style” debuted on the chart last

Singer Baek Ji-young and actor Chung Seok-won announced Thursday their wedding set for June.“They have been dating about two years since early 2011. They are getting married in June,” an official from Chung’s agency Forestar Entertainment said. The official added, “The two families have met recently and decided to have the wedding in June.” According to the agency, Chung and Baek have been discussing wedding plans since the beginning of the year. They chose June due to Chung’s busy schedule wit

This year’s first-string lineup for the annual three-day Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival includes international headlining acts Fall Out Boy, Blood Red Shoes, Story of the Year, Skid Row and Peace as well as local acts YB, Deulgukhwa, Hot Potato, Peterpan Complex, Dickpunks, Soran, Yellow Monsters and Black Bag.Fall Out Boy is a four-member American pop punk band that first formed in 2001 as an underground band. Although Fall Out Boy released its debut album “Take this to your Grave” in 2003, it

The 63-year-old Cho Yong-pil has returned to the music scene with his first single in 10 years, titled “Bounce.” The track is a prerelease single from his upcoming 19th album “Hello,” which will be unveiled next week. “Bounce,” released on Tuesday, was ranked in the top 10 on all the major local music singles charts, including Bugs and Soribada charts where it overtook Psy’s global hit “Gentleman” and claimed the No. 1 spot. The versatile artist showed a completely different side of himself with

S.M. Entertainment and YG Entertainment, the two most influential entertainment agencies in Korea, are launching an audition boom in Japan, following the success of SBS’ “K-pop Star.” SM is coproducing a TV audition program called “Performance A” with the Japanese agency Yoshimoto Kyogo to discover new talent across Asia for the international market. The panel of judges will include well-known industry experts from around the world including Korea, Japan, the U.S. and France. Japanese broadcaste