Rozy, the first virtual social media influencer in South Korea, has made her debut as a singer by dropping her first single, “Who Am I,” at Tuesday noon. The song, a medium-tempo ballad, talks about the troubles of being a virtual human. Its warm melody and Rozy’s captivating and refreshing voice adds emotional depth to the song. The lyrics speak of the worries about the 22-year-old’s identity, repeatedly asking herself who she really is. The three-minute song also as

The K-pop music industry has extended its growth momentum this year with a surge in physical album sales in January, according to data compiled by South Korean music chart tracker Gaon Chart. The top 400 albums sold more than 4.05 million copies in and out of the country last month, up 66.9 percent from the same period previous year. The figure, however, dropped by 5.4 percentage points from December, the data showed. Of the top 400 albums, boy band Enhypen topped the list by selling 723,478

K-pop supergroup BTS will hold its first live concerts in Seoul in about 2 1/2 years next month, the group‘s management agency said Wednesday. Three concerts, titled “BTS Permission To Dance On Stage - Seoul,” will be held on March 10 and March 12-13 at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium in southern Seoul, Big Hit Music said in a statement on Weverse. These will be the seven-member band’s first in-person concerts in Seoul since the band’s world tour performance in Octobe

At least two classical concerts that were slated for later this month at Tongyeong Concert Hall have been canceled due to the highly transmissible omicron variant, but the organizers who are also preparing the Tongyeong International Music Festival in March said that its flagship music gala will take place as planned. The New York Philharmonic String Quartet, which was scheduled to play at Tongyeong Concert Hall on Sunday will skip the city, which was to have been the first of their performanc

Singer-songwriter Han Seung-yun, contestant No. 17 on the first season of JTBC’s competition “Sing Again,” dropped his first mini album, “Lovender” at 6 p.m. Tuesday through online music streaming platforms, marking his new start as a solo artist. “It feels great to be on stage after a good while. ... I prepared the mini album like I were making a debut. My goal (for the album) is to let listeners know that I’m an artist who tries various genres of mus

A recently-released contemporary folk song became the subject of bitter dispute on Monday for supposedly mocking presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife and “King of Pop” Michael Jackson. In his latest single “A Woman That Looks Like Michael Jackson,” released Friday, Ahn Chi-hwan sings of an unspecified woman who has changed her name and looks several times, berating the person for her greed. It is widely believed that the woman Ahn is referring to is Kim Ke

Rozy, the first virtual social media influencer in South Korea, is set to make a debut as a singer this month, according to Sidus Studio X Friday. Rozy’s debut song will be produced by Vanilla acoustic’s Jung Jae-won, who has worked with artists such as Bolbbalgan4, while Music Vine is participating in the project as a production company. Sidus Studio X, which produced the virtual human based on AI, hinted that Rozy’s debut song will feature a warm melody and the virtual in

K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment is looking to extend the global reach of label’s artists Stray Kids and Itzy through a stronger partnership with Republic Records. Republic Records, a major American music label owned by Universal Music Group, on Thursday (US time) announced its expanded partnership with JYP that kicked off in 2020 with K-pop girl group Twice. Under the expanded partnership, the US music agency will support activities of JYP’s artists, including Stray Kids and Itz

Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman is set to perform in Korea in the coming weeks after a couple of delays in ticketing. The celebrated pianist will visit Korea later this month with some changes in the schedule, according to Mast Media, the organizer of Zimerman‘s recitals. Previously, it was unclear whether Zimmerman, who travels with his own instrument, would be able to make it to the country as the recent surge in COVID-19 cases got in the way of transporting his piano. Amid the uncer

The Korean Chamber Orchestra on Friday said it is set to resume hosting eight all-Mozart concerts next month after the project was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the Mozart Project, the KCO aims to perform all 46 symphonies by the Austrian composer. Led by Finnish-German pianist and conductor Ralf Gothoni and music director Kim Min, the KCO will take the composer’s masterpieces on stage in eight concerts from March 13 to Feb. 8, 2023. The orchestra kicked off the 10-conce

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The Korea Creative Content Agency said Monday that it will stage an immersive music performance featuring 18 rappers from Mnet’s rap competition program “Show Me the Money 10.” As part of its performance series “On the K,” KOCCA will present “On the K x Show Me the Money 10 Festival” on its YouTube channel and Twitter at 10 p.m. on Thursday. The lineup will include the hit competition show’s winner Jo Gwang-il, and other contestants Since, Be&rs

A two-day music festival will bring together K-pop musicians like modern rock band Monni, Broccoli, You Too and indie singer-songwriter Yun DDan DDan next month to provide comfort to music fans who are exhausted from COVID-19, according to the festival’s organizer Thursday. “2022 Camping Music Festival” will take place at Nodeul Live House on Nodeul Island, central Seoul, on Feb. 26-27, according to ModernBoy Entertainment. Under the theme of “Musical Journey in Do