Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, has long been a global phenomenon around the globe. Amid the continued success of Korean content and the never-ending growing popularity of K-pop, the local entertainment industry has offered an exciting content strategy to meet the Hallyu fans' demand. The content business lead of Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind boy band BTS, believes that producing K-pop artist-driven content has largely contributed to enlarging global fandoms, as well as the spread of Korean cult

Le Sserafim is preparing for a new album due in the fall, according to a local media report Thursday. Agency Source Music confirmed the group is getting ready to for a return to the scene following the report, but did not provide any specifics. It will be the first album since the group reorganized into a quintet. Kim Garam left in July after her school bullying rumors stirred up controversy. The group debuted amid much hype in May and largely lived up to the anticipation. The band’s debu

Voices of concern are mounting over a megasized BTS concert in Busan, as problems stemming from an influx of concertgoers remain unresolved ahead of the event’s launch in October. On Oct. 15, under the title "BTS ‘Yet to Come’ in Busan," the K-pop septet will hold a concert in Gijang-gun of Busan as part of an effort to support the coastal city in its bid to host the 2030 World Expo. The seven members of BTS are honorary ambassadors of the 2030 Busan World Expo. Th

Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform, has rebranded its flagship Korean hip-hop playlist “K-Hip-Hop+82” to “KrOWN,” the company said Wednesday. K-Hip-Hop +82 was first launched in April 2017 as Spotify’s first-ever editorial playlist focusing on South Korea’s East-meets-West music. The playlist on the platform presents the latest and most famous Korean hip-hop tracks on the playlist. The word is a coined term combining “Korea,&r

    Key of SHINee landed atop the iTunes top albums chart in 23 regions with his second solo studio album. The LP “Gasoline” consists of 11 tracks including the titular track, which compares the explosive power of fuel to Key making his own way without hesitation, to an addictive hip-hop beat. The veteran idol wrote the words himself. The LP is his first solo work since first EP “Bad Love” that ranked No. 1 on iTunes top albums chart in 32 regions. His firs

TOKYO -- Under the starry, lofty dome of Japan’s largest concert venue, it was made crystal clear during a concert that ran over four hours with a whopping 41-song setlist: SM Entertainment, one of Korea’s largest entertainment agencies, has not only successfully recaptured the spirit of its early heydays, but also embodied the pinnacle of collective power made possible by bringing together various music genres. The label’s joint label concert, dubbed "SMTown Live 2022 :

With the ambition to localize K-pop, NCT 127 has successfully carved its musical path with ‘no easy’ sounds

Surviving the cutthroat K-pop industry is a daunting challenge for any group. It has been about nine months since rookie girl group Ive began its musical career, and the six-piece act not only surviving, but thriving in the K-pop scene. According to Aug. 22-28 data from local album sales tracker Hanteo Chart published Monday, Ive sold 924,363 copies of its third single "After Like" in the first week of its release. While first-week sales tallies usually indicate the size and loyalty

Blackpink’s single “Pink Venom” hit Billboard’s Hot 100 at No. 22, according to the publication on Monday in the US.  This is the highest spot for a K-pop female act, although the group’s collaboration with Selena Gomez, “Ice Cream,” ranked No. 13 on the chart in 2020. The previous record holder was Blackpink’s “How You Like That” at No. 33. “Pink Venom” is the pre-release from the quartet’s upcoming second stu

K-pop giant SM Entertainment on Monday closed the curtains to its joint label concert "SMTown Live 2022 : SMCU Express @Tokyo" in a huge success, with the three-day show attracting 150,000 live fans in Tokyo. Held as part of the K-pop label's world concert tour, "SMTown Live 2022," the event took place at Tokyo Dome in the Japanese capital between Saturday-Monday. This marks the return of the K-pop concert series to Tokyo in three years since it was last held in 2019, prior

Mamamoo+, K-pop quartet Mamamoo’s first subunit, will release its first single, “Better” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday via online streaming sites. The duo consists of Solar and Moonbyul. According to the duo’s label RBW, “Better” is a romantic song about the comfort of being with a loved one. It features the bandmates’ refreshing vocals. as well as rapper Big Naughty as a featured artist. The subunit’s name is meant to denote that the members will continue

K-pop girl group Rocket Punch on Monday returned with the new single “Flash.” Ahead of dropping “Flash,” Rocket Punch conducted an online media press conference Monday afternoon. The second single from Rocket Punch, “Flash” marks a return for the group just six months since the act dropped its fourth EP, “Yellow Punch,” in February. Rocket Punch is a six-piece group consisting of Yeonhee, Juri, Yunkyung, Sohee, Suyun and Dahyun. “We&rsqu

NCT127 will extend its second world tour to North America and South America, as well as to more cities in Asia, announced label SM Entertainment on Monday. 　 The band kicked off its tour “Neo City – The Link” in Seoul in December. It performed in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in Japan, as well as in Singapore. In September, it will head to Manila, the Philippines, and in October, begin the US leg of the tour, landing in Los Angeles first. More destinations in Latin America and Asia

Min Hee-jin, CEO of label Ador (All Doors One Room), in 2010 said in an interview with a local media outlet that “physical CDs are no longer something to be heard but seen,” because “it’s through the CD covers that the consumer meets new music.” Then the manager of SM Entertainment’s visual directing team, Min shared her strategy to overcome the drop in physical album sales. As visual director, Min not only designed the album cover and styles, but she turned

Lee Jin-hyuk of boy band Up10tion returned to the K-pop scene on Monday, hoping to show his fatal charms through his fifth solo EP, “5ight.” It has been about nine months since the singer and actor released his fourth EP, “Ctrl+V,” in October last year. Since the artist made his solo debut with “S.O.L” in 2019, he has released four solo albums, including “Splash!” and “Scene26.” He had shown fresh and energetic charms through the pr