The management agency of K-pop boy band BTS will this week launch a series of short video clips designed to provide Korean language education to non-Korean fans, the agency said Monday. Big Hit Entertainment said the first three episodes of the series, "Learn Korean with BTS," will hit Weverse, the mobile app for the BTS fan community, Tuesday afternoon. Following the release of the first three episodes, one new episode will hit Weverse every Monday morning, with a total of 30 clip

The former K-pop idol talks about his career transition and working solo

In a remix of British pop star Dua Lipa's latest song, "Physical," released earlier this week, K-pop artist Hwasa opens up the sensual synth-pop number with her signature raspy voice singing in the Korean language. The remix featuring Hwasa gives more color and trendiness to the original version, which peaked at 60th on the Billboard Hot 100 chart last month. The collaboration between Dua Lipa and Hwasa, a member of K-pop girl band Mamamoo, marks the latest in a growing number of j

Big Hit Entertainment, home to global sensation BTS and super rookie TXT, is getting ready to relocate to a new fancy office building in central Seoul. According to industry sources on Thursday, the building construction has been almost completed, while the interior work is still underway. “Expectations are high among industry people about the new office building, as the firm’s chief brand officer Min Hee-jin is known to be overseeing the interior work,” a source close to t

K-pop boy band WINNER will drop its third full-length album, "Remember," next month, in its return to the music scene, its agency said Wednesday. Ahead of the official album launch on April 9, the band will release lead single "Hold" on March 26, according to YG Entertainment. The album is WINNER's first full-length album since "Everyday," released in 2018. Including "Hold," the new album carries a total of 12 tracks. This is likely to be WINNER's las

Since K-pop band BTS' first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 2018, other K-pop boy bands have entered the top five of the albums chart, pushing the horizon for South Korean pop in the global music market. This week, K-pop boy band NCT 127's new album, "NCT #127 Neo-Zone," debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 21, becoming the fourth K-pop band to score a top-five hit on the albums chart. Also this week, BTS' latest album, "Map of the Soul: 7,"

K-pop boy band BTS has postponed ticket sales for the European leg of its new world tour, "Map of the Soul Tour," set for July, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "Due to recent events, BTS 'Map of the Soul Tour - Europe' ticket sale will be rescheduled," the British branch of Live Nation, which organizes the European leg, said in an SNS message Tuesday (local time). According to the message, ticket presales for the members of Army, the official BTS fandom, has been r

Wonho said he decided to leave Monsta X to save the group after past allegations of cannabis use emerged, despite having never touched drugs. The singer, who was recently cleared of all drug charges following a police investigation, got candid in a recent interview with local news site Dispatch. “I didn’t want to see Monsta X break apart because of me. I thought the group could be saved if I left the group as soon as possible.” He also apologized to fans, saying, “I pr

Having canceled the inaugural Seoul leg of its new world concert tour series, "Map of the Soul Tour," K-pop boy band BTS is at risk of having part of the following American leg rolled back amid the ongoing coronavirus spread in the United States. The septet was to kick off the new world tour series in mid-April in Seoul with four concerts at Olympic Stadium. But the band's management agency, Big Hit Entertainment, canceled the inaugural Seoul leg in late February when COVID-19 showed

Naver’s music-streaming service Vibe has recently announced a payment system that it believes is more transparent and profitable for artists. Currently, streaming platforms such as South Korea’s Melon and Sweden’s Spotify use a “pro-rata” model that shares streaming revenue with artists by collecting all fees from users and dividing that pool of money according to the percentage of streams each artist receives. That means even if you never listen to the most fre

The new album by K-pop boy band NCT 127 debuted at fifth on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, the band's strongest feat on the chart, the music magazine said Monday.  "Korean pop group NCT 127 lands its first top 10 effort, as 'NCT #127 Neo-Zone,' the 2nd (full-length) album debuts at No. 5," the Billboard website showed Monday (Korean time). "The act's previous high was claimed with its last release, 2019's 'NCT #127 We Are Superhuman,' which debuted and peaked a

A stadium in California where K-pop superband BTS planned to hold concerts next month said Thursday (local time) it will suspend operations for the time being due to concerns about the new coronavirus. Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, tweeted, "In light of guidelines issued yesterday by the federal government to stop the spread of COVID-19, the SAP Performance Center and Levi's Stadium will close operations beginning March 13 until further notice." BTS was scheduled to lau

Despite K-pop band BTS' record high sales of "Map of the Soul: 7," the relatively tepid performance of the album's title track, "ON," on the Billboard singles chart indicates that American radio airplay remains a formidable barrier for the septet. This week, "ON," the lead single from the latest BTS album, slipped sharply to 68th on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart dated March 14 after debuting at fourth on the weekly chart the previous week. The No. 4 spot w

K-pop singer Chungha is taking a big leap by teaming up with ICM Partners, one of the biggest talent agencies in the US, which has represented big name stars such as Beyonce and Megan Fox. “I hope to show more various sides of me while working with ICM. ‘Breaking into the US market’ still sounds like a huge title for me, but I’m excited for what’s to come in the future,” Chungha told The Korea Herald on Wednesday. “As much as it’s a hard-won oppo

"Map of the Soul: 7," the new album by boy band BTS, sold more than 4.11 million copies in the first nine days of its release last month, becoming the most sold album in the Korean pop history, its management agency said Thursday. It took nine days for the new album to shatter the previous highest album sales record of nearly 3.4 million set by BTS' own album, "Map of the Soul: Persona," released in April last year. The total sales of "7" in the first nine days