Americanization was prominent during the age of the Cold War. In Korea, 70 000 military personnel occupied the army bases, many of which contained US Military clubs that sparked a new wave of Korean musicians that performed Western pop songs. This, along with the radio station, American Forces Korea Network (AFKN), is what I believe provided the onset of American pop culture influence on Korean music. With the socioeconomic depression that became widespread after the Japanese occupation, many Koreans, including trained musicians and performers, were in desperate need for work. Mipalgun shows, which were performances arranged for American soldiers at army bases, proved to be a way for them to earn money; they “learned to make a living playing the music of their occupiers” (Shin and Kim 2014: 276). As Americans were interested in listening to music that was familiar to them, it was crucial for Korean performers to master Anglo-American music that was popular at the time. Many prominent artists then included Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles and The Beach Boys. By listening to AFKN, who were often the first to broadcast best-selling music from America, these performers were able to learn the songs and even start to comprehend the English language. After US soldiers began to leave Korea however, many artists, including Shin Joonghyun, became entranced by the rock and roll genre that they were exposed to while performing at the mipalgun shows. Shin’s band, Add Four, were one of the early pioneers of rock in Korea. As Shin went from being a performer to a composer, the popularity of rock and roll continued to spread across the nation. The translatability in Anglo-American genres continues to pave the way for them to be incorporated in Korean music and even form new music genres (Shin and Ho 2009: 84). Electronic dance music (EDM) increased in American popularity in the 2000s. Following that, many Korean artists, such as BTS, collaborated with American DJ and producers, Chainsmokers, to release a song that interlaced the features of K-Pop along with the hard-hitting beats of EDM. Their song ‘Best of Me’ gained widespread popularity with both Korean and overseas audiences. Overall, American influence has been prominent in Korean pop culture since the Cold War. With the accessibility of modern technology, Anglo-American music is no longer restricted to the fences of an army base. As K-Pop evolves, it continues to intermingle with Western genres which gives way to the possibility of introducing new genres to Korea, similar to the emersion of rock in the 1960s. ReferenceShin Hyunjoon, and Ho Tung‐hung. “Translation of ‘America’ during the early Cold War period: a comparative study on the history of popular music in South Korea and Taiwan.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 10, no. 1 (2009): 83-102. Shin, Hyunjoon, and Pil-Ho Kim. "Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Group Sound Rock." The Korean Popular Culture Reader. Durham, NC: Duke University Press (2014): 275-295. AuthorClara Ng
15 Comments
Aneet
10/1/2018 03:37:20 pm
In addition to music trends, there are also other American trends that influence Korean music. An example is in choreography, where American dance trends find their way into Korean music videos and choreographies. An example would be Pentagon’s “Shine”, which featured the Shoot Dance. Another American influence is fashion, which can be seen in the outfits of K-Pop idols. For example, chokers were a major trend during 2016-2017; while it was a trend in America, chokers appeared many times in K-pop artists’ music videos and comeback performances, such as in BTS’ “Blood, Sweat, and Tears”, HyunA’ s “Roll Deep”, and Red Velvet’s “Bad Boy”.
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Vanessa
10/1/2018 08:17:21 pm
Adding onto your point, we can see a lot of celebrities performing English song covers on TV shows. For example, Ailee performing "Halo" by Beyonce on Singer and Trainee, contestants on Sixteen performing "Problem" by Ariana Grande, as well as Mamamoo performing "Havana" by Camila Cabello on Yu Huiyeol’s Sketchbook. I feel like they not only perform these Western songs to follow the trend, but to also show off their singing skills. I find Korean idols often sing Western songs that require a lot of skills, such as songs by Beyonce, Alicia Keys, or Ariana Grande, to maybe prove themselves, to show that they are as skillful as the Western singers.
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Aneet
10/1/2018 09:52:52 pm
Your point about Korean singers wanting to show that they’re just as skillful as western artists is quite interesting. I feel another reason why America has such a large influence on Korean music is because it seems many Korean artists want to see validation and appreciation from American audiences. For this reason, many Korean entertainment companies have tried launching and/or creating awareness for Korean artists under their label in America; such examples include Wonder Girls, Girls’ Generation, CL with an American debut, and more recently an announcement from SM Entertainment about EXO’s Lay making an American debut.
Kristy
10/2/2018 06:31:35 pm
I also agree with the whole idea that certain aspects of Korea's popular culture is being motivated by gaining "recognition" and "acceptance" from American society. Not only does having Korean singers perform English songs show their singing ability, but it also shows that they can speak the language and pronounce words correctly. In my opinion the two most popular Korean idols that cover English songs are Ailee and Hyorin. They are often known for being Korea's version of whichever American singer is popular at the time, and known for their singing or performing abilities. Although they both tend to cover very complex and skillful English songs on TV programs and live performances, they are both simultaneously being criticized for something else. This goes back to the question of balance between Korean-ness and American influences when it comes to popular culture in Korea.
Vanessa
10/2/2018 08:02:44 pm
Aneet, your comment about Korean idols seeking for validation from the American audiences completely makes sense if we see it from a historical point of view too. Korean singers back in the Mipalgun days had to be recognized by the American audiences in order to earn fame and to make a living as artists. Maybe this tradition, or habit within the K-pop industry, of defining fame as being recognized by the American audiences has passed on until now.
Han
10/3/2018 08:59:19 pm
Your comment led me to think whether the K-pop idols (or the agencies themselves) want validation from the Hollywood big-hit celebrities or from the consumers. Are they trying to impress the American fans who love K-pop, or to the Americans who don't know about K-pop?
Ariel
10/3/2018 09:54:04 am
Korean entertainment companies constantly hire American choreographers (eg. Kyle Hanagami) and songwriters (eg. Teddy Riley) to help embellish the original songs so that the release can appeal to a more international audience. This also keeps the original content more "exotic" for Korean fans, as different dance and song styles are introduced with a familiar context within K-pop.
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Aneet
10/3/2018 04:18:36 pm
I like your point about Korean entertainment companies hiring American choreographers/producers to bring different (or foreign) styles into Korea while within the familiarity of K-pop; however, I think there’s another underlying reason why non-Koreans are part of the K-pop industry.
Han
10/3/2018 08:29:46 pm
Your point about hiring American choreographers is great. Korean entertainment companies are directly bringing in international influence into Korea. I think another example are the international auditions by the K-pop entertainment companies. With many trainees and even well-established K-pop idols, who were either born or raised in America, are debuting as K-pop idols. Tiffany from Girls' Generation, Jessica and Krystal Jung, Mark from GOT7, Jay Park are just a few I can name off the top of my head who have been raised outside of Korea. But being raised in America, they must have also adapted to the American culture and therefore brought it with them when they debuted in Korea. All of them (and many more) are huge influences in the music industry, so I think without a doubt, what they have to share with the media will heavily impact the trends of the music industry.
Chaeree
10/4/2018 06:09:01 pm
I agree with what Aneet and Han commented on this. In addition, I think it is not only attracting more international audience but also is a great marketing strategy for both American producers and K-pop industries/singers. It will be a win-win situation when they do a collaboration since both American and Korean audience (or any other K-pop audience) will find it interesting to see how the songs would turn out when they mix their song or performance styles together. Just by the fact that they are collaborating together will definitely trigger more people’s curiosity and receive more attention than just regular K-pop songs or American songs produced on their own.
CedarBough Saeji
10/2/2018 08:15:16 pm
Clara, this is good solid work! Don't forget that in-text citations need to include both of the authors (if you have three or more you can say (Shin et al 2009), but you only have two.^^ The second bibliography entry is missing three important pieces of info. You should insert those before Ms. Kim comes to grade this essay.
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Clara
10/3/2018 11:00:16 pm
Thank you Dr. Saeji for the pointers! I will fix that up shortly.
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Ariel
10/3/2018 09:41:22 am
According to the article, "Regulating and Negotiating in T'ûrot'û, a Korean Popular Song Style," to many people, "the history of Korean popular music begins with the translation of Western or Japanese popular songs, called yuhaeng ch'angga." Korean pop music was rooted in Western/American styles, and in current day Korean pop music is still widely influenced by American music, through music beats, dance styles, and music video set ups.
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Kristy
10/3/2018 01:21:31 pm
I've noticed this when I found demos of the original version on Youtube before, and I always found this really interesting. If you were new to Kpop, you could believe that everything sounds original, unique, and never done before. But as we learn more about Korean music and its history, it's interesting to see how a lot of things are adapted and influenced by something made before. This doesn't just happen in the realm of music and popular culture, but is also evident in things like fashion and other trends. My mom always says that whatever trend is coming back nowadays were things they use to do as a kid, and that is an example of how society and cultural themes cycle around through generations.
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Chaeree
10/4/2018 06:45:17 pm
Adding onto your point that K-pop is still influenced by American pop songs, some listeners question if some K-pop songs sound too similar to American songs that they were copied. For example, Seventeen actually credited Coldplay and the Chainsmokers for their song "Don't wanna Cry" which people thought it was plagiarized. They still insisted it was an independently created song but worried that such incident will affect negative impact on the group's image that they would credit American producer/singers. However, most people believe it was at least partly influenced or plagiarized since they agreed to such decision. Moreover, I think it clearly was another evidence that American music still influences K-pop to some degree.
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