An Outlet: Part 2

23 January, 2018.

Today, we did quite a lot of Finance for hours together. Frankly, it felt very overwhelming but I'm liking it. This is what I wanted and this is what I'm getting.

Because of my tests and projects, Kristen and I didn't get to talk much or spend time in college. But now that the marketing presentation is over and the results aren't out yet, I had bit of a breathing space and finally spoke to Kristen and that too at our spot after SO LONG!

It was our spot because we knew very few people passed that area and that our college people were not one of them.

This time we had a long discussion about relationships for some reason. While I didn't have much to share, she opened up about the (kinda) toxic relationship she had been in. She told me how she didn't realised how fucked up everything was back then and now that she's out of it, she is really glad that it's over.

I haven't been in such a situation so I can't completely relate to her but I do believe I am an empathetic so I can understand her feelings.

My daily dose of BANGTAN/K-POP is still on. Doesn't seem to be dying down anytime soon.

I'm starting to realise the Korean Music Industry now and why it is a big thing for BTS to be doing so well.

So the Korean Entertainment Industry is dominated by 3 Companies, namely
1. SM Entertainment
2. YG Entertainment
3. JYP Entertainment

These are called the big three. Artists from these companies are bound to do well because they get the most media coverage, they have the money to spend on making spectacular videos and promotion plans. Combining all these advantages with the artists' talent and personalites makes it easy for Big Three artists to have a huge fanbase.

And when we talk about these Kpop fans, they are ARDENT fans of that particular group or solo artist (mostly groups). So much so that they kind of refuse to acknowledge the existence of groups/artists other than the one that they stan. This is the reason why artists from smaller companies suffer and do not usually get recongized, let alone get awards.

Ofcourse, this scenario is changing at a rapid pace off late with BTS rising to the top of the KPop scene, not only in Korea but worldwide.

BTS came from a pretty small company called Bighit Entertainment which managed only a handful of people. Infact, you could still consider it as a small company cause their artist portfolio only has BTS, Lee Hyun and just maybe one other artist.

Anyways, they did not have overnight success. As I may or may not have mentioned in my discography chapter, BTS' early music was controversial and not quite liked by many. Slowly and steadily, because of the change in their music, recognition of their individual personalities and probably their performances (I maybe biased with this one because that's what attracted me to them), they started forming their own tight fandom and the ARMY grew by leaps and bounds year after year.

And before you know it, BTS has entered the league with the Big Three Artists, breaking their records and constantly getting pitted against Exo, one of the biggest boy groups there is! Infact I heard that BTS bagged awards that had been won only by artists of the Big Three for YEARS! That was a first for any small company and quite revolutionary if you ask me.

A prominent thing that I noticed in KPop is music shows like Mcountdown, Inkigayo, Music Bank, etc.

So the main purpose of these shows is to give artists/idols a platform to promote their new songs. So anytime a group debuts or has a come back, they perform their song(s) on these shows, which is in a studio with actual fans as audience. Since there are so many artists in KPop (mostly groups), all shows have a couple of idols lined up for performances on the daily.

Each music show has their own ranking system where fans can vote throughout the week. So at the end of each week, the top 10 ranking idols/performing idols gather on the stage and the winning idol or idol group is presented with a trophy in front of the the other idols and of course an audience of fans of various groups. Following this, there is encore stage for the winning idols where the idols generally give something called as a fan service, where they celebrate the victory with their fans.

This concept was kind of like a culture shock to me. I had never even heard of such a thing before. These music shows seem like a survival show for established artists instead of commoners. The thought is scary but interesting for sure.

Another interesting thing that I learnt about KPop is that one way for idols to gain fans is through variety shows such as Knowing Brothers, Running Man, etc. It's a huge thing in Korea. It's a place for idols to showcase their personalities and give fan service in the form of aegyo, hilarious jokes, smart come backs, physical and mental strength, other talents, etc.

I've heard that BTS doesn't visit a lot variety shows but instead produces their own. So I'm going to look for them and watch each any everyone of them.