SHINee to hold first online concert next month

K-pop boy band SHINee will hold its first-ever online concert next month after coming back from a two-year hiatus, the group's management agency said Saturday. The concert, titled "Beyond LIVE - SHINee: SHINee World," will be livestreamed on April 4 on V Live, a streaming platform of the country's leading internet portal operator, Naver, SM Entertainment said.  It will be the four-member group's first solo concert since a February 2018 performance in Japan. They will showcase

March 13, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Shinee to hold 1st online concert

Shinee is hosting an online concert on April 4, a first digital concert for the band.  Under the title “Shinee World,” the four-piece act will take to the stage and the paid concert will be livestreamed via Naver’s Beyond Live channel. This is not only the first online gig for the band but also the first standalone concert in over three years since its “Shinee World The Best 2018 ~ From Now On ~” held in Japan.  The ticket goes on sale from March 18.&

March 12, 2021

Kakao TV’s original content gets 400 million views

Original content from Kakao TV has attracted 400 million views, entertainment company Kakao M said Friday. Streaming platform Kakao TV, which was launched in September, attained 100 million net views in November and 200 million views in January. The number of views per week quadrupled to 33 million from 8.3 million in September. Popular Kakao TV original series include the webtoon-based drama “No, Thank You,” which focuses on the lives of South Korean women and their in-laws, and

March 12, 2021

Rose begins next phase of career “On the Ground”

Though her music career has reached dizzying heights, Rose confesses in her new solo single that she’s found the most important things in life on the ground. Breaking out on her own for the first time since she made her debut five years ago, the Blackpink vocalist dropped her first solo EP, “R,” Friday afternoon. With a title that signifies her new start as a soloist, as well as the first letter of the artist’s name, “R” consists of two tracks: “On the

March 12, 2021

BTS' 'Map of the Soul: 7' tops worldwide album sales in 2020

K-pop superstar BTS swept the top two spots on a worldwide album sales chart last year, according to an organization representing the global recording industry. The International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said Thursday (US time) that "Map of the Soul: 7" ranked No. 1 and "BE" No. 2 on the 2020 Global Album Sales Chart. The albums were released in February and November of last year, respectively. "Map of the Soul: 7 - The Journey," another album th

March 12, 2021

[Graphic News] BTS most tweeted about musician in US in 2020

　K-pop sensation BTS was the most tweeted about musician in the United States last year, the band’s agency said. 　In a recent survey by Twitter, BTS topped the list of 2020 most tweeted about musicians in the US, followed by Kanye West, Beyonce and Drake, according to Big Hit Entertainment. 　Other South Korean bands, Ateez, NCT and EXO, also made the top 10, along with Megan Thee Stallion, Harry Styles and Bad Bunny. 　BTS made a splash in the US music scene last year as its first E

March 12, 2021

[Box Office] Movies in theaters this week

Raya and the Last Dragon (US) Opened March 4 Animation Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, Donald Hall In the world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. As villainous monsters known as the Druun started attacking the land, magical dragons united their forces and sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Five hundred years later, the monsters have returned and it‘s now up to warrior Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) to save Kumandra. Minari (US) Opened March 3 Drama Directed by L

March 12, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] NCT 127 tops more Oricon chart

NCT 127 rose to the top of Oricon monthly chart with its second Japanese EP, said its management company SM Entertainment Thursday. The band’s “Loveholic” was rolled out in February and was given a “Gold Disc” endorsement that is awarded to albums that sold more than 100,000 units.  The EP landed at the top of Oricon’s daily albums chart and topped its weekly album charts as well as Billboard Japan’s weekly top album sales chart, LINE Music&rsqu

March 11, 2021

Spotify secures IU’s music for K-pop listeners

Kakao Entertainment and Spotify Technology on Thursday announced that it will make songs distributed by the Korean company available on the Swedish audio giant’s streaming platform across the globe, after a one-week suspension. The agreement will allow listeners overseas to resume enjoying songs by popular Korean artists, including IU and Zico, which were removed temporarily from the Spotify platform from the beginning of March. The platform operator at the time explained that the song

March 11, 2021

Will BTS see a stellar finale at Grammy?

With the 63rd Grammy Awards finally taking place Saturday, pushed back from January due to the COVID-19 pandemic, anticipation on whether K-pop sensation BTS will grab a final win at the award show is rising high. Nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the megahit single “Dynamite,” the boy band is the first Korean act to grab a nod at the Grammys, considered the world’s most coveted music awards. The group will also be performing at the ceremony along with 21 other

March 11, 2021

Project girl group IZ*ONE to disband next month

IZ*ONE, a project girl group that debuted through a reality audition TV show, will disband next month as planned. "IZ*ONE's project will wrap up in April as planned," said music channel Mnet that had aired the series as well as the act's management agencies. Swing Entertainment and Off the Record said they had discussed other possibilities with the management agencies of the 12 members, promising to continue to support the members in their careers. With the disbandment, the Korean-J

March 11, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] Treasure’s pre-debut release already hot in Japan

   Treasure is slated to officially debut in Japan on March 31, but the group is already proving to be popular. 　 The boy band dropped Japanese versions of four songs -– “Boy,” “I Love You,” “Mmm” and “My Treasure” –- early Wednesday ahead of its debut and “Boy” landed at the top of LINE Music’s real-time chart. “My Treasure,” “I Love You” and “Mmm” made the list as well,

March 10, 2021

How girl group Brave Girls' 2017 song went viral in 2021 thanks to 'Millboard,' YouTube

In today's world where social media is omnipresent, random things that fascinate people -- think viral cat videos, TikTok dance challenges, political conspiracies -- tend to go viral with the smallest triggers. For one K-pop girl group, this happened in an unexpected yet dramatic way. Brave Girls, a once-forgotten name in the competitive industry where so many acts come and go quickly, saw its 2017 song "Rollin'" soar to No. 1 on domestic music streaming charts -- four years after its

March 10, 2021

Yang In-mo explores ‘The Genetics of Strings’

Violinist Yang In-mo, also known as In-mo Yang or sometimes “Inmonini” -- a nickname after the legendary violinist Paganini -- released a new album on Tuesday. The album, named “The Genetics of Strings,” is his second album following “Paganini: 24 Caprices for Violin,” in 2018 after winning the 2015 Paganini International Violin Competition. Yang was the first Korean to win the top prize at the competition. “After the Paganini album, I was searching

March 10, 2021

BTS megahit 'Dynamite' gets 900 mln views on YouTube

"Dynamite," the historic megahit that was the first song by a Korean act to reach No. 1 on Billboard's main singles chart, has earned 900 million views on YouTube. YouTube views for the summer number's music video surpassed the milestone at 9:56 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the band's management agency Big Hit Entertainment. The feat comes just 40 days after the music video hit 800 million views on the video platform. Released in August, the all-English upbeat song debuted at No.

March 10, 2021

'Minari' earns 6 nominations at British Academy Film Awards

"Minari," a drama film about a Korean American immigrant family, has been nominated in six categories at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards. In the nominations for the upcoming 2021 BAFTA Film Awards announced Tuesday (British time), "Minari" directed by Korean American Lee Isaac Chung was listed in the categories of best director, best film not in the English language, best casting, best supporting actor, best supporting actress and best original

March 10, 2021

Hybrid 2021 ASEAN Cinema Week to screen 15 films starting Friday

ASEAN Culture House, run by the Korea Foundation, will host the 2021 ASEAN Cinema Week, screening 15 films from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, both in theaters and via online platforms from Friday to March 25. This is the second year that the ASEAN Culture House, located in Busan, is holding the cinema week. The event aims to present new perspectives on Southeast Asian culture through the films. The films selected this year reflect diverse cultures and traditions fr

March 9, 2021

Police question TVXQ's U-Know Yunho for allegedly violating social distancing rules

Police said Tuesday they questioned TVXQ's U-Know Yunho for allegedly violating the nighttime curfew designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.    The singer, whose legal name is Jung Yun-ho, is suspected of staying at a restaurant in southern Seoul after 10 p.m., according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police.    Under the current social distancing rule that took effect on Feb. 15, all restaurants and coffee shops in the greater Seoul area must close at 10 p.m.  &nb

March 9, 2021

[Today’s K-pop] NU’EST to return with 2nd LP

NU’EST will come out with the group’s seventh studio album, according to local media on Tuesday.   　 It will celebrate the ninth anniversary of its debut next week and announced that it will return with new music. It has been seven years since it released its first full-length album “Re:BIRTH” and about a year since the eighth EP “Nocturne.”   　 Baekho will show novel sounds, taking the lead in producing the album while the rest of the bandmates

March 9, 2021

Orchestras to bring League of Legends music to life

Music from the hit video game League of Legends will be brought to life by an orchestra at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul. “League of Legends Live: The Orchestra” will be held at the Sejong Center in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, April 2-3. The concerts were originally to be held in November, but postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first time for the Sejong Center, a major performing arts venue in Seoul, to present a show with music from a video ga

March 9, 2021