Top Korean artists reach over 10.6b streams on Spotify in 2020

Korea’s top 10 most streamed artists on Spotify chalked up a total of 10.6 billion streams on the platform in 2020, the popular streaming service announced on Thursday in its yearly wrap up. 　 Boy band BTS was the most streamed Korean artist globally, followed by Blackpink, Twice, Stray Kids and Red Velvet, according to Spotify’s 2020 Wrapped data. BTS also took the top spot in the category of the most-streamed global group in 2020. 2020 Wrapped, which compiles data from Jan. 1 t

Jan. 9, 2021

Number of daily moviegoers hits new record low amid movie drought from pandemic

The number of daily moviegoers plunged to a fresh record low this week, as new releases have been affected by the latest coronavirus resurgence in winter, data showed Friday. According to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), 14,000-16,000 people went to theaters daily this week, down from last week's 34,000-60,000. In particular, only 14,518 attendees were recorded Monday, hitting an all-time low since KOFIC began to compile official box office data in 2004. It renewed the previous r

Jan. 8, 2021

Shows go on at Daehangno small theaters

Though 2021 has begun with a gloomy outlook for the theater scene amid prolonged social distancing rules, small musical productions in the theater district of Daehangno are continuing their run, even recording sold-out performances. With the government’s social distancing scheme requiring performing arts venues to leave two-thirds of audience seats empty, several big musical productions have halted their runs, citing financial issues. Some smaller musical productions in Daehangno, cent

Jan. 7, 2021

Clarinetist Kim Han to go ‘On Air’ at Kumho Art Hall

Clarinetist Kim Han hopes to show off the charms of the clarinet through a series of four recitals slated to take place at the Kumho Art Hall as its artist-in-residence for this year. Each year, the art hall, run by the Kumho Art Cultural Foundation, selects a classical musician under the age of 30 in the early stages of their career to provide an opportunity for the musician to further develop by offering a performance venue.　 The 25-year-old clarinetist will present four recitals at the con

Jan. 4, 2021

Performing art scene in hope of 2021

While the year of 2020 was a disastrous year for everyone, the performing arts scene hopes regain its footing this year. Last year, musical productions were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, canceling or postponing shows due to the middle seat vacancy rule according to the authorities’ social distancing scheme. On Dec. 30, the musical scene has launched an association of Korean musical production companies, consisting of major musical production agencies such as Seensee Company, Clip

Jan. 3, 2021

COVID-19 decimates theaters, Netflix takes over

Coming in at 226 million, the number of theatergoers in Korea in 2019 was a record high. Five movies surpassed 10 million ticket sales and the main concern was the monopolization of screens by CJ and Disney (mainly Marvel) movies. A PwC report predicted in 2019 that the number of theatergoers would increase at an average of 4% per annum for the global movie market until 2023. That all changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, making 2020 a year that the movie industry would rather forg

Jan. 1, 2021

[Herald Interview] Opera in times of COVID-19

Like most people now, conductor Sebastian Lang Lessing’s plans for the festive period have been thwarted. The 54-year-old conductor stayed in Korea for more than three months to lead two operas with the Korea National Opera. The German-born conductor, who has led the Hamburg State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin and other orchestras around the world, has been maintaining a close relationship with Korea‘s state opera company since 2018, taking the baton for operas “Manon&rdq

Dec. 26, 2020

[Feature] Hot to trot: Singers reign supreme on Korean small screen

The year of 2020 was the year of trot music, especially on the small screen. Trot music, which is thought to have grown out of Japanese Enka in the early 20th century, developed in its own style over the years to become a favorite of older generations. But in recent years, trot has been broadening its fan base, attracting new fans, including those from younger age groups. The latest wave of popularity began with trot singer Song Ga-in, who was crowned “Ms. Trot” in a smash hit T

Dec. 23, 2020

Spotify to launch in Korea in first half of 2021

The world’s largest music streaming platform Spotify on Friday announced that it would officially launch its service in South Korea in the first half of 2021. “We are excited about our upcoming launch in South Korea, a market recognized as an epicenter for music, culture and tech innovation,” Alex Norstrom, chief freemium business officer of Spotify, said in a statement. According to Spotify, South Korea -- the sixth-largest music market globally -- is an important market

Dec. 18, 2020

Celebrate New Year with Europe’s finest orchestras at local cinemas

Though the COVID-19 pandemic limits us from going to New Year celebration concerts, local cinema franchise Megabox will screen the recordings of the New Year celebration concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, according to its announcement Tuesday. The 90-minute recording of the Berlin Philarmonicker, one of the most prestigious orchestras in the world, holding its New Year’s Eve concert under the baton of chief conductor Kirill Petrenko, will be

Dec. 15, 2020

SPO comes up with 4-month plan for 2021

Though it is customary for an orchestra to release the upcoming year’s program in December, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra shared its schedule for only the first four months of 2021 in concern of possible interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The SPO, which went through a difficult year like many other art troupes and institutions around the world, is looking forward to a better 2021 with a total of 13 performances, consisting of 11 orchestral music presentations and two chamb

Dec. 14, 2020

Third wave of coronavirus sweeps stages

Though the performing arts scene is at its year-end peak season, the outlook is gloomy as the third and so far worst wave of COVID-19 is underway. Local authorities have announced the Level 2.5 social distancing measures here, requiring performing arts venues to leave two-thirds of their seats empty. State- and city-funded art troupes based in Seoul have completely halted their operations under governmental orders. The Korea National Ballet canceled its year-end signature performances of &l

Dec. 14, 2020

Dismissal of KNB’s ballet dancer caught in legal dispute

The Korea National Ballet’s firing of a member earlier this year for traveling abroad during the home-quarantine period has come to the center of a legal dispute, as the state labor committee viewed it to be an “unfair dismissal.” According to the performing arts scene on Monday, the National Labor Relations Commission officially acknowledged that the national ballet troupe’s dismissal of Na in March was unfair. The labor committee viewed that Na had the responsibili

Dec. 14, 2020

Kim Sun-wook’s performances rescheduled for January

Concert pianist Kim Sun-wook’s duet recital with violinist Chung Kyung-wha in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, will take place as scheduled Dec. 20, although Kim’s other engagements for December were postponed due to the resurgence of COVID-19. According to classical music show agency Vincero on Wednesday, three of Kim’s December performances have been rescheduled for January, after stricter social distancing measures came into force for Seoul. Under the revised schedule, Kim&r

Dec. 12, 2020

KNB cancels plans for ‘Nutcracker’

The Korea National Ballet canceled its “The Nutcracker” show slated for the Christmas holidays, following the recent resurgence of COVID-19 infection cases here. The national ballet troupe announced Friday that the iconic performance of “The Nutcracker” in December would have to be fully canceled due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. The ballet troupe was to hold the performances at the Seoul Arts Center from Dec. 19-30, leaving two-thirds of seats empty under the gov

Dec. 11, 2020

Broadway actors of Korean heritage to connect via YouTube

While the iconic Broadway remains shut down until at least May, Broadway stage actors with Korean backgrounds will connect with international audiences at home via YouTube. The Korean Culture Center New York, affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, announced it will host the year-end musical gala concert “Farewell 2020,” featuring Korean or Korean-American stage actors working on Broadway through its official YouTube channel on Dec. 17.   The concert wi

Dec. 10, 2020

Flurry of COVID-19 restrictions cause fatigue across culture scene

While the authorities are enforcing stricter social distancing rules across the Greater Seoul area to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, the culture sector is confused by the inconsistencies in the restrictions imposed by different governmental authorities. On Saturday, cultural facilities across Seoul that are funded by the Seoul Metropolitan Government were shut down after the city government imposed tighter restrictions. On Sunday, the central government announced that Level 2.5 socia

Dec. 8, 2020

Rookie girl group NiziU tops Japan's weekly music chart with debut album

JYP Entertainment's new girl group NiziU has topped Japan's Oricon weekly music chart with its debut single album, the company said Tuesday. The nine-member group's album, "Step and a Step," ranked No. 1 on Japan's Oricon weekly singles chart for the first week of this month, just five days after it topped the daily CD singles chart of the Japanese music publisher, according to the agency. NiziU is only the second girl group to reach the top of the weekly Oricon chart with its debut

Dec. 8, 2020

Spike in COVID-19 cases puts S. Korean music industry on edge

Random cluster infections are breaking out across the country and the South Korean music industry is no exception from the new coronavirus. In most cases, infections have escalated into bigger cases involving consecutive screening tests, as music programs and events often feature multiple artists and a big production staff. Earlier this month, Kogyeol and Bit-to of boy group UP10TION tested positive for the infectious virus after Bit-to came into contact with a COVID-19 patient. While no addi

Dec. 8, 2020

Artists' voices re-created with AI

With the development of artificial intelligence and deep learning, things that were once impossible are now becoming possible, including re-creating the voices of deceased musical artists to sing contemporary songs. Music channel Mnet will show AI music project “Once More Time” on Wednesday and Dec. 16, “resurrecting” deceased artists through holograms and AI voice covers. The first episode will feature Turtleman, leader of trio Turtles, who died of a heart attack in 2

Dec. 7, 2020