SM launching global auditions next year

Girls’ Generation (SM Entertainment)SM Entertainment, the nation’s largest entertainment agency, will launch a worldwide talent search next year. SM is slated to hold a large-scale global audition with agency representatives heading to nine countries and 28 cities across Asia, Europe and North America, the agency announced Wednesday. And for the first time for a Korean agency, SM will take auditions to Russia, where K-pop has slowly begun to spread and taken on a life of its own. SM is home to s

Dec. 17, 2014

Robin to spit French rhymes on Sosim Boys’ new EP

Robin (center) and the Sosim Boys. (Doctor Nine Media)French TV personality Robin Deiana from the popular JTBC talk show “Nonsummit” will be showing off his music talent by collaborating with the folk-acoustic duo Sosim Boys on their upcoming EP.The album, titled “Shining Star,” is slated to drop Friday, according to an announcement by Doctor Nine Media on Wednesday. On the EP, Deiana will take on the role of a French rapper. The album is also said to have been produced with the help of local R&

Dec. 17, 2014

EXO to release first live concert album

EXO. (SM Entertainment)Just in time to ring in the holiday season, K-pop group EXO will release the group’s first live concert album on Monday, SM Entertainment said Wednesday. The live album will feature EXO’s previous concert series at the Seoul Olympic Park’s Gymnastic Stadium from May 23-25. The upcoming release will include a total of 36 tracks, including the group’s monster hits “Growl,” “Overdose,” “Wolf” and “History.” Along with a digital album, EXO will also be releasing the 2-disc phy

Dec. 17, 2014

Klive hologram concerts attract 50,000 this year

In town and in the mood to see Psy perform his addictively enthralling galloping horse moves? Whether or not your visit coincides with his live concert schedule, you can dance along with the monster K-pop star on almost any day of the week in futuristic, digital fashion. Less than a year since the world’s first K-pop hologram performance center was launched, Klive has used its pioneering technology to attract more than 50,000 K-pop lovers from around the world for a truly cutting-edge and out-of

Dec. 16, 2014

2NE1 snags Billboard’s best K-pop album pick of 2014

As the countdown to 2015 approaches, the assessment of the year’s best songs, albums and industry newcomers is in full swing. Rounding out the year, Billboard’s top picks of the 10 best K-pop albums of 2014 land the feisty K-pop icons of 2NE1 the crown. The ladies’ second full-length album, “Crush,” was praised for cleverly exploring hybrid genres including reggae and R&B and landed them at the No. 1 spot, beating out other much awaited K-pop heavy-weight comebacks such as Seo Taiji and Rain.The

Dec. 14, 2014

Fly to the Sky, Gummy unite for collaboration concerts

Following a special collaborative live performance in United States last month, noted ballad singer Gummy is reuniting with male R&B duo Fly to the Sky to hold three concerts in Seoul later this month. Brian Joo and Hwanhee of Fly to the Sky will be joining Gummy onstage once again for the artist’s upcoming live collaboration concert series, “The Attraction,” to be held from Dec. 23 to Christmas Day at the Kyung Hee University’s Peace Amphitheater.The three local artists claim to share a tight-k

Dec. 12, 2014

Fuse TV names WINNER among top 13 breakout artists

Alongside the likes of Sam Smith, who shares a three-way tie with the year’s most Grammy Awards nods at six, and Meghan Trainor whose fame skyrocketed internationally after the release of her Grammy-nominated single “All About the Bass,” the YG Entertainment newbie members of WINNER have been named one of the world’s top breakout artists of the year by U.S. cable music program Fuse TV. At the No. 11 spot on Fuse’s “13 Top Breakout Artists of 2014” rankings, the five-member rookie K-pop sensation

Dec. 11, 2014

Girls’ Generation to release first single as octet

Following the shock exit earlier this year of K-pop idol star Jessica from Girls’ Generation, the now eight-member girl group has revealed that it will release a new single in Japan.According to an announcement by SM Entertainment, Girls’ Generation will release a new Japanese single sometime early next year, which will mark its first release since the departure of Jessica. The members of Girls’ Generation recently performed in front of their Japanese fans for the first time since becoming an ei

Dec. 10, 2014

Bernat and Taeyang collaboration rumored

A myriad of rumors began circulating online Wednesday morning surrounding up-and-coming American R&B singer Jeff Bernat, who reportedly posted a tweet hinting at a possible collaboration with popular K-pop idol star Taeyang of Big Bang. According to a number of reports, Bernat tweeted a message suggesting that he would be working with the Big Bang star on Tuesday, but quickly deleted it soon after posting, leaving fans questioning its veracity. In a previous interview with The Korea Herald in Oc

Dec. 10, 2014

JYPE releases ‘One Mic’ live album

JYP Entertainment fans can now hear the never-before-released collaborations by their favorite JYP artists with the release of the agency’s live concert album, “One Mic.”K-pop artists from JYPE, including agency founder Park Jin-young, recently held the Seoul leg of their JYP Nation concert tour in August, gathering 28 of the agency’s stars to perform a show that featured a wide variety of arrangements of some of its past hits. Previous shows were held in Tokyo and Hong Kong. JYPE is home to som

Dec. 10, 2014

Psy’s ‘Hangover’ tops YouTube K-Pop chart

The music video of South Korean rapper Psy’s latest single “Hangover” was the most viewed K-pop clip on YouTube this year, the global video-sharing site said Tuesday. The song, debuted in June and featuring U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg, is a follow-up to Psy’s international hit “Gangnam Style,” which has drawn more than 2.1 billion world views and prompted YouTube to upgrade its viewer count system since the number of clicks went over the bounds. The exact figure for hits on the video clip is not avai

Dec. 9, 2014

TVXQ discusses staying fresh after decade of performing

Going on nearly 11 years in the K-pop game, the members of TVXQ kicked off their latest international concert tour with two sold-out performances in Seoul over the weekend. As the duo’s first solo concert in Korea in nearly two years, the first leg of TVXQ’s “T1Story” live concert tour attracted 24,000 fans, who flocked to Olympic Park’s Gymnastics Stadium on Saturday and Sunday. Looking to maintain their originality and remain relevant as one of K-pop’s veteran acts, U-Know Yunho and Max Changm

Dec. 8, 2014

[Weekender] Korean Wave continues to make splash in ASEAN

Following the advent of Psy and his global hit song “Gangnam Style,” K-pop gained an unprecedented level of international attention, encouraging government and local music firms to continue their efforts to export K-pop. With geographical closeness facilitating cultural exchanges between Korea and ASEAN nations, hardcore fandoms of Korean music, movies and dramas ― referred to as hallyu, or the Korean Wave ― have sprung up. Idol stars ― from rookie groups to big-time acts like Big Bang or Girls’

Dec. 5, 2014

You Hee-yeol to hold first concerts in 7 years

The highly respected veteran singer-songwriter-pianist You Hee-yeol is slated to host his first solo concerts in more than seven years, commemorating his recently released seventh full-length album, “Da Capo.” You, who performs under the name Toy, will put on three concerts at Seoul Olympic Park’s Gymnastics Stadium next year from April 2 to 4. As of Friday morning, Toy was ranked No. 1 in the country in terms of ticket sales.  You Hee-yeol. (Antenna Music)Toy’s latest album marked a monster com

Dec. 5, 2014

EXO nabs 4 awards at MAMA

South Korean music band EXO pose for the photographers after winning the Album of the Year at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong on Thursday. (AP-Yonhap)South Korean boy band EXO proved its stature as a K-pop sensation across Asia by nabbing four awards at the 2014 Mnet Asian Music Awards held in Hong Kong on Wednesday. EXO won four major prizes ― Best Asian Style, Best Male Group of the Year, Asian Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for its third EP, “Overdose.”The Asian Artist

Dec. 4, 2014

Shannon releases debut solo single

Shannon. ( YouTube screen capture)Almost five years since making her local TV debut, Shannon Williams, a U.K.-born British-Korean singer, finally released her debut solo single, “Daybreak Rain,” on Monday. To commemorate her official solo debut, Williams unveiled two music videos for her new single: the original version and the “black edition.” The second version of her music video is the same as the original, but is in black and white to give the song a darker and more mournful feel. The 16-yea

Dec. 1, 2014

Infinite F unveils first Korean EP ‘Love’s Sign’

Infinite F. (Woolliment Entertainment)Infinite F, a trio subunit of the popular K-pop idol boy band Infinite, dropped its first EP, “Love’s Sign,” on Monday. Although L, Sung-jong and Sung-yeol had initially debuted the album in Japan last month, the group decided to release the Korean versions of the EP’s three singles, marking its official Korean debut. The new EP includes the album’s lead pop-ballad single, “My Heart is Beating,” as well as the singles “I Like You” and “My Girl.” The music vi

Dec. 1, 2014