Actress Emma Stone announced on a “Conan” show a year ago that she was obsessed with K-Pop and that her fave K-Pop act was 2NE1.
This piqued my curiosity and then a close friend known as #flinkylinky began her assent into the huge and still growing genre known as K-Pop.
This phenomena has gone global and can only expand into other less traveled parts of the world…not bad for only coming of age in the early 2000’s.
That’s right, Rock N’ Roll was banned in South Korea until 1996 and it only took a few years until it blossomed into the billion dollar industry it is today. Mind blowing numbers.
K-Pop is Korean Pop and the Korean Wave is known as Hallya. The types of music embodied in K-Pop range from dance pop, pop ballads and electric pop to R&B and Hip Hop.
Some claim that K-Pop began with Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992 and that Hippie and Folk music have influenced the earlier forms of South Korean music which is more carefree than the earlier themes of war and oppression.
For Japanese Anime fans, this is an excellent way to find current music for the J-Pop and K-Pop genres which can be downloaded the day after it is released in Japan. According to one source there has been a bit of a competition between the two for several years and for the last 8 years K-Pop has beaten Japanese J-Pop in popularity and sales.
Another source has added that teenagers love the Hallya movement of K-Pop and they spend a great deal of money on the music, fashions, publications, beauty products that have been launched as a result of Hallya.
K-Pop has been credited with creating a subculture among young adults in East and SouthEast Asia.
Hallya began in 2012 and has grown in leaps and bounds from the mothership of KCONUSA. KCON is set to host a convention in Los Angeles on July 28, 29, 30, 31 at the Los Angels Convention Center which will also feature two concerts at the Staples Center. The shows will feature top acts from the K-Pop genre. Among the artists set to play are CNBlue who are amazing. Check out CNBlue’s Osaka tour shows on Youtube.
Special guests appearing at KCON 2016 are DAVICHI and TURBO and there will be special booths and gifts for attendees.
KCON is being presented by Toyota and tickets for the convention are $10 for a day or $25 for the whole shebang. For further info on the K-Pop fad, check out K-Pop Top 50 or K-Pop Top 100 Most Popular on Youtube which are both hosted by K-Ville Entertainment.
If you have questions about KCON 2016 direct your questions to: questions@kconusa.com
Just in case not everyone knows, LED ZEPPELIN won the Wolfe Estate’s copyright infringement lawsuit against them for the song “Stairway To Heaven”. It was determined that the opening chords were derived from “a centuries-old, public domain, descending chromatic line” and not an original tune as the family of the Spirit frontman’s composition “Taurus” had claimed. At least now I get why Randy Wolfe “California” was not inclined to sue when he was alive and why he was merely “flattered” that his chords were used by Jimmy Page.
During the case the courtroom was allowed to listen to the music of SPIRIT and Led Zeppelin which was sure to have at least broken up the monotony of courtroom proceedings.
Right after the case closed, the attorney for the estate, Francis Malofiy, was suspended for three months due to unprofessional behavior in the courtroom and upheld an earlier motion to suspend from a case a year ago when he represented Dan Marino in a case against USHER for a song titled “Bad Girl” which he also lost.
To add insult to injury not only does the Wolfe Estate have to pay Led Zeppelin’s court costs, the estate is now being sued by Warner/Chappel Music who are demanding $800K for fees and costs from this most recent challenge to Led Zeppelin’s music. Keep in mind that Led Zeppelin have been sued more than once and have lost a few of those cases so I guess Warner/Chappel Music intends to leave it’s mark since they won this time.
How was Malofiy able to convince the Wolfe Estate that they could win a lawsuit against Led Zeppelin? Were they not aware of the lost case against USHER and the misconduct accusations against Malofiy for that trial?
Goes to show one that it’s important to check out the background of a potential attorney on Google or YELP.
Gotta admit, that proof of centuries-old, public domain, descending chromatic line blew this journalist’s mind. The way this journalist reads it, Led Zeppelin never said that they didn’t take the opening chords from “Taurus” as an “inspiration”, they said it was a public domain opening. What a brilliant move.
Japanese guitar shredder HOTEI is set to play a gig at the The Troubadour on July 13th. This show is going to get interesting methinks. Hotei is a mentor to MIYAVI whom I featured awhile back and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’ll join Hotei for a bit of guitar slapping.
Local band RADIONAUT is slated to play a show at the Whiskey A GoGo on July 29. They are playing in a line up with another well known local act L A GUNS. This is a rare appearance for Radionaut who have been working on new material some of which will be unveiled at this show.