K-pop: ranking of the 10 most listened to songs today on iTunes Mexico

Although only 80 million people speak Korean, the 13th most used language in the world, this has not been a problem for products such as K-dramas or k pop are conquering the global entertainment market.

K-pop, far from being just a genre, is a highly competitive industry in which dozens of groups debut year after year and only a few manage to survive, but on the other hand it is also mainstream and influence that he has for not only Korean society but in general.

Far from the $12 million that K-pop brings to South Korea a year, according to the magazine Forbesthe South Korean music industry seeks to grow more and more and one of the keys is not only the conquest by hearing, but also by sight such as the use of colors in music videos, perfectly timed choreography, and the physical image of idols (artists).

Currently, it is common to open social networks and find trends in hangul (Korean alphabet), see their representatives in advertising campaigns for major brands or see them featured on the covers of magazines such as Vogue or RollingStone, listen and watch K-pop on virtually any show and even see them perform at award shows like Billboard or the Grammys.

Among the streaming platforms that have made room for K-pop is ituneswho has his list “Top K-pop Songs Charts” which shows the most popular songs of the moment and which is available in various countries, including Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Peru with daily update.

Here is a list of 10 songs most important today:

1. Wildflower (with 조유진)
Artist: RM

2. OH MY GOD
Artist: NewJeans

3. The astronaut
Artist: Jin

4. VIBE (featuring Jimin from BTS)
Artist: TAEYANG

5. For the young
Artist: BTS

6. Same
Artist: NewJeans

7. Life goes on
Artist: BTS

8. Oh dear
Artist: PURPLE KISS

9. FIND YOU
Artist: PURPLE KISS & LULUPOP DAISY

ten.Honey U

Artist: Kim Tae Woo & BEN

Modern K-pop (from English “Korean pop”) originated in the 1990s with the rise of popular group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992, known for incorporating western musical genres such as rap, hip-hop, rock, jazz, electronic and techno into their songs.

This trio, made up of Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Junodebuted in a talent show on MBC with the song Nan Arayo, leaving the jury shocked, who gave them the lowest marks. However, the success this single received on radio and TV was overwhelming, resulting in more songs being released in this style and more artists opting into it.

It wasn’t until 1995 that producer Lee Soo Man founded one of the companies that remains a “heavyweight” in the music industry to this day, S&M Entertainment; while former Seo Taiji & Boys member Yang Hyun Suk created YG Entertainment (nineteen ninety-six); followed by JYP Entertainment (1997), created by singer Park Jin Young.

These three companies were long called the “Big 3” ‒until the success BTS achieved thanks to BigHit Entertainment (now known as Hybe Labels)‒ and are dedicated to training the first generation of idols, in order to satisfy the demand of Korean audiences to want to see younger artists.

In this way, the HOT group was one of the first to debut in the industry, followed by others who made up the famous “first generation of K-pop” like Sechs Kies, SES, Fin.KL, NRG, Baby VOX, Diva, Shinhwa and god

At the start of the new millennium, some of the idol groups that had debuted were without activities while others like Baby Vox were successful in various parts of Asia, an example of which was their song Coincidence, which was promoted at the Soccer World 2003. Cup and which reached number one on the Chinese music charts.

At the same time, other idols who went solo also marked a milestone: Boathe first Korean singer to lead the Oricon chart in Japan, an equivalent of the Billboard chart but Asian and in which artists from other countries rarely manage to enter and Rainan actor and singer who performed in front of 40,000 people in Beijing.

Later I’ll make the call “second generation of K-pop”still in the hands of groups made up of young figures such as TVXQ (started in 2003), SS501 (2005), Super Junior (2005), BIGBANG (2006), as well as girl groups like Wonder Girls (2007), Girls generation (2007) and KARA (2007).

In 2008, South Korea already dominated the entertainment market in Asia with an annual growth rate of more than 10% in the exports of its musical and television products with K-dramas, even representing 68% of the music market in Japan, ahead of China (11.2%) and the United States (2.1%).

Later, other bands like SHINee or INFINITYthe latter who managed to obtain the record of being the first to top the Billboard Emerging Artists chart in 2014 with his song Last Romeo; 2PM, EXO, 2IN1, until you reach the third generation of K-pop where new groups such as BTS, Seventeen, GOT7, Twice, Red Velvet, BLACKPINK, MAMAMOO, among othersso far fourth generation which are everyone who debuted between 2017 and 2018 like Stray Kids, ITZY, Ateez, Astro and more.

It should be mentioned that a watershed that should be considered is Rapper PSY’s Gangnam Stylea song that not only managed to break unimaginable records on music platforms such as Youtubebut it also traveled the world and showed that language was no barrier to success in highly competitive countries like American industry.

To this day, the relay of the greatest representatives of K-pop is held by the group BTS ‒integrated by Suga, RM, Jin, Jimin, J-Hope, V and Jungkook‒, who in addition to dominating the music industry in South Korea and consolidating their notoriety in the rest of the world, were named “Asia’s trend leader” by The Economist and “Artists of the year” by TIME magazine, through his Grammy Award Nominations and his 10 Billboard Awards.