Why is kpop so catchy

The Parade of Nations songs all have significant international and digital presences, and each advertises the cross-cultural fluency of K-pop. As a whole, these songs and performers show us that K-pop stars can excel at everything from singing to comedy to rap to dance to social commentary. And their fun, singable melodies make it clear that the South Korean music industry has perfected the pop production machine into an effervescent assembly line of ridiculously catchy tunes sung by ridiculously talented people in ridiculously splashy videos.

And at the Olympics closing ceremonies, we saw live performances from two more K-pop icons: solo artist CL, formerly a member of the powerhouse girl group 2NE1, and multi-national band Exo. CL has landed on the list twice since Exo, meanwhile, is arguably one of the two or three biggest K-Pop successes going right now.

And for several years, Exo was split into two subgroups, one performing mainly in Korea and one mainly in China. All of this made them a great choice to serve as a symbolic transition between nations, as Tokyo gets ready to host the Summer Olympics, followed by Beijing hosting the Winter Olympics in Prominently missing from the live performance roster at the Olympics was the most popular K-pop band in the universe at the moment: BTS. None of this is accidental.

K-pop has become the international face of South Korea thanks to an extremely regimented, coordinated production system. More than any other international music industry, K-pop has been strategically designed to earworm its way into your brain — and to elevate South Korea and its culture onto the world stage.

How did we get here? Through a combination of global political changes, savvy corporatization and media management, and a heck of a lot of raw talent being ground through a very powerful stardom mill.

Networks introduced the public to musical stars primarily through weekend music talent shows. Radio existed but, like the TV networks, was under tight state control. As Moonrok editor Hannah Waitt points out in her excellent series on the history of K-pop, K-pop is unusual as a genre because it has a definitive start date, thanks to a band called Seo Taiji and Boys.

After the band broke up, he turned to hip-hop and recruited two stellar South Korean dancers, Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno, to join him as backups in a group dubbed Seo Taiji and Boys. Not only did the Boys not win the talent show, but the judges gave the band the lowest score of the evening.

Seo Taiji and Boys were innovators who challenged norms around musical styles, song topics, fashion, and censorship. They sang about teen angst and the social pressure to succeed within a grueling education system, and insisted on creating their own music and writing their own songs outside of the manufactured network environment. Together, these studios began deliberately cultivating what would become known as idol groups. All the while, K-pop as a whole was building its own brand, one based on flash, style, and a whole lot of quality.

Through highly competitive auditions, starting around ages 10 to 12, music studios induct talented children into the K-pop regimen. The children attend special schools where they take specialized singing and dancing lessons ; they learn how to moderate their public behavior and prepare for life as a pop star; they spend hours in daily rehearsals and perform in weekend music shows as well as special group performances.

Because of the control they exert over their artists, South Korean music studios are directly responsible for shaping the global image of K-pop as a genre. The studios are also a breeding ground for predatory behavior and harassment from studio executives. I mean "yeah" that was my first impression about them, they are so totally good for that. From boots to ripped jeans, loose shirts and unique pair of accessories, to two dangling earrings for the boys and for the girls' unmatched earrings, they can carry on their own.

They can feel proud that most of them help to boost their confidence in their mascara in terms of music. They are so creative, and very authentic for me, for thousands of music around the world they can make much more difference from others and I assure you these are one of the reasons why KPOP was so popular, together with their very "divergent" choreographies, from cute concept to sexy and wild.

They are remarkable in that way. Not only are K Pop artists extremely creative, incredibly hard workers, and stars in flawless music videos, but they often require a combination of other cultures into their songs. Singers often insert English sayings into their lyrics because most students in many Asian countries are expected to learn English from a young age. The majority of the songs are in Korean though there are some in Japanese, Chinese, English, Spanish, and other languages , but the music transcends all barriers.

It can express people's emotions. Furthermore, the songs are about a subject that anyone can relate to, making it simple to communicate with. The last thing I am impressed with is they are competent and hardworking. From hours of training and sometimes 24 hours with no sleep, they can do it for the sake not of themselves but for others, for their fans who truly loved them without any hesitation.

I also really like the beat of the songs and the lyrics, even though you are from another part of the world, even though you don't fully understand what they are singing or referring to, you sometimes can feel that you understand it; even though you are in a sentimental mood, it suits perfectly. You sing it proudly even though it is not the right lyrics, I'm sure these are the true essence of K-POP dancing and singing like we are crazy and like there's nobody care.

Without catchy hooks and sing-along lyrics, pop music will be nothing. Who does not like to watch pretty contents?

Fashion, makeup, and hair design are part of it. While for some fans the 'handsomeness' and 'beauty' of idols is important, for another part it is more their charisma and special stage presence that is appreciated. K-Pop music videos receive a lot of investment not all of them and are filmed like movies making it also one reason for its success.

The K-Pop industry is huge and global which means, it has money. Would people invest huge amount of money in untalented idols?

Certainly not! You will have understood that all the idols are very talented because only a few people among thousands are able to get the job. The companies give them long training periods from a young age where they are taught on everything: dance, vocal, producing, acting, rapping, etc.

Idols have rigorous training making them able to have flawless performances. The term "idols" might be misleading for many, they are just artists. Most of them are working on their albums with lyrics making, composition, producing, choreography making, and more.

Some of the best Korean singers and rappers are part of these groups. It is true that the formation of a K-Pop group is made through an agency that built it to make the best balance between the members. Does that mean that the members are not close to each other? In some cases, idols knew each other since middle or high school and have been friends for over 5 years. Of course, not all the groups are close to each other and some K-Pop idol promotes as soloists.

Some also do not live in dorms together. Fans usually like the bond between members because it shows great teamwork and that they are far from being a "fake group". K-Pop idols provide a lot of content throughout the whole year with music, special collaborations with other artists, covers, TV shows, videos, pictures, and more. They know how to keep fans entertained. Groups post hilarious content on their channels. Idols know how to be funny and fans love to see their adventures through online platforms.

It is one of the characteristics of K-Pop making it attractive to those looking for entertaining content and being much connected to the 21st century.