"Million-seller" had been a title not many in the K-pop industry could achieve, but it has become undeniably more commonplace compared to a few years ago. K-pop, once a minor genre in the global music market, has grown at an ever-faster pace to form a whole industry unto itself. Success inside the industry is now not just about the fame and fandom of a single K-pop act. It's the whole system of personnel working together to place and keep that artist -- the "brand" -- in

For Saay, it was all about the coherent flow, whether it be her album, her music or her life. It was the same for her first gig "Mise-en-Scene" on Thursday night. The show itself was a continuation from her second LP "S:inema." The night opened with the album's intro song "everything comes n goes" and the first track "Interstellar." After hyping everyone up with "Mind ur business," Saay turned down the music and spoke to her fans. "I�

The 2022 Asia Artist Awards in Japan recognized breakout stars of this year, with Seventeen, Stray Kids, Ive and Lee Jun-ho taking the top honors of the night. The AAA ceremony took place Tuesday at the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan. This year saw the return of a live audience for the first time in three years, with streams of singers and artists attending to celebrate the honorable night together. Named for the five grand prizes for musicians were Seventeen as the year's top singer,

Soon Ent. is South Korea's top TikTok creator management firm, home to over 140 creators whose total number of followers amounts to 940 million. This includes the nation's No. 2 creator WonJeong, who recently surpassed 50 million followers. He is the only South Korean to reach the milestone other than K-pop supergroup BTS. Soon Ent.'s CEO and founder Park Chang-woo said the company is now looking to expand its global outreach, not just in terms of its creators but also its busines

Star TikTok creators brought a fresh new wave to the Daejong International Film Awards as honorary ambassadors of the traditional film fest. The 58th Daejong Awards, also known as the Grand Bell Awards, took place at the New Millennium Grand Theater at Konkuk University in Seoul on Friday night. The night kicked off with a red carpet ceremony where prominent actors and directors including Park Hae-il, Park So-dam and director Kim Han-min were in attendance. Alongside the cineastes were four TikT

It was in the winter of 2017 when singer-songwriter Saay first witnessed a death in her life. The shock and sorrow were overwhelming, as it was none other than her dearest grandmother. It took Saay three years to embrace the demise of her loved one and sublimate it into writing her song "Interstellar," which starts with the lyrics "I saw death three years ago when my grandma passed away." "I wrote that line in 2020 when I was making my second EP 'FEELosophy.' I

Hybe's first Japanese idol group &Team has made its long-awaited debut. Hybe Labels Japan, the K-pop juggernaut's Japanese branch, launched its first group &Team on Wednesday. Hybe is known for housing the world's biggest K-pop group BTS. &Team made its official debut on Wednesday with its first album "First Howling: Me." According to Hybe, Bang Si-hyuk, the company's executive producer and founder, took the helm of the album's production. The nine-

RM of BTS released his first official solo album "Indigo" on Friday, marking a blue dot on the canvas of his life. The 10-track project functions not only as a record of the global superstar's life between 2019-2022, but expresses his deep respect for the late Korean artist Yun Hyong-keun. The master of Korea's monochrome painting movement served as an inspiration for the album and traces of his influence can be found throughout "Indigo," starting with his picture &

With their feet stable on the ground in their third year, P1Harmony hoped they could further expand and make themselves known in the coming days. Marking the start of that journey is fifth EP "Harmony: Set In," released Wednesday. Before the album dropeed, the six-piece -- consisting of Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob -- invited local media for an interview Wednesday at the FNC Entertainment building in Seoul. "One of my personal goals was to drop three new albums, an

Three days after she was ousted from Loona, Chuu has opened up for the first time about her ongoing dispute with BlockBerry Creative and denied committing "any shameful acts." Chuu on Monday evening posted a short statement in an Instagram story and addressed the controversy surrounding her and the management company for the first time since the issue broke out Friday. Stating she was still getting a grasp of the situation, Chuu said, "I wasn't contacted or have been aware of

Nine years into its career, K-pop act Red Velvet continues to set new records with every music release, this time, with their new album "The ReVe Festival 2022 - Birthday." On Monday, the quintet returned to the music scene with the new EP "Birthday." The release is the latest from the act's musical series "The ReVe Festival 2022," which kicked off in March with album "Feel My Rhythm." Ahead of dropping "Birthday," Red Velvet members -- Iren

Once the biggest K-pop awards show in Asia, the Mama Awards are embarking on a journey to become a global music festival. Rebranded from the original Mnet Asian Music Awards, the 2022 Mama Awards will take place over two days, starting Tuesday at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan. CJ ENM, the local entertainment conglomerate organizing the awards, expects to see the awards' largest audience this year, with around 70,000 people anticipated to attend the show over the two days, and more global

Singer Lim Young-woong and girl group Ive headlined this year's Melon Music Awards, each taking home multiple trophies including the awards' most-coveted grand prizes. The 2022 MMA took place at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Saturday night. This year's awards show marked the event's return to its home venue three years since it last held an offline ceremony there in December 2019 before the outbreak of the pandemic. Over the 4 1/2-hour ceremony, celebratory performances by

The 2022 Qatar World Cup kicked off Sunday with K-pop super-band BTS' member Jungkook unveiling a new tournament song during the opening ceremony. As the first South Korean singer to release a song for a World Cup soundtrack, Jungkook performed "Dreamers" live during the opening ceremony at Al-Bayt Stadium in Qatar. The song's feature artist Fahad Al Kubaisi performed with Jungkook on Sunday. The seven-act ceremony lasted around half an hour, paying tribute to the 32 partic

Bibi is truly a one-of-a-kind musician in K-pop, especially as a young female artist who speaks through her music about raw emotions that are not often publicly discussed. With her debut LP "Lowlife Princess -- Noir," dropped Friday afternoon, Bibi has set herself out as a singer who won't compromise on self expression. On Friday morning, Bibi invited media to a cinema in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, and premiered the three new music videos from her first full-length album, which were u

It was not just a one-time event that the former CEO of Spire Entertainment assaulted members of Omega X during the act's recent global tour. It was a yearlong nightmare of assault -- both physical and verbal -- and sexual harassment, the bandmates say, and they are now taking legal action against the ex-CEO and the agency. Omega X on Wednesday afternoon held a press conference where the group announced the termination of its exclusive contract with Spire Entertainment. The 11 bandmates wer

The Mama Awards, the annual K-pop celebration hosted by CJ ENM, are taking another leap forward in efforts to evolve into a global K-pop festival. Ahead of the 2022 Mama Awards set to take place at the end of the month in Japan, a global press conference about the event took place Wednesday at CJ ENM Studio in Sangam-dong, western Seoul. A lineup of special performers for this year's ceremony, including J-Hope of BTS, was also revealed during the conference. This year marks the first time

It took two years, but YooA of girl group Oh My Girl has returned to her solo career with her second EP "Selfish." YooA's solo comeback was more than anticipated as she had proved herself a one-of-a-kind soloist with the debut EP "Bon Voyage" in 2020. The album and its title song "Bon Voyage," called "Forest Child" in Korean, not only scored chart success, but was also critically acclaimed for its musicality and the artistic way it expressed its natur

Bobby, a member of K-pop boy band iKon, will not renew his contract with the act's agency YG Entertainment and the industry and fans are left wondering about the future of the group and what the next steps are for the rapper. According to industry sources on Tuesday, Bobby of iKon will not extend his exclusive contract with YG Entertainment. An industry insider, who claims to be familiar with YG Entertainment and its artists, told the Korea Herald that Bobby has decided not to renew his con

It's taken a long time to confirm that even BTS cannot avoid South Korea's mandatory military duty. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve in the military for around 1 1/2 years, inevitably forcing most K-pop stars to leave the limelight at the peak of their careers. So it was once considered that military service was like a death sentence for a K-pop career. Most aspiring artists cram their youth with efforts to establish their name, and a nearly two-year absence was o