Kangta and NCT’s Taeyong presented the connection between K-pop and YouTube in the globalization age.
On August 17th, Kangta and NCTs’ Tae-yong attended the virtual event titled “Google for Korea ” organized by Google. The invited speakers represented K-pop artists and gave a presentation under the theme “The Mutual History of Growth between YouTube and K-Pop”.
Kangta was the first speaker stating that, “I can’t forget the 2000 H.O.T. concert in Beijing,” he said, “I think the term ‘Korean Wave’ became known when the concert was constantly reported in the local news outlets. With and through ‘Korean Wave’, many singers were able to enter foreign markets and perform globally”. “At present, K-pop is recognized worldwide as a genre”, “you will feel that the status of K-pop has increased so much that artists’ activities are gaining worldwide attention even if the music is released in Korea”.
Kangta continued, “SM launched their first YouTube channel in 2009 as a Korean entertainment company and has been using it to bring diverse SM content to fans worldwide”. He added, “SM is using YouTube to carry out a “Remastering Project” and present to global fans past music videos”.
On YouTube’s position in K-pop’s international expansion, Tae-yong said, “I think YouTube bridges fans and artists globally”. He further elaborated that “fans can see their [favorite] artists anywhere and anytime they want, those who have never heard of NCT can come across our YouTube videos by chance”.
To wrap up the presentation, Kangta said, “I want to communicate with fans as many ways as possible in the future through YouTube” while Taeyong added, “It was an opportunity to present alongside Kangta about the theme ‘Globalization of YouTube and K-pop”.
Source: Dispatch
