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| yna@yna.co.kr 2023-01-31 14:35:37
SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korean online streaming service TVING will be releasing an original documentary on the Korean pop’s global ascent, titled “K-pop Generation,” in a total of four parts; it will be the first K-pop documentary in South Korea that delves into K-pop, the main driver of K-wave, from various angles both as a culture and an industry.
Kangta from the first-generation K-pop group H.O.T, Lee Teuk of K-pop sensation Super Junior, Minho from SHINee, NCT Doyoung, TXT, and IVE will appear in the documentary, along with K-pop fans, pop music critics, and industry officials who will be sharing their thoughts on K-pop.
During an online interview held on Monday, Jung Hyung-jin, an executive producer and CEO of Patchworks, said, “I wanted to introduce K-pop from a new perspective as an event or a culture.”
CEO Jung added, “K-pop is now the mainstream music listened to by the new generation, and artist are changing along with their fans. Whenever I encountered a fourth-generation artist, I was surprised to know that they have well comprehended the change that is happening in this industry and also well aware of their role.”
The first episode, which was released on Jan. 26, shed light on the K-pop fandom; the episode highlighted how “deok-jil,” which refers to an act of delving into a field that you have a penchant for, has changed over the past few decades.
Lim Hong-jae, a senior producer (CP) who is in charge of planning and directing the documentary, pointed out the shift in the industry: “In contrast to the fans who used to be passive in the way endorsed their artist, fans today hold great influence.”
“I spent a lot of time and effort into producing the first episode since I wanted to analyze the position and status of fans today in the cultural industry of K-pop and what role they play in,” he said.
As CP Lim said, the documentary did capture how fans today influence the K-pop industry as they are going above and beyond their original role as consumers and emerging as creators. Streaming the song indefinitely has become a quintessential part of being a K-pop fan so that the song of an artist one supports will top the music chart; fans also produce viral content by selecting the eye-catching videos of artists and promoting them to the public; on birthdays, they are the ones who rent cafes and hold birthday parties for their artists.
Cha Woo-jin, a critic who is in charge of the outline of the documentary, said, “The culture of K-pop is a balanced coexistence of agencies, artists, and fandom. Our documentary attempts to approach this unique characteristic by dividing the industry into areas so that more people can understand them accurately.”
The second episode, which will be released on Feb. 2, contains the fierce stories of K-pop producers who always create something out of nothing. The episode will be dropped at the streaming service at 4 p.m.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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