Socio-Cultural

K-pop and America: Are Pop Groups Coming Back?

Written by Renie On January 30, 2012

As life has taught me, people are not always over things. They just like to take a break from it every now and then. Life is often cyclical, so something that was “in” 10, 20, or even 30 years ago can and usually does come back into style every now and again. In this case, it applies to both music and fashion.

I honestly didn’t expect this to come as soon as it has, but come it has. Maybe it’s my brain wanting to make the connections, but the similarities are very hard to deny. I don’t believe people in the U.S. will regain interest in girl/guy groups because of the growth of K-pop, but I believe producers and music executives definitely are. There are people in companies specifically hired to notice growing trends and use every opportunity to capitalize on it. If you’ve been keeping an eye out, you can see that bright colors and repetitive and catchy songs have hit America full force. Almost every store you go to, you can see bright colored SHINee pants and highlighter heels.

If the growing popularity of the The Wanted’s new song “Glad You Came” is any indication, expect to see girl/guy groups popping out of the woodworks in the very near and real future. I personally find some of the lyrics to be a little corny, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the song from gaining mass popularity. What’s the secret? Choosing the right song at the right time. And I know many will make the assumption that it’s a false alarm. Something probably relative to one of those Disney groups/solos or Glee cover songs that emerge on the Billboard charts immediately after release then dramatically drop off after the next couple of weeks. But this situation is a lot different. What the UK-based band’s song “Glad You Came” has going for it is that it is a club ready song. The U.S. music scene has been going through a club phase for the past 2-3 years, so most of the songs that have been topping the major charts have been upbeat and catchy club songs. Of course there have been exceptions.

There have also been talks recently of other groups in the works. Beyoncé will be making a guy group which is rumored to be the dancers in her “Love On Top” music video. Nick Cannon is also going full force with his girl group School Gyrls and Mathew Knowles will be joining him with his own girl group called From Above. After this realization it’s easy to see why American producers have been taking an interest in producing K-pop groups. Yes, some are taking advantage of the money that can be gained, but I also think many are jumping the bandwagon to ride the group wave before it hits American shores again.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I feel that groups will make a comeback in the coming years. And not just rock groups (which never really went out of style), but girl/guy groups of the pop genre which that reigned during the 90’s. They might not make as big of a splash, but they will make a comeback. This is one of the times where K-pop being behind the times might work to its favor (probably not), but that’s for another discussion.

(NY Mag, Socialitelife, Stamford Advocate)

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TAGS: The Wanted

http://twitter.com/NotMyBirthday21 Lakeisha

I am so in love with The Wanted but anyway k-pop groups will never make it in America. They are too overly cute. Look at The Wanted. Every member looks like an actually guy. Now look at k-pop boy groups. The boys look like girls. k-pop girl groups use aegyo which is extremely annoying in America. K-pop needs to just give up trying to break America and just focus on other Asia countries.

Anonymous

The guy with the shaved head is dreamy.

Anonymous

That boy group has an amazing song but more importantly they aren’t dancing.

They are being marketed as some kind of ‘The Hangover’ type group of guys and it totally works because both women and men will and do love it.

I don’t want to bring up the race card again but…

Doesn’t anyone remember the first Asian rapper, Jin, to sign a major record deal? He was immensely talented and showed such an incredible level of potential. There was a lot of buzz around him. And you know what happened? He faced such a wall of racism and ignorance that he was dropped by his label, made a ‘fuck you’ track telling off all his haters and has since converted to Christianity. He is still producing music but in China, his home country, and not mainstream America.

Jin’s story is a cautionary tale, folks.

Anonymous

yeah I remember Jin, he was so talented! but I was so young at that time, I didn’t understand why he stopped showing up on tv.
Anonymous

That’s a sad tale. He was with the Ruff Ryderz when they were blowing up, too. They’re pretty hardcore…er, were pretty hardcore. I have no idea where any of them are now.

kc

If you think about it, group acts have been around in America for ever, I mean you look back as far as even the twenties and see group acts… it wasn’t really until recently that group acts were considered “lame and out of date”
And there’s alot of things right now in America hinting right now that group acts are coming back, what with Nickelodeon’s obsession with “bringing back” the 90s (but who could blame them, the 90s was the best time for Nick) it’s almost inevitable that we’ll get the next NSYNC or TLC.

To tell you the truth, I’m actually kind of looking forward to it- the group act fad, while alot of it was pretty corny and was the stepping stone to image bands, pop and group acts are a good combination especially when the group is good at harmonizing…

now hopefully we can get some people who can actually dance, that’s what Kpop should be show casing when it comes to promoting in America, their awesome dancers^^

Guest

Uhhh, singers need to sing.

Dancing is not required while listening to a song on the radio—although driving and dancing is….lol

funkindagirl

The UK boyband market is really starting to thrive now, There’s The Wanted, JLS, One Direction. Though a lot of them have come off the X factor, they’re proving to still be hugely popular long after their time on the show has ended.

Haha here’s an interesting interview. The Wanted mention how they’re the opposite of kpop in that they’re hopeless at dancing but would like to collaborate with Super Junior. That would be an entertaining sight.
Anonymous

I’m always hearing about another British boy group called One Direction. I don’t know much about them but they’ve got quite a fanbase, from what I can tell, and they’re known in the States.

I don’t think Americans are as incredibly adverse to boy and girl groups as people like to think. With the right songs and image, I think there’s a good chance boy or girl groups could make a comeback. I don’t think they’d be as or numerous as soloists but I can see them becoming more mainstream.

meTOday

one direction is a pretty good band, they make catchy songs that get stuck in your head. they kinda remind me of k pop because its really their personality that get your attention. look up their interviews they are really candid and they don’t do the whole virginity bullshit that most American acts do, so its a refreshing change they just seem like normal high school guys.

meTOday

i suggest listening to moments, gotta be you, and one thing

Anima

I actually like some of the Wanted’s songs lol, “lose my mind” is my favorite. I was wondering why I heard them on the radio a couple of days ago, but it made me happy. One Direction (ugh, they are cute but not really a fan tbh) are also going stateside this year and are releasing a US single after their tour with BTR ends.

The Saturdays (<3) are also coming stateside are going to have a reality show on E. Personally, I love groups and think they NEED to make a comeback in the US. Girls Aloud is my all time fav and I really hope there one day becomes a kpop version of them because their music is really good imo.

As for Kpop, T-ara has that club love sexy thing going on while Miss A has that down to earth classy image. I could totally see english versions of songs like "Why are you being like this" or "bad girl good girl" being hits on the international market if they tried to get known through the radio before releasing their mv… that way people will like their music enough to not care what their race is or what kind of group they are. I'm disregarding their english skills lol.

daniaaaye

the saturdays!!!! <3333

Anima

YEAH~!

maldita

Pop music’s always a cycle. I mean, look at at late ’80s with New Kids on the Block and Menudo at their prime. Ten years later, same thing to Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, etc. It won’t be a surprise if pop groups come back.

With that said, I am sooooo impressed with One Direction. I heard they’re off to promote in the States. :)

Anonymous

Menudo ♥ me trae buenos recuerdos.

Anonymous

I love One Direction. I’m way out of their target demographic being almost(!!) thirty but their album is great. It’s a perfect frothy blend of pop music. I work for a clothing company and we just started playing ‘One Thing’ in the retail stores.
I was into New Kids On the Block when I was a kid and then *NSYNC/Backstreet Boys as a teenager so I guess I’ve always loved boybands :). Now if somehow Johnny’s Entertainment would bring Arashi to the US it would make my year.
María

e direction, they are so good, so it is possible that the boom of boys and girls band band back in the future
Bervalvic

I never knew the name of the boy group but in love with “I’m glade you came.”

As for the return of girl/boy groups in America, I’m stuck in a hard place.

With the right, music, and image why not?

It isn’t impossible (Ex. Danity Kane). Even though they broke up/fired/blah, they were successful.
Xenia

I also think (and hope) for the return of the pop groups. As for WG, SNSD, etc… Idk. Korean pop groups are too… Korean? I think if you offer a girl group with couple of Asian, couple of white and couple of black girls you have more chance for success. Everyone will be able to find bias. Othervise it seems as if it’s oriented at only one part of population. For my region, the full Asian group can be considered nothing but exotic.
Anonymous

i have been hearing this song in radio for a while now… i never knew they were a boy group. lol ain’t that something.
Whitecollar

I remembered in one of Simon Cowell’s interview he said he wants to create a group like “N’Sync”. I can’t remember if he said the “create” part but it sounds something like that.
Quinnley

Most of the comments says it all about Kpop and America.

….nothing really lol. It’s all about boy/girl groups from Europe.
http://twitter.com/denzelwynter アシュリ (Ashley)

For once, America is LATE. Glad You Came blew up in the UK last summer. TUNE. With good quality music and less focus on their ethnic backgrounds, k-pop groups could thrive. They’d also need to promote on radio more… The West doesn’t really have music shows anymore!

pammiej85

America is late?
Didn’t we already have this years ago or was I living in the future? LOL

http://twitter.com/denzelwynter アシュリ (Ashley)

I was talking about The Wanted….. not pop groups…..

http://twitter.com/denzelwynter アシュリ (Ashley)

For once, America is LATE. Glad You Came blew up in the UK last summer. TUNE. With good quality music and less focus on their ethnic backgrounds, k-pop groups could thrive. They’d also need to promote on radio more… The West doesn’t really have music shows anymore!
Noona971

Well I just found out about them on MTV 2 two days ago : mindless behaviour akaj justin bieber meet B2K 2.0 ain’t pop but still I was suprised to see a boy group with youth dancing, rapping etc they even have stage name (is’nt kimchi ou captain swag ^^).
PS : il liked the PCD !
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FS52P3WGP37JJ6YJNRLPPBVS4E A

The UK, and much of Europe, has always had pop/pop-rock groups though, at various degrees of fame. In fact, it’s a much joked about thing in talk shows and pop interviews. (Girls Aloud anybody? Jedward? MCFLY?!)

It’s the American music market, imo, that doesnt have the flexibility to handle many genres at once, for whatever reason, and tends to focus on ”what clicks at the moment”. It takes awhile, months and even years (which Adele fans can attest to) to get something noticed on the top 40 charts while other charts (say…in Korea) work a bit differently.

That said, it’s a curious cycle. Most people will say that K-ent is 10 years behind on the American music cycle (with the fall of experiemental hip-hop and rise of idols). But, I guess with such changing technology, youtube, and internet, capitalism speaks. It’s not about “cycles” anymore. It’s about being both “fresh” but also the same.

Even if pop groups make a come back in America, I dont think they’ll come back in a form we will recognize…
yellow

I think any artist could breakthrough here in the US, given they play to the right demographics and have a good company with good promotion tactics.
The key here is RADIO. It is all about radio, that’s about the best type of promotion any song can get. Sure, songs can shoot to the top of iTunes based off of hype or a performance on a awards show or the type, but it is radio that gives a song longevity, or, in “Glad You Came” ‘s case, first exposure.I feel like K-pop companies believe that they can go about using the Korean system of music promotion (which is release everything at once – the song, the (mini) album, the MV – and perform promote it. That’s not the case here. The way to sell in the US is to release a single and wait for radio to embrace it. If radio refuses to embrace it, make an MV (which increases sales, sometimes shooting a song into the Top 10). Radio could then be pressured into spinning a song, or they could already have been playing it and the MV just pushed the song even further. Either way, there you go. A hit song with some longevity.Kpop companies, you better have taken notes.
pammiej85

There has always been boy bands in America even when the pop bubble burst years ago. Rich Girl is an US girl group that’s been trying hard for years now and Varsity Fanclub anyone?
However I’m not sure that the general audience will be going gaga over these groups the way that they once did years ago.
Just like with Justin B and Big Time Rush, they will probably be a niche.
whatthefrell

Well, we all knew this was coming.
They’ve been keeping one-eye open on K-pop all along;
though slow to jump on the bandwagon,
now that K-pop has an American audience,
now is about the right time.
These American groups will do well,
the Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber are fine examples of that.
but they’ll be nothing like what we all love about K-pop.
Yup

Never heard of this group before in my life. Europe still really likes pop groups, but I haven’t seen a pop group in the US for sometime marketed to any one other than teens & tweens. Unless LMFAO is considered a pop group, thats about it. I don’t know why the Korean entertainment companies are trying to break into the US when they would have much more success in Europe…
Analy Alfonseca

one direction is headed for the number one album in America and the wanted has top 5 billboard hit but i dont if it will translate to kpop boy band