Tag: K-pop

One Year in South Korea and Local Artists Are Finding Fans Around the Globe

February 14, 2022

One year ago, Spotify made its debut in South Korea, and since then, even more listeners around the world have fallen in love with K-Pop music. So to celebrate the anniversary, Spotify is sharing data that shows how Korean artists have found a home—and global audience—on the platform. 

K-Pop’s borderless reach 

Spotify’s global K-Pop hub, which was unveiled last year at the South Korea launch, has become a one-stop destination for listeners to discover a wide range of Korean artists and music. In just one year, the monthly average K-Pop streams worldwide reached over 7.97 billion per month, a 27% increase compared to the year before. In the same time frame, traffic to the K-Pop Hub reached 1.43 billion, a 19.5% increase in comparison to the year before launch.

Across Spotify’s 184 markets, the top 10 countries whose listeners had discovered Korean artists during the last year were the United States, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Germany, UK, Philippines, Japan, and France. Listeners from these countries also went to the K-Pop hub in droves to discover new music. And among the playlists within the K-Pop hub, the top 10 most streamed globally were K-Pop Daebak, TrenChill K-R&B, WOR K OUT, Women of K-Pop, Dalkom Cafe, Girl Krush, K-Pop Rising, KimBops!, Korean OSTs, and Best of Korean Soundtracks.

Spotlight on artists 

Spotify also showed support for the Korean music industry with the launch of “Spotify for Artists,” a platform designed to help singers, producers, and musicians expand their reach. 

Spotify for Artists provides real-time stats and helpful resources for artists, and in the year since Spotify South Korea’s launch, the registration rate on Spotify for Artists by Korean artists grew by 42.4% when compared to pre-launch figures. Korean artists were also big fans of the “Canvas” feature, which lets artists experiment with their album artwork by creating short-form looping videos for each of their songs. The number of sign-ups for Canvas increased 254% compared to the year before. 

The best is yet to come 

“As a committed global partner to Korean artists, creators, industry partners, and more, we will continue to support the growth of the Korean music-streaming ecosystem and offer more opportunities for Korean artists to be connected with more listeners around the world,” said David Park, Managing Director of Spotify Korea. “This is just the beginning.”

To top off an exciting year, here’s a look at some of the achievements since Spotify launched in South Korea:  

Ready to stream with the masses? Discover the artists climbing the ranks on Spotify’s K-Pop Hub.

https://open.spotify.com/genre/kpop-page 

 

*All data is from Feb 1st 2021 to Feb 1st 2022, 1 year since launch in South Korea

EQUAL Artist of the Month STAYC Encourages Women Artists To Express Themselves

October 29, 2021

Spotify’s EQUAL Global Artist of Month, STAYC, chose their name very carefully. The six-person K-pop group’s moniker is actually an acronym for Star To A Young Culture, a phrase that reflects their goal of dominating pop culture. And so far, they’re well on their way!

With almost 2.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, the group is quickly gaining global attention with catchy fan-favorite songs like “STEREOTYPE” and “ASAP.” STAYC’s work has also earned the group accolades, including a nomination for Rookie of the Year at Korea’s 2021 Seoul Music Awards.

Together, STAYC band members Sumin, Sieun, Isa, Seeun, Yoon, and J create an upbeat sound they describe as “teenfresh,” a term the group has coined to represent their unique blend of youthful, fresh tunes. They explain, “We want to deliver new messages while also delivering a sense of comfort and empathy to listeners, regardless of gender and age.”

The rising stars are the first group from Korea and the first K-pop artist to be on the cover of Spotify’s EQUAL Global playlist. They’re also advocates for women artists, calling for continued diversity and opportunity within the industry. For the Record spoke with the EQUAL artist to fill in the blanks and learn more about their creative process and the women creators they admire.

Celebrating 7 Years of Spotify’s Flagship K-pop Playlist, K-Pop Daebak

September 12, 2021

On September 12, 2014, Spotify unveiled K-Pop Daebak, a first-of-its-kind playlist that became home to the K-pop genre on Spotify. Since then, it’s racked up nearly 5.3 billion minutes of streaming and 1.7 billion accumulated stream counts, and introduced approximately 70,000 tracks worldwide. Today, seven years later, it has over 3.1 million followers on Spotify, making it one of the most important global hubs of the genre and connecting the genre with a global audience. 

In honor of the impactful playlist’s seventh anniversary, we’re sharing the streaming data with K-pop fans. Check it out:

Over the past seven years, the playlist has been streamed for nearly 5.3 billion minutes—that’s over 88 million hours. And translated into years? Ten thousand years of K-Pop Daebak listening. 

In that time, we’ve found that the age group that streams K-Pop Daebak the most are Gen Z, with over half of the streams coming from 18- to 24-year-olds (51%), followed by 25- to 29-year-olds (20%), and those ages 17 or under (13%). And the top 10 countries that have listened to the flagship playlist the most? The United States, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Canada, Brazil, and Australia.

“Spotify is dedicated to connecting Korean artists and their work to listeners all over the world, so that music can be discovered and enjoyed far and wide across borders,” says Kossy Ng, Head of Music, Asia, Spotify. “This has [been], and will continue to be, our mission in Korea for the long term and we are honored to serve as a bridge that connects K-pop and Korean artists to the world.” 

Since launching its service in Korea back in February, Spotify has also accelerated its support for Korean labels and artists by providing Masterclasses of our Spotify for Artists platform featuring various cutting-edge tools and data to empower them to connect with a larger global audience.

But K-pop doesn’t start—or stop—with this one playlist. In addition to K-Pop Daebak, Spotify offers a wide range of playlists and music from Korean artists through our global K-pop hub. Playlists range from RADAR Korea and Fresh Finds Korea—dedicated to helping listeners discover rising Korean artists—to R&B and hip-hop-focused TrenChill K-R&B and K-Hip Hop +82, indie music-focused In The K-Indie, and countless more. The hub also has multiple playlists filled with tracks from Korea that are ever evolving, organized by various themes, moods, and moments so you can dive into K-pop nonstop.

Celebrate K-Pop Daebak’s 7th anniversary by streaming the playlist below.

Filipino Boy Band SB19 Brings P-pop to the World With Their New EP

July 21, 2021

Pablo, Josh, Stell, Ken, and Justin, the five members of Filipino boy band SB19, are leading the Philippine-style pop movement known as P-pop with lively hits and coordinated dance moves. The band has seen increased popularity around the globe from 2020, when they joined RADAR, our emerging artist program that spotlights rising talent from around the world, to 2021, when they were nominated for a Billboard Music Award. 

With Spotify’s RADAR support, SB19 has found new listeners in markets like the U.S., the United Arab Emirates, and Australia to add to their ever-growing fan base. The popularity of SB19’s music is representative of a love for the genre of Filipino pop music. There’s a growing appreciation and pride for local Filipino music, and Spotify’s Tatak Pinoy playlist has more than 1.3 million followers, with streams continuing to increase year over year. 

Now, SB19 is ready to take the world by storm with their latest EP, Pagsibol. “Pagsibol,” a Filipino word that translates to “germination” in English, celebrates the band’s journey in the music industry. It’s representative of how seeds grow into plants, or germinate. The EP’s tracks symbolize SB19’s beginnings—their roots. 

To celebrate Pagsibol through audio and visual art, Spotify and SB19 collaborated with six Filipino visual artists to bring the EP to life on jeepneys—the iconic Pinoy mode of public transportation. Each jeepney’s design is inspired by a track from Pagsibol. Fans can also look forward to exclusive SB19 content on Spotify’s Tatak Pinoy playlist. 

For the Record chatted with SB19 to learn more about their new EP and the creative process that went into recording it.

What can fans expect from Pagsibol?

SB19: Listeners will get to witness a more bare SB19 as we share our humble beginnings and how we persevere through hardships. Fans will get a glimpse of our paths and what we went through. We consider this EP to be very meaningful as everything is from us: the conceptualization, the creative process, everything in this product. Even though this is our “Ikalawang Yugto” or “Second Chapter,” we regard this as our brand-new start as artists. Also in this EP we offer different types of music to cater to various listeners. We hope to inspire and reach a bigger audience with Pagsibol.

What are the lyrical themes that you’ve tackled in the EP? 

SB19: Since the EP is about our beginnings, the themes we’ve incorporated are everything that got us to where we are right now. We first introduced “What?” as an empowerment song. This was followed by “MAPA,” which is a song for people who have been there with us since the start—our parents. There’s also “SLMT,” which is a play on the Filipino word “salamat” that means “thank you.” This song is dedicated to our fans, who we are eternally grateful for. Each single tackles different subjects, but they all still stay true to the theme of our origination. 

How does the group work together creatively? 

SB19: We are very hands-on with all our art. We make sure that what we release is genuine. The creative direction is mostly by Justin, and then we as a group conceptualize and find our common ground. Pablo will start on the formulation of our songs and we collaborate from there. Since this whole creative process is tedious, we make sure to support each other, hear everyone’s suggestions, and make it an easygoing and cooperative environment. 

What advice would you give fellow Filipino artists and bands looking to make their presence more global? What do you see for the future of P-pop?

SB19: Just YOLO! Find your strength and love what you do. Put your mind and soul in it. You’ll be successful in no time. We see P-pop as another strength for our country to show the world what we are capable of. 

Stream SB19’s new EP, Pagsibol, below.

Spotify Invites Fans to the K-pop Playground With a New Enhanced Album From TWICE

June 11, 2021

It’s no secret that K-pop is taking the world by storm, and when it comes to new music and exclusive content, fans around the globe just can’t get enough. That’s why Spotify is collaborating with nine-member girl group TWICE to launch a new enhanced album to support Taste of Love, their latest release.

TWICE Presents Taste of Love, the Enhanced Album features a colorful playground of captivating video and audio that goes along with the group’s six new songs. On Spotify, listeners can find exclusive content like track-by-track explanations, personal written commentary about each song, and exclusive videos featuring TWICE. Fans can watch as Jihyo makes a plate of s’mores and Momo perfects a refreshing alcohol-free mocktail. They’ll also hear secrets from Dahyun’s trainee-days diary and learn from Mina as she shows them how to take the perfect selfie. 

“We are so excited that TWICE collaborated with us on this enhanced album—not only for ONCE [the name of TWICE’s fandom], but also for new fans of this incredible group,” says Kossy Ng, Head of Music, Asia at Spotify. “Enhanced albums allow fans to connect with artists in a deeper, more engaging way, and they give artists a way to immerse fans in the inspiration, stories, and creativity behind their art.”

Ready to listen to the album’s mix of bossa-nova, hip-hop, disco, and dance melodies while hearing more from the group? Check out TWICE Presents Taste of Love, the Enhanced Album. 

RADAR Unites K-pop Star AleXa and Arab Hitmaker Bader AlShuaibi to Create “Is It On”

May 25, 2021

K-pop, which has transformed from a burgeoning genre to a full-fledged musical phenomenon, has held onto its border-crossing world domination for some time now. And yet there are always new fans turning to the genre from around the world. One such place where K-pop found a particular popularity is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA): From January 2020 to January 2021, the genre saw a 140% increase in Spotify streaming from users in the region. 

So with K-pop’s prominence as a dominant genre in the MENA region, our Spotify RADAR team saw a unique opportunity to bring an artist from each market together to participate in a cross-border collaboration. The result? Spotify’s first RADAR KOREA artist AleXa and RADAR MENA’s Kuwaiti-Saudi-based creator Bader AlShuaibi’s new single “Is It On.”

“Is It On” is a K-pop-style track with high energy based on a distinctive reggaeton rhythm, a fresh melody line, a catchy lead sound, and a drop. Over the past year, Spotify oversaw a virtual collaboration between AleXa and Bader that will ultimately give both artists global exposure and help them expand their audiences to over 178 markets. Of particular interest are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Morocco, Egypt, and Qatar, which are currently the top five MENA countries streaming K-pop music.

“K-pop is a phenomenon that has blown up across the world, and as MENA is a crossroads of culture and trade routes from East to West since antiquity, it only makes sense that K-Pop makes a stop over in MENA,” says Spotify’s Wissam Khodur, Artist and Label Partnerships, MENA. “K-pop already has a healthy share of streams per capita in the region, but making the region’s first collaboration between both cultures and genres (K-pop and Khaleeji Pop) will help grow the appreciation for K-pop for sure and bring the artists closer to their fans.” 

RADAR was designed to help emerging artists around the world reach the next stage in their careers and strengthen their connection to listeners. Spotify provides RADAR artists with resources and access to integral marketing opportunities to help them boost their careers, in addition to expanded reach and exposure. When it came to this collaborative song, Spotify was available to support every step of the way.

“From a wide range of marketing support, including a billboard placement in New York Times Square to local and cross-regional playlisting, we’ve been excited for this RADAR collaboration featuring a K-pop artist for the first time in Spotify’s history,” explains Spotify’s Wootae Kim, Artist and Label Partnership, Asia. “We are confident to introduce both AleXa and Bader to each other’s market and globally in the most Spotify way, while continuing to connect K-pop with the world in creative ways.”

To celebrate the launch of the song, we asked each RADAR artist to reflect on the collaboration and what it meant for them as creators. Read what they had to say below. 

Bader AlShuaibi

You’re known for your pop hits. What elements were different in creating a K-pop song? 

Music is music, so the same passion was injected into this project, but the new element I felt during this song was that the tempo of the music was different than what we are used to in the MENA area. It was a fun, new, awesome experience.

What elements of your own creativity and style did you infuse in “Is It On”?

Trying something new in every production. In this one in particular I sang with a fast flow, I almost rapped. Something I’ve always wanted to try and I did.

How can music bring people together across borders? 

Music is a very passionate way of communication. The expansion of Spotify around the globe made it easier to understand what’s going on in every part of this planet. We can understand each other better with music.

AleXa

You became the first RADAR KOREA artist back in August 2020. What has your experience been like since then?

It is a huge honor and I still feel grateful for all the opportunities Spotify has provided. RADAR enabled me and my team to share our music and work of art to fans all over the world. I also got to meet new fans thanks to Spotify. I’m so grateful to everyone behind the scenes that helped make this possible! 

Why should your fans be excited for this collaboration? 

I really believe that this is a never-heard-before kind of project! It has lyrics in Korean, Arabic, and English. And the melody exudes a unique energy based on a distinctive reggaetón rhythm and catchy lead sound. Every element in the track is so distinctive and culturally outstanding on its own, yet they are all beautifully intertwined with each other. It’s a harmony of different cultures. 

I still remember during the recording session, everyone was so pumped up and excited, dancing and jumping to it. I really hope our fans and everyone who gets to hear this project can feel the same energy! 

What are you looking forward to in the future coming out of this collaboration?

I’m currently preparing for my comeback in mid-June, which is very soon! I hope that my lovely and beautiful A.I. Troopers (fan base) enjoy “Is It On,” and hopefully our song reaches new fans globally. I’m also hoping that through this project, more people get to understand that music is borderless and that music itself is communication when listeners can feel the beat!

Want more RADAR? Stream the global RADAR playlist below.

Spotify Set to Launch in South Korea in the First Half of 2021

December 17, 2020

Since Spotify debuted our first K-Pop playlist in 2014, listeners have streamed more than 180 billion minutes of the genre and added K-Pop tracks to more than 120 million playlists. In the last six years, the share of K-Pop listening on Spotify has even increased by more than 2,000%—that’s a lot of excitement for all things K-Pop. So soon, we will be saying “Annyeong haseyo,” or “hello,” to the home of the genre as Spotify launches in South Korea in the first half of 2021. 

Launching in South Korea will give Korean listeners access to over 60 million tracks and over 4 billion playlists, as well as enable Korean artists to reach their local music fans and Spotify’s 320 million listeners worldwide. It will also connect listeners in Korea to artists and music from around the world.

“We are excited about our upcoming launch in South Korea, a market recognized as an epicenter for music, culture and tech innovation,” says Alex Norström, Chief Freemium Business Officer of Spotify. “Spotify has been a partner to the Korean music industry for many years now. We are proud to have been a part of the K-pop global story, showcasing the genre on our platform and enabling its discovery all over the world, from Asia to the US, South America, Europe and the Middle East. We’re looking forward to working with our valued local partners to uncover more Korean artists, and to connect them with fans in South Korea and all over the world.”

As one of the fastest-growing major music markets in the world* and the sixth-largest music market globally,** South Korea is key for Spotify in our mission of giving a million artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it. Spotify wants to help accelerate the growth of Korea’s entire music streaming ecosystem, benefitting artists, labels, distributors and fans.

Today, our K-pop genre hub encompasses a wide range of Korean music, including K-pop, hip-hop, indie, OST, R&B and more, as well as “RADAR Korea,” a playlist uncovering fresh K-music finds as a part of Spotify’s global emerging artist program. The hub is localized in over 64 countries, including Russia, India, Brazil and the UAE.

Tune into K-Pop Daebak for some of the hottest K-Pop hits and look out for more information on the launch in the first half of 2021.

* According to IFPI 

** According to IFPI

This Week on the ‘Spotify: For the Record’ Podcast, Meet BTS

September 17, 2020

There’s no stopping BTS. The K-Pop band recently released their first all-English single, “Dynamite,” which set a new record on Spotify: 12.6 million streams in the first 24 hours. But long before this upbeat track was released, the group was racking up billions of streams from listeners all around the world.

In this week’s episode of our Spotify: For the Record podcast, the seven-member band joined us to talk about their creative process, how they’re staying positive during these challenging times, and—of course—their new hit. To fully understand the extent of BTS’s global impact on music and culture, Kat Moon, TIME Magazine journalist and K-Pop aficionado, detailed the band’s rise to fame and their deep connection with fans. Speaking of fans, the episode wouldn’t be complete without talking to members of BTS’s dedicated fan base, known simply as ARMY. 

Go behind the scenes with BTS on Spotify: For the Record: “BTS: The Band, The Brand & The ARMY.”

This Week on the ‘Spotify: For the Record’ Podcast, How K-Pop Became a Global Phenomenon

September 11, 2020

Since Spotify debuted our first K-Pop playlist in 2014, listeners have streamed more than 180 billion minutes of the genre and added K-Pop tracks to more than 120 million Spotify playlists. The share of K-Pop listening has increased by more than 2,000% in the last six years—meaning it’s growing really quickly compared to other musical genres. All this to say: K-Pop is huge on Spotify around the world.

That’s why we’re devoting this week’s episode of our new podcast Spotify: For the Record to K-Pop—and talking to some of the biggest fans and names in the business about where the genre has been and where it’s headed.

Tune in to hear from Kossy Ng, Spotify’s Head of Artist Label Partnerships in Southeast Asia, and consider the genre’s domestic origins (prior to world domination). Then, explore K-Pop’s global impact with Babi Dewet and Érica Imenes, a pair of Brazilian K-Pop fans who have founded K-Pop-themed groups, written books, and even created a K-Pop-themed podcast, Kpapo.

Keep listening to get to know Wonho Chung, a Korean actor, singer, and comedian who was born in Saudi Arabia, educated in Jordan, lives in the UAE, and witnessed the rise of K-Pop in the Middle East firsthand. Finally, bring it home with one of the top 10 most-streamed K-Pop artists of all time, Stray Kids, who share how the genre transcends the barriers of language . . . and impersonate a mosquito.

Dive into K-Pop on Spotify: For the Record: “From Seoul to São Paulo: The Global Rise of K-Pop.”

From BTS to BLACKPINK, the Power of K-Pop Has No Bounds

February 24, 2020

K-Pop is beloved by fans around the world, so we took to the data to see just how popular the music is globally. The genre, which originated in South Korea, has since taken on a life of its own. Thanks to East-meets-West collaborations from BTS and U.S. singer-songwriter Halsey, whose “Boy With Luv” track has over 380 million streams, the reach continues to grow as more and more fans in countries like Egypt and Colombia connect with the music.

Since Spotify released its first K-Pop flagship playlist, K-Pop Daebak, in 2014 (and then a massive hub dedicated to the genre in 2015), there have been more than 41 billion K-Pop streams on Spotify. From rising artists to international collaborations, there’s something for both new and old K-Pop lovers on the platform.

Top-streamed K-Pop artists on Spotify include BTS, BLACKPINK, EXO, TWICE, and Red Velvet. In 2019, BTS was the first group from Asia to surpass 5 billion streams on Spotify. And, as of February 2020, the boy band reached a new milestone: more than 8 billion streams (8 billion streams!) on the platform.

No “FAKE LOVE” here, folks. See how much Spotify listeners love the genre.

Download the infographic here.

Check out the K-Pop Daebak playlist and stream BTS’ MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 The Enhanced Album, which is exclusively available on Spotify.

Revisit the Biggest Songs, Artists, and Cultural Moments of the Last 10 Years with Spotify’s ‘The Decade Wrapped’ Podcast

December 16, 2019

With 2020 right around the corner—and the 2010s coming to a close—we’re taking a journey through the last decade in music with a new original podcast, The Decade Wrapped.

The podcast’s host, Eric Eddings, will be joined by critics, comedians, influencers, and writers as they look back at the music stories that defined pop culture between 2010 and 2019. This 10-episode series incorporates data and insights from Spotify’s popular Wrapped campaign. Launched earlier this month, the campaign revealed through personal Wrapped e-cards what our listeners have been streaming—not only over 2019, but over the past decade—as well as what the world listened to during that time. 

The first three episodes are available starting today, December 16, in the U.S. (The next seven episodes will be released daily over the course of the week.) Get a taste for the episode topics and featured songs:

2010: Nicki Minaj Tells Us to “Check It Out”/Female-Driven Pop

In the early 2010s, women like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Katy Perry took the stage . . . but no one matched the omnipresence of Nicki Minaj. Before even dropping a full album, she was featured on tracks by Lil Wayne, Kanye, will.i.am, and Gucci Mane. Her debut album, Pink Friday, didn’t disappoint—and over the years she became a force in hip-hop.

2011: One Direction (Re)invents the Stan

In 2011, British boy band One Direction recorded their first album, released “What Makes You Beautiful,” and finished up their first tour. One Direction’s teen audience was fully internet literate and ready to make the band their own. Fanfiction and fanart take flight. So of course we had no choice but to stan.

2012: “Gangnam Style” Introduces K-Pop to the U.S.

One of the most-watched videos in the history of YouTube, “Gangnam Style” set the stage for K-Pop hits like BTS to come. The song, which has been streamed over 208 million times on Spotify, is credited with bringing Korean culture into the American mainstream.

2013: Harlem Shake[s the Internet]

If there was any year that your grandma might be caught dancing to an EDM song, 2013 was it. The “Harlem Shake” showcased the immense viral power of crossover appeal and memes, and the song became a mainstream number-one hit, with more than 2.1 million streams on Spotify. The 2010s were the decade of user-created content—and this song embodied that ideal.

2014: “Uptown Funk” and Taylor Swift Go Retro

In 2014, the 1980s came back to the top of the charts as Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” featuring Bruno Mars, battled for number one. “Uptown Funk” propelled producers to the forefront; it became one of Ronson’s biggest hits and underscored the increasingly key role of producers in music then and today.

2015: Kendrick’s To Pimp A Butterfly Takes Flight, Drake Has the Biggest Year Ever, and Hamilton Shoots Its Shot

There were three differing perspectives on what the biggest musical story of 2015 was. Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly cemented Lamar as a cultural icon as it examined race, discrimination, anger, and violence. Meanwhile, Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and his diss track feud with Meek Mill fueled a massive year for him. And Lin-Manuel Miranda turned Broadway upside down when his hip-hop musical Hamilton exploded as a hit inside and outside the theater.

2016: Beyoncé Drops Lemonade

 With her release of Lemonade, Beyoncé solidified her status as a powerful force in music. Lemonade appeared to divulge intimate details about her life while at the same time commenting on black life in America. It was universally praised for its personal and political content—and also for crossing genres. Its controversial snub at the Grammys also marked the beginning of a broader conversation around recognizing black musicians.

2017: “Despacito” Gets All the Views

In 2017, “Despacito,” a catchy song from Luis Fonzi and Daddy Yankee, crossed a huge milestone to become the most-watched video. Not music video. Video. Oh, and it surpassed 1.3 billion streams on Spotify, making it the first Spanish-language song to reach the billion-stream milestone. 

2018: “thank u, next” and the Evolution of Ariana Grande

The year 2018 was all about Ariana Grande. She returned to music with the One Love Manchester concert and came out on top with “thank u, next,” proving that music has the power to help us process, heal, and face what’s next.

2019: The Yeehaw Agenda

The end of the decade gave us giant breakthroughs for two artists. For Lizzo, it’s a story of years of hard work that culminated in the artist’s becoming a mainstay in the mainstream. And for Lil Nas X, it was the perfect storm of a catchy song on TikTok and a cowboy hat.  

Take it all the way back with a listen to the first episode on Nicki Minaj and female-driven pop below.

https://open.spotify.com/show/4C9SyDbX6N7HfgxYAVs9NP?si=DSOxhIGkQsa7bQGpREV_cw

Avatar Pop Stars Take Center Stage

February 4, 2019

One of the most influential artists in Japanese music right now is more hologram than human.

Hatsune Miku is an aqua-haired avatar built on Vocaloid, a singing-synthesizer software that allows users to generate digitized vocal identities. Miku captures nearly 160,000 listeners on Spotify each month, approaching the popularity of flesh-and-blood J-pop stars like Perfume and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Despite being built out of lasers and lights, she’s taken over Japanese convenience stores, appeared in advertisements, and even performed live in giant stadiums.

Miku’s runaway success has since inspired her creator, Crypton Future Media, to roll out a steady stream of new avatars, brought to life by different actors who lend their voices to the software. The massive popularity of the Vocaloid avatars is in part due to the opportunity for musical experimentation the characters offer their fans: Devotees have used their favorite avatars’ voices to record thousands of songs, leading to a passionate online community of Vocaloid creators.

Today there are thousands of avatars, each with multiple tracks to his or her name. The five below are arguably Vocaloid’s biggest stars in terms of overall popularity, and the tracks highlight the far-flung and compelling ways the avatars’ voices can been used. As you’ll see, some are written by well-known artists, while others are by fans-turned-producers. Take a listen—if you hadn’t just read this piece, would you know that what you’re hearing is more hologram than human?

1. Hatsune Miku

Big Boi — “Kill Jill” Featuring Killer Mike & Jeezy

One genre Vocaloid technology hasn’t extensively cracked is hip-hop. “Kill Jill” chops up Hatsune Miku’s computerized singing and sets it against a skittering beat. Big Boi, Killer Mike, and Jeezy rhyme over top, offering one way Vocaloid could take on a larger role in rap in the future.

2. Megurine Luka

Samfree — “Luka Luka Night Fever”

Musicians using Vocaloid can do whatever they want with the software, and some simply opt to create theme songs for their favorites. Influential producer Samfree’s “Luka Luka Night Fever” is one of the first huge hits for Megurine Luka, a post-Miku character meant to carry a more “adult” image than the school-outfit-sporting Miku. Samfree’s ode to her is a delirious Eurobeat tune in which the 2-D character talks directly to her creator. It’s a clever concept that shows just how much people connect with these avatars.

3. Kagamine Rin & Len

HoneyWorks — “Suki Kirai” Featuring Kagamine Rin & Len

Kagamine Rin and Len surprisingly haven’t done many duets together, despite being released within the same software package. Music team HoneyWorks showed how well their voices complement each other on the track “Suki Kirai,” one of the most popular songs to feature more than one Vocaloid avatar. Part of its success is owed to the dialogue between the two characters, who spend the duration of the song trying to figure out if they like or hate one another.

4. GUMI

Hachioji-P — “KiLLER LADY” Featuring GUMI

Crypton Future Media dominates the Vocaloid market thanks to its characters, but many competing companies, like Megpoid, have begun offering alternatives. The company’s green-haired avatar named GUMI might be the most successful counter character to Hatsune Miku and Megurine Luka. Proof of her increasing popularity came when Hachioji-P, a beloved Vocaloid producer, started using her voice in his songs. One highlight is 2016’s buzzing electro-pop number “KiLLER LADY,” which places her laid-back singing voice in front of a wall of bass and synthesizers.

5. Kaito

KuroUsa — “Cantarella” Featuring Kaito and Hatsune Miku

Vocaloid avatar Kaito has had one of the stranger paths to stardom. He actually came out a full year before Hatsune Miku debuted, but failed to take off. Then, after Miku became a cultural phenomenon, Kaito’s sales skyrocketed as burgeoning creators sought out a male voice to apply to their tracks. 2012’s “Cantarella” by KuroUsa is Kaito’s standout track. This elegant number utilizes strings and a ballroom-ready melody to tell a story about obsessive love, with Hatsune Miku’s voice splashed in during the hook to up the drama.

Want to explore more? Check out the Sound of Vocaloid playlist on Spotify.