MANAAL ALI WRITES — For the first time, a K-pop group found its way onstage at music’s biggest night—Sunday’s Grammy Awards. BTS, the South Korean boy band, performed with Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mason Ramsey and Diplo in their rendition of “Old Town Road.” This artist avengers-like group…
Full Article LOS ANGELES: BTS CONTROVERSY HITS 2020 GRAMMYS ON STAPLES CENTER STAGE
KATRINA CROSBY WRITES – Everyone can recognize that signature disk — its circular shape with its slight grooves and its deep black color. The vinyl record, in all its glory, is a true musical phenomenon. Generations old and young acknowledge it as the pinnacle of music platforms. While older folks…
Full Article JAPAN: TABLES HAVE TURNED FOR SONY MUSIC
VERONICA BANEZ WRITES – Is piracy becoming too big of a problem? Some may argue that pirating movies off the Internet is simply nothing more than a form of free entertainment. After all, why pay so much money to watch a movie when one can simply get it online for…
Full Article NEW ZEALAND: Ahoy! Piracy on the Rise
YVONNE EPPS WRITES — Imagine standing in the pit of the House of Blues, staring up at a four-man group that begins to sing in Japanese. It’s an indie Japanese music fan’s dream, and when you wake up, you realize that the American mainstream is being invaded. A trend is…
Full Article JAPAN: Rocking Through the Mainstream
KELCEY LORENZO WRITES – K-Pop boy band Infinite became the first Korean music group to chart No. 1 on Billboard’s Twitter Emerging Artists chart for the week of Sept. 20, 2014 with their song “Last Romeo,” the promotional track off of their second full album entitled Season 2. According to the…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: INFINITE-ly Popular?
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Can you remember the last CD you bought? I’m not talking an album on iTunes. I mean an actual, physical compact disc. Can’t recall? Ask anyone in Japan this question, and you’ll most likely get an answer without much thought. After the U.S., Japan is the…
Full Article JAPAN: MP3s Are So YesterdayLEXIE TUCKER WRITES – Can you say a voice is auto-tuned if the singer isn’t even human? Hatsune Miku has “written” more than 180,000 songs and has a whopping 1.95 million Facebook followers, more than any other Japanese pop star. So what sets her apart from the Lady Gagas and…
Full Article JAPAN: 21st Century Digital Girl Sings Herself to the TopYVONNE EPPS WRITES – Cultural icons can get away with insuring the body parts that made them famous, but when someone starts insuring their virginity, things can get dicey. The king of nhac vang, a genre of music, Ngoc Son, is reported to tell the media that he’s insuring his virginity for…
Full Article VIETNAM: Like a Virgin (Insured)?!JEREMIAH FAJARDO WRITES – Sex often sells, but not when it’s mixed with the stark insensitivity of misogyny and racism. Los Angeles based band Day Above Ground provoked a torrent of controversy earlier this month following the release of a music video for their song “Asian Girlz.” The video featured…
Full Article LOS ANGELES: Raunchy, Racist Music Video Goes Viral
Malaysia’s lively urban culture is well-known throughout Asia for its enthusiasm for music. This June 1st through 3rd, a concert will take place for the cause of promoting veteran musicians. Datuk Irwan Shah Abdullah, 64, better known as DJ Dave, is a veteran entertainer in Malaysia who is hoping to…
Full Article MALAYSIA: Orchestrating a Movement to Aid Struggling Artists