Finally, it identifies Yang Hyun-suk of YG Entertainment, who used his background in hip-hop to create the premiere hip-hop K-pop label. Finally, it talks about how the profit motive was the primary concern of all three, not artistic expression or integrity – tying their rise to the culture industry and the commodification of art. .
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Chapter 4: Adorno's Popular Music & K-pop .
This chapter takes Theodor Adorno's theory on popular music, as explained in his 1941 essay, and applies it to examples in K-pop. .
Chapter 5: Conclusion .
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Chapter 2: The Start of K-pop, Foreign Influences & the Golden Idol .
Whether or not K-pop is distinctly Korean, besides the usage of the language, in an audible manner can itself be examined. According to sociologist Gil-Sung Park, K-pop is a mixture of Western sounds with a "Korean or Asian flavour." (Park, 2013a) I would argue that this aforementioned "Korean flavour" is actually not present. As demonstrated by Seo Taiji & the Boys and all K-pop groups that have come since, there is a concerted effort to utilise western genres that lack any motifs from traditional Korean music or the instruments used in such. This chapter examines how K-pop came to be how it is in 2016 through the adoption of foreign production, business and musical practices – forming the template for the cultural commodities that grew in international popularity. .
2.1 K-pop Distilled .
A K-pop release can be in the form of a physical or digital single, an extended play or a full-length album with several production teams being credited in the liner notes. It is on these songs that the chosen idol girl or boy group will sing, with vocal lines distributed among all members. It is primarily produced by either record labels' in-house producers, not unlike how American music label Motown employed the Holland–Dozier–Holland trio to be their hitmakers for several years, or by hired production companies that sell their songs to be used by the label.