[KS] Re: Korean Pop Music

[David C. Kang]

Interesting discussions. I have no more knowledge of this than anybody else, but
I have a few hypotheses about the derivative quality of the music and Japanese
imports.


1. As I understand it (and this is just what Korean musicians have told me), for
a long time the government put heavy taxes on any establishment that wanted live
music. This was done by the government to restrict cultural poisoning,
immorality, blah blah blah. Thus, a place like Shinchon with thousands of
college students and 3 universities had almost no live music. In contrast, most
college towns in the US have numerous bars/clubs/etc. In terms of jazz, I
remember in 1988 I could find  only two jazz clubs in all of Seoul:  All that
jazz in Itaewon, and Janus, up near Chongno. 


The result was that Korean rock/jazz musicians had nowhere to play. The way that
musicians learn and create is by playing together and forming bands and
splitting up and then forming new bands, etc., but Koreans had only two choices: 
sit in their room at home and play along to records, or go to the US/Japan. This
really kept Korean popular music from finding its own voice, so to speak. 


2. Thus, not only was there the natural proclivity to be influenced by western
pop music, it was almost fore-ordained that they would be; those musicians who
had the opportunity to live and play in LA, (or Tokyo) for example, learned and
polished their skills far more than those who stayed at home. And, of course,
they learned just enough rap/hiphop/etc. to copy, but not to internalize it. (I
know I'm writing in huge generalizations, please forgive me). 


3.  Additionally, the cultural ban on Japanese imports created the perfect
"market" for Koreans to go and copy Japanese pop tunes and then release them in
Korea with Korean words. I don't remember the details, but in the past few years
a number of groups have gotten in trouble for that, Seotaeji (no criticisms on
the romanization, please!) was one. 


4. With the recent opening of both Japense cultural imports and the lifting of
the ban on live music and the curfew, there has been an explosion of live music
in Apkujong, Shinchon, etc. And I think it within a few years Korean music will
be far less derivative than it is now, simply because they can make much more
music in Korea. As pure speculation, my feeling is that it this Korean
originality will be something of western music and the Korean rhythmic patterns.
Mixing the "2-4" western beat with the Korean emphasis on 1 is pretty
interesting. 


Just my guesses, that's all. 


-Dave Kang


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%