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Suggesting the establishment of a separate category for K-pop?

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“Before the Billboard Music Awards, following the American Music Awards (AMA), they are introducing a separate K-pop category, right?”

First, the Billboard Music Awards is one of the major music award ceremonies in the United States, organized by Billboard magazine. It is an annual event that recognizes various music achievements, including the most popular artists and songs in various music categories. There are awards presented to honor these achievements.

At the Billboard Music Awards, various awards are given, and some of the most notable categories include:

  • Top Artist: Awarded to the most prominent music artist of the year.
  • Top Hot 100 Single: Recognizes the most popular single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
  • Top Billboard 200 Album: Honors the outstanding album on the Billboard 200 chart.
  • Top Songwriter: Presented to the most outstanding individual among songwriters.

The Billboard Music Awards are widely recognized as one of the most important music award ceremonies not only in the United States but also around the world. They are known for representing various music genres and artists, acknowledging the achievements in the music industry. This award ceremony is held annually in Las Vegas and features various performances and presentations.

Regarding the specific case you mentioned about BTS members and their nominations, it appears that some fans have raised concerns about the categorization of their nominations. For example, while BTS member Jimin and Suga are nominated for the main awards, another BTS member, Jungkook, received a nomination in the K-pop category for his solo album ‘세븐’ even though the album features English songs. This has led to criticism from some fans who perceive it as a form of discrimination or unequal treatment based on music genres.

It’s important to note that award show categorizations can sometimes be a topic of debate, and fans may have differing opinions on how artists and their work should be recognized. Such discussions can lead to a broader conversation about the representation and recognition of artists in the music industry.

According to experts, there is limited potential for immediate discrimination in this case. The Billboard Music Awards (BBMA), one of the three major music awards in the United States, has recently introduced a new category for K-pop ahead of their upcoming ceremony. This follows a similar introduction at the American Music Awards (AMA) in the previous year. Considering the population size and market scale, Korean music, despite coming from a relatively smaller country, has managed to secure a significant presence in one of the most prestigious music markets.

It’s understandable that some fandoms, including those of BTS, may have concerns about the potential exclusion or discrimination in the mainstream categories versus the newly introduced genre-specific K-pop categories. The ambiguity of whether K-pop should be categorized as a distinct genre or as part of the mainstream pop genre is indeed a point of discussion and may pose challenges in the future.

It’s understandable that some fandoms, including those of BTS, may have concerns about the potential exclusion or discrimination in the mainstream categories versus the newly introduced genre-specific K-pop categories. The ambiguity of whether K-pop should be categorized as a distinct genre or as part of the mainstream pop genre is indeed a point of discussion and may pose challenges in the future.

Last month, Billboard announced the final nominees for this year’s awards ceremony, with a total of 69 categories, including 9 newly introduced ones. Among these, 4 are related to K-pop, such as ‘Top K-pop Tour,’ ‘Top Global K-pop Artist,’ ‘Top K-pop Album,’ and ‘Top Global K-pop Song.’ In addition to K-pop, there are also two categories related to ‘Afrobeats,’ which is a genre blending traditional African music with pop influences. Both of these genres have been recognized for their influence and as emerging trends, even though they incorporate elements of pop, and they represent distinct regional movements.

The criticism and concerns raised by some BTS fans regarding ‘reverse discrimination’ following the nomination announcement are centered around the category ‘Top Global K-pop Song,’ particularly concerning BTS member Jungkook’s solo track ‘세븐’ (Seven). This song achieved global success, reaching the top spot on iTunes Top Song charts in 113 countries and topping the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States for 13 consecutive weeks, all while featuring English lyrics. Fans question whether it is appropriate to categorize such a song as part of the K-pop genre, given its predominantly English content.

These complaints have been recurring since BTS achieved their first Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping hit with ‘다이너마이트’ in 2020, igniting the K-pop craze in the U.S. Billboard made changes in their chart calculation methods, excluding duplicate song downloads and official artist website album and song downloads in response to the influence of K-pop fandoms. Some interpretations suggested that these changes aimed to reduce the impact of K-pop fandoms.

However, experts have expressed the view that there is no immediate cause for concern. They point out that Billboard selects nominees based on chart performance from November of the previous year to October of the current year, and in the case of Jungkook, the release date of his song ‘세븐’ fell later than that of competing songs, resulting in his performance not being fully reflected in the nominations.

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In the 2023 BBMA final nominations, a total of 9 K-pop artists have made it to the list. Among them, BTS’s Jimin, NU’EST, and PENTAGON are nominated in both genre-specific and mainstream categories. Jimin’s solo song ‘Like Crazy’ is one of the 5 nominees for ‘Top Selling Song’, alongside tracks by Taylor Swift (‘Anti Hero’) and Miley Cyrus ‘Flowers’. NU’EST is competing in the ‘Top Billboard Global Artist (Excluding the U.S.)’ category, alongside artists like Bad Bunny, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran, and Taylor Swift. The girl group PENTAGON, known for their global hit ‘Cupid’, has been nominated in the ‘Top Duo/Group’ category.

Given the ongoing ambiguity in defining the genre of K-pop, such controversies may continue to arise in the future. The Grammy Awards, known for their conservative approach among the “big three” U.S. music award ceremonies, do not appear to be creating a separate K-pop genre and continue to categorize K-pop within the broader ‘pop’ genre. Bill Freimuth, the Chief Awards Officer (CAO) of the Recording Academy, which hosts the Grammy Awards, mentioned in an interview with Billboard in 2021 that “Some people argue that [K-pop] is Korean pop music,” highlighting the challenge of the genre’s ambiguous characteristics.

Article Link: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/culture/10866402

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