“You Get Me” by TWICE, Saturday, June 8, 2024
Twice became one of the biggest K-pop girl groups in South Korea in 2016 with their number one song “Cheer Up.” The group debuted in 2015 on JYP Entertainment. President Jin-young Park announced that the label would debut a new girl group, formed through a survival competition show called Sixteen, which aired on Mnet. By the end of the show, seven members completed Twice, but Park announced that the group would expand to nine members, adding Taiwanese member Tzuyu (Chou Tzu-yu), as a fan-favorite, and Japanese singer Momo Hirai, whom Park thought was a strong performer that the group needed. The nine singers have been performing to this day as Twice, and still continue to produce hits, coming back this year with their EP With YOU-th.
WHERE ON EARTH IS THIS? Girl groups in South Korea often have a hard time winning the hearts of the teenagers. Boy bands tend to sell more concert tickets, albums, and merchandise. The primary sales go to the teen girls with pocket money. While teenage Korean boys may spend their money on girl group posters or merchandise, they typically don’t spend the money to attend girl group concerts, opting to spend their money on video games. Korean teenage girls may support girl groups, sing their songs, and attend their concerts, but the big money comes from boy bands. This is, of course, broadly speaking, as there are certainly Korean teenagers that don’t fit this stereotype, but purely looking at the K-pop market, these trends seem to make sense, even as fourth-generation K-pop girl groups now tend to market toward girls. Still, according to a 2022 article published by Korea JoongAng Daily, boy groups still make most of the money.
LATELY I’VE BEEN FEELING LIKE EVERYTHING’S ENOUGH. In 2015, Twice was given the name “The Nation’s Girl Group” in South Korea. The group also has a massive following in Japan and have expanded into other overseas markets. Twice was one of the girl groups I remember from their inception. I remember my students, particularly the male students enamored with the pretty girls. As the article in Korea JoongAng Daily talks about, the third-generation girl groups marketed sexuality to mostly a male audience. Twice was cute, whereas their predecessors were enjoyed by older men, and not so much for their music. Girls, too, loved the catchy choruses of Twice. But Twice’s popularity was eclipsed when BLACKPINK debuted in 2016. Yes, these two groups co-existed, and Twice still remained a powerful hit producer, but the kids loved BLACKPINK in a way I hadn’t experienced love for a girl group before. And who loved the YG Entertainment girl group the most—the female students. With the rise of the new generation of girl groups comes the message of female empowerment and gender equality in the groups’ lyrics, but also a renewed scrutiny of the possibly unethical training processes that both male and female stars must undergo before a debut. But with the issues of male conscription, I’ve wondered if girl groups would be a more profitable future for K-pop. Only time will tell.
Read the English translation on Genius.
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