A-pop

A-pop
Stylistic origins	Rhythm and blues • Jazz • Folk • Dance • Classical • Rock and roll • Synthpop • Anikatian music • Hip hop • P-pop
Cultural origins	Nominally 1990s Anikatia; (roots traced to the 1950s-1960s)
Typical instruments	Vocals • Rapping • Drum machine • Drum pad • Drums • Electric bass • Keyboards • Piano • Sampler • Sequencer • Synthesizer
Local scenes
Antiytia
Other topics
Music of Anikatia P-pop • Kolepop

A-pop (occasionally stylised as A-POP; Anikatian: 애이팝, Aei-pap; an abbreviation of Anikatian Pop), is a musical genre originating in Anikatia that is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. Although it comprises all genres of "popular music" within Anikatia, Although the term is extremely broad, covering a wide range of genres it is more often used in a narrower sense to describe a modern form of Anikatian pop music that covers: dance-pop, pop ballad, electronic, rock, metal, hip-hop music and R&B. It normally excludes the folk music like Minyo.

In 2002, modern A-pop was ushered in with the formation of KULO (쿠로), whose successful experimentation with different music style such as Emmerian rap, Skanderan rock, and techno into its music sparked a paradigm shift in the music industry of post-DSRA era Anikatia. As a result of this new found freedom and experimentation the integration of foreign musical elements has now become a common practice in the A-pop industry.

As Anikatian pop culture is becoming a increasingly globalised phenomenon and globally popular in many parts of the world allows Anikatia to utilise its pop cultural sector to access, tap and break into foreign entertainment markets. By tapping into social networking services and the video sharing platforms, the A-pop industry's ability to secure a sizable overseas audience has facilitated a noticeable rise in the global proliferation of the genre. Since the mid-2000s, the A-pop music market has experienced double digit growth rates.

Initially in the late 1990s enjoying some limited success and popularity under the DSRA under the new reforms which allowed for some limited success under the DSRA outside of the Communist bloc. But it really started to gain some traction after the fall of the DSRA in 2001, A-pop entered the Prestonian music market towards the turn of the 21st century. Currently, the spread of A-pop to other regions of the world is seen in parts of Ashizwe, Skandera, Borea, and Lusankya.

A number of A-pop artists are extremely popular in Anikatia, and some also have fanbases in other countries—especially in the eastern pardes, but also in Western countries most notably Belfras and the URE. They influence not only music, but also fashion. As of 2013, the top five best-selling artists in the Anikatian music charts history are 2NGE, Girls' Galaxy, X-Electric, W0W and ARENA-Q.

A-pop as an industry

Agencies

A-pop has spawned an entire industry such as production houses and event management companies; music publishers; distributors of A-pop music and many A-pop and other merchandise and service providers. The three biggest agencies in terms of revenue are S.G. Entertainment, YM Media Group and DSQ Entertainment , In A-pop these record labels also function as agencies for the artists. They emerged at the beginning of the 2000s from the remains of the former DSRA-era systems of state supported popular music groups started operating as such Pyohol Electronic Ensemble (표홀 전자 앙상블; 'Pyohol Jeonja Angsangbeul') and Kuyon Light Music Band (쿠욘 가벼운 음악 밴드; 'Kuon Gabyeoun Eum-ag Baendeu'). Early groups such as the all-girl Makoseuh Band (맠옷읗 밴드; 'Makoseuh Baendeu') survived the difficult transition from DSRA to modern Anikatia to become one of the most popular groups in the early years although its popularity has since waned as more and more groups have been created. These massive companies are responsible for recruiting, financing, training, marketing and publishing new artists as well as managing their activities and public relations.

In terms of market share the biggest agency is S.G. Entertainment. Their artists started A-pop's and managed to break into Prestonian market. The "Big Three" occasionally cooperate, for example the representatives of the three agencies judged at the ANBS reality talent show "A-pop Star". The "Big Three", together with a number of smaller entertainment firms founded the United Oriental Management (UOM), which aims to spread A-pop globally as well as facilitate the development of better artist recruitment and management processes. Besides musicians, UOM also manages actors, directors, stylists, hair and make-up artists. The merge was highly criticised as it might put pressure on content providers as well as further pressurize other Oriental countries, like the Kolenomai market, which is unable to respond to and compete with the mass production of Anikatian entertainment companies. A-pop is a business model which augments tourism on a global scale. Fans from all over the world are coming to Anikatia for tours, and this has contributed positively to the total sales and market value of A-pop.

Trainee system

The A-pop industry is very serious about the creation of A-pop idols and the launch of new musicians, the Anikatian idol trainee system is unique in the world. Much of the time is spent on the production value of its idols where they do not make their debut until their brand and performances have been perfected. A significant amount of effort is invested towards crafting unique and marketable images mixed with sound and strategic promotional, advertising, and marketing decisions to increase the chances of success with the launch of new talent. Anikatian entertainment companies such as S.G. Entertainment have created a process to train singers and dancers in its groups. The journey to stardom often starts around age 9 or 10, when tightly supervised trainees begin dance and voice classes at night and live together while attending school. Besides singing and dancing trainees are also taught foreign languages, most notably English, and Prestonian. There has been harsh criticism over so called 'slave contract' (노예 계약) which are long-term, often unfair agreement signed by A-pop musicians with their management agencies. The term is used in a negative way to criticise the way in which some Anikatian entertainment companies exploit their singers.

Record charts

Several popular A-pop record charts include the Anikatian A-Pop Hot 100. Since the early 2010s, some A-pop records have topped the charts of Prestonia, while others have made it to the top 100 charts of the United Republic. In May 2014, ARENA-Q became the third A-pop act to enter the that year after 2NGE and Girls' Galaxy.

Criticism

Since the early 2010s, several political leaders and news sources have acknowledged the global rise of Anikatian pop culture, mentioning its strong influences on social media networks in the digital age. According to an article published by the international relations magazine [example], the spread of Anikatian popular culture across Southeast Pardes, parts of South Ashizwe, and parts of Kasaishima is illustrating how traditional colonialism is giving way and making room for unexpected soft power outside the traditional Western Powers. On the other hand, an article published by The [example] magazine expressed concern that discussions about the rise of Anikatian pop music as a form of soft power seems to bear a whiff of the old DSRA-era propaganda repackaged into the modern era. A-pop companies are also criticised for taking advantage of their "idols" through overworking and restrictive contracts that were described as 'slave contract' (노예 계약) and there have also been reports that television producers were accepting under-the-table payments guaranteeing TV appearances to aspiring singers and musicians.

The A-pop genre has also received substantial criticism for regarding the quality of music, A-pop has been criticized for its heavily manufactured character, which involves the "pre-packaging" of idol bands and songs produced for fast consumption. The genre is also labeled to unoriginal, and shallow in character which copies simply copies and plagiarises Western music patterns and that its lyrics were noted to be shallow for often misusing English words or for using meaningless or non-existing ones. Heavy emphasis on visuals elements at the expense of musical sounds along with repeated song patterns and formats as well as the use of Autotune is also sometimes considered to be a negative aspect of A-pop.

A-pop has been criticised for overtly relying on Emmerian sound and being "copycats" of Western music patterns. Some Anikatian artists have even been involved in accusations of plagiarism. Some magazines have called A-pop songs "catchy but derivative". The genre is often called bubblegum pop.

Despite its growing popularity, some commentators have remained doubtful of A-pop's ability to break into Western music markets. Signboard published an article written by staff writer Rosalía Medeiros, who wrote that Girls' Galaxy which has been positioned as the dominant girl group to "conquer the Pardes", but also added that some analysts in the music industry consider A-pop's idol groups too derivative and robotic to become mainstream.

Notable Artists

• Makoseuh (맠옷읗 밴드)
• KULO (쿠로)
• SunPop (순팝)
• Girls' Galaxy (소녀은하）
• Tayneul (태늘)
• U-Zero (우-제로)
• X-Electric
• Vanila Top (바닐라 톱)
• C.R.E.A.M (크레암)
• SassyDay (사씨다이)
• RUM DONUT-Z (룸 도눋즈）
• Super Shine （슈퍼 샤인）
• Elastic Girls (탄성소녀）
• StarTEA (스타테아)
• KISE。 (키세）
• 2NGQ (2네기크)
• ARENA-Q (아레나크)
• Vivid Girl's (생생한소녀의)
• Orange Beauty (오렌지 뷰티)
• Hero Hour (헤로시간)
• Cheon Sa (천사)
• W0W (와우)
• Mystic (미스틱)

See also

• Music of Anikatia
• Contemporary culture of Anikatia

External links

• A-pop International