SEOUL -- On Nov. 12, some 50,000 Japanese fans gathered at the Tokyo Dome for a concert by BIGBANG, a five-member K-pop boy band. BIGBANG's tour, which began last spring, will take in a dozen countries including Japan, the U.S. and Southeast Asian nations. In all, they are expected to entertain 1.4 million people, one of the biggest audiences ever pulled in by an Asian pop group.

     Their spring performance in Seoul can be seen online for free. The video went viral, winning BIGBANG new fans. "The era of the digital Silk Road is upon us," said Yang Min-suk, the 42-year-old chief executive of YG Entertainment, the talent agency that counts BIGBANG among its acts.

     Yang's cutting-edge online marketing strategy catapulted singer PSY of "Gangnam Style" fame to international stardom. PSY's comical song and dance number took the world by storm. The video was viewed more than 2.4 billion times.

     Yang entered the entertainment business in 1997 at the suggestion of his older brother, Yang Hyun-suk a singer-turned-producer. Because the elder Yang spent many years in show business and lacked business experience, the younger Yang took charge of the management of their talent agency.

Let us entertain you

At the time, South Korea was in the throes of the Asian financial crisis and was trying to turn its economy around through information technology. As broadband Internet service spread, many people downloaded music illegally, causing the market for CDs to collapse. YG Entertainment had difficulty meeting its payroll and nearly went under.

     The company gave up on the CD business, focusing instead on music videos. Yang Min-suk saw a bright future in the first-rate vocal and dance talent his brother was grooming. Rather than hire contractors, YG Entertainment handled its own concert planning and production. It spent three times the going rate to produce music videos, which were released online, free of charge. Its unique business model was later copied around the world.

     While the success of YG Entertainment owes much to Yang's business savvy, the death of the CD market also spurred innovation and a shakeup of South Korea's music and entertainment industries. "Talent agencies began to handle every aspect of the business," said Kim Yung-duk, global business promotion division leader of Korea Creative Content Agency.

     The "digital Silk Road" offers more than just music. YG Entertainment has partnered with Tencent, a Chinese online content provider, to create mobile games featuring cartoon versions of Bigbang. The South Korean company also enlists its artists to advertise clothing and cosmetics, promoting the YG brand around the world.

     South Korean President Park Geun-hye touts the country's music and films as an engine of economic growth. South Korea's manufacturers revived the country's economy following the Asian financial crisis. Now Chinese competitors are snapping at their heels.

  In the 20th century, the U.S. was the world's predominant purveyor of goods and soft power. It remains to be seen whether Asian countries will become major creators of soft power in the 21st century. If it does, Yang Min-suk, who did much to create the digital Silk Road, is likely to be one of its leading lights.


Source: Asia Nikkei

Source: Koreaboo