Despite the pandemic caused by COVID-19, consumption of content from the Hallyu Wave, such as entertainment, drama, and games, has increased. In terms of music, BTS proved their worldwide popularity by being the most favored boy group. Keep on reading to see who the other two most popular artists are.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism announced on Thursday, Jan. 28, that the proportion of Korean content consumed by overseas consumers accounted for 21.5% of the total cultural content consumed worldwide. Among that, dramas were the most consumed content with a rating of 29.7%, followed by beauty at 27.5%, music at 26.9%, and fashion at 24.8%.
It was noted that the consumption of content from South Korea increased during the COVID-19 outbreak, specifically in the music, drama, and video games sectors. The content that was most-loved by consumers was the drama "Crash Landing On You."
The most well-loved films and dramas, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, after "Crash Landing on You," including "It's Okay to Not be Okay," "The World of Married," "Parasite," "Train to Busan," and "Peninsula."
In terms of music, the most well-loved boy group, and group in general, is BTS. It is no surprise that BTS took the top spot. 2020 was jam-packed for them. In Feb. 2020, the group dropped "Map of the Soul: 7", which ended up being the best-selling album in South Korean history. The album featured top hits "ON" and "Black Swan."
In Aug. 2020, the boy group dropped their first all-English song, "Dynamite." "Dynamite" charted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts, making it the first song by a Korean artist to hit number one in the country. The following month, BTS had their second number one hit with their remix of Jason Derulo and Jawsh 685's "Savage Loved (Laxed - Siren Beat."
On Nov. 2020, BTS released "BE," their fifth studio album. The title track of "BE," "Life Goes On," is pre-dominantly sang in Korean. "Life Goes On" debuted at number one in the Billboard Hot 100, making it the first Korean-language track.
The second most-loved group by overseas Hallyu consumers is the YG Entertainment girl group, BLACKPINK. 2020 was definitely BLACKPINK's busiest and most successful year. During the first half of 2020, the K-pop girl group collaborated with Lady Gaga on the song "Sour Candy" for Gaga's album "Chromaitca." By Jun. 2020, BLACKPINK made a comeback after over a year with "How You Like That."
On Aug. 2020, BLACKPINK released the song "Ice Cream," which featured Selena Gomez. This song marked BLACKPINK's second collaboration with a Western artist for the year. Two months later, BLACKPINK released their first full-length studio album, "THE ALBUM," which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, making the girl group the highest-charting K-pop female act. That same month, Netflix dropped their BLACKPINK documentary, "BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky."
As of now, BLACKPINK is preparing for their first live stream online concert, "THE SHOW." The concert is organized in collaboration with YouTube Music. It will be streamed on Jan. 31, 2021, after being rescheduled from Dec. 27, 2020, due to COVID-19 regulations.
The third most well-loved artist might be surprising for most - it is PSY! PSY first gained fame in 2012 when he released the comedic music video for "Gangnam Style." The music video still gets views today due to its humorous qualities. However, PSY is now famous for his entertainment company, P Nation, which houses HyunA, Dawn, Jessi, Crush, and Heize.
Did you expect these artists to be the most popular?
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Written by Alexa Lewis
