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It’s official: K-pop is now the most lucrative music in the world, and if you’re young, talented, and from South Korea, you have as many chances as any Western pop superstar. The phenomenon that first made its presence felt here a decade ago, through the Psy megahit Gangnam style, has finally come of age.
On Thursday, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced the winner of its Global Recording Artist of the Year award for 2020, and few will be surprised to learn that it is BTS, the seven-piece K-pop group that has become. Asia’s answer to One Direction. .
Dynamite, the first song that BTS recorded entirely in English, became their first number one in the United States, propelling their album Map of the Soul to the top of the charts in more than 20 countries.
BTS are now the biggest unit changers on the planet, ousting Taylor Swift from the position she held the previous year. They are the first non-Western act to top the world chart and the first act not to sing predominantly in English.
Their 2020 single Dynamite was the first song the group recorded entirely in English, and it became their first number one in the United States, propelling their 2020 album Map of the Soul to the top of the charts in more. from 20 countries.
“BTS is a global phenomenon,” says the federation’s executive director, Frances Moore, stating that the bleeding is obvious. “They have had another banner year, releasing three albums and continually finding creative and engaging ways to share their story with the world. They really show the power of music to bring joy and happiness to people all over the world. “
They also show the power of having a well-oiled entertainment machine to bring your “story” to every corner of the world. BTS has been groomed for stardom by the Korean label Big Hit, and such has been their success that the company, led by Bang Si-Hyuk, has partnered with Universal Music in the United States to manufacture another boy band phenomenon that it could even surpass the success of BTS. .
Megabands like U2 and Coldplay could have raised millions from concert sales in the run-up to the pandemic, but 2020 was about record sales. The IFPI award is calculated by counting sales in all formats, from digital broadcast to physical sales of CDs and vinyl records. (Yes, BTS even releases old LPs.) Sales of an artist’s entire music production are counted, not just their current release.
Taylor Swift ranks at number two after releasing two highly acclaimed and successful albums in 2020. Canadian artists Drake and The Weeknd rank at numbers three and four, and Billie Eilish is at number five. Veteran rapper Eminem ranks number six on the back of his best-selling 2020 album Music to Be Murdered By, while Juice Wrld is at number nine, posthumous recognition for the late rapper, who died in 2019 of an overdose. accidental pain killers. .
The best song of the year award went to Niall Horan, who topped the IFPI global top 10 in 2013, when he was a member of One Direction. Those were the days, huh?
At the other end of the mega-scale scale, the winner of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize album of the year was announced Thursday night. Denise Chaila, the Irish-Zambian rapper from Limerick, took the award with her debut album, Go Bravely. It may not make her a billionaire, but it brings her € 10,000 in prizes, and is a great endorsement of this artist’s talent, as well as an inspiration to women of color who work in the Irish music industry.
Chaila’s music addresses racism, exclusion, sexism and her own identity in the country where she has lived since she was three years old. Technically, this is her second Choice win – she sang on Let the Dead Bury the Dead, the album by rap trio Rusangano Family, which won the award in 2016.
The award for the best song of the year, voted by the public, went to Niall Horan for his song No Judgment, from his second album, Heartbreak Weather. The Mullingar star topped IFPI’s global top 10 in 2013, when he was a member of One Direction. Those were the days, huh?
