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17 Nov 2022

Barbra Streisand’s ‘Live at the Bon Soir’ Debuts in Top 10 on Album Sales Chart

Barbra Streisand’s Live at the Bon Soir debuts in the top 10 on both Billboard’s Top Album Sales and Top Current Album Sales charts, and arrives as her 64th entry on the Billboard 200 — extending her record for the most total albums charted among women.

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The archival live set was recorded in 1962 and was originally intended to be Streisand’s debut album for Columbia Records. Instead, the project was shelved and her first release for her longtime label was the studio effort The Barbra Streisand Album in 1963. (It was also her first charting album on the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 17 on the Aug. 17, 1963-dated list, later peaking at No. 9.)

Live at the Bon Soir sold 7,500 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 10, according to Luminate, and bows at No. 8 on Top Album Sales and No. 7 on Top Current Album Sales.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of Live at the Bon Soir’s 7,500 sold, physical sales comprise 5,000 (all on CD) and digital album download sales comprise 2,500. The album will be released on SACD and vinyl LP at a later date.

On the Billboard 200, Live at the Bon Soir bows at No. 150, marking Streisand’s 64th entry on the chart. That extends her record for the most charting albums among women. It’s also her ninth live project to chart on the list, and she’s logged at least one charting live album in each decade from the 1960s through the 2020s.

Streisand’s live albums on the Billboard 200:
Title, Peak Position, Peak Date
A Happening in Central Park, 30, Dec. 14, 1968
Live Concert at The Forum, 19, Jan. 6, 1973
One Voice, 9, June 6, 1987
The Concert, 10, Oct. 15, 1994
The Concert Highlights, 81, June 10, 1995
Timeless: Live in Concert, 21, Oct. 7, 2000
Live in Concert 2006, 7, May 26, 2007
The Music… The Mem’ries… The Magic! Live in Concert, 69, Dec. 30, 2017
Live at the Bon Soir, 150, Nov. 19, 2022

At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Taylor Swift’s Midnights holds tight for a third straight week, with 93,000 sold (down 19%). In its first three weeks, the album has sold 1.348 million copies in the U.S.

Joji debuts at a career-high No. 2 on Top Album Sales, as Smithereens bows with 17,500 sold. Of that sum, CD sales comprise 13,000, bolstered by its availability in a Target-exclusive variant with alternative cover art, along with an array of deluxe box sets sold through the artist’s official webstore.

The Beatles’ Revolver falls 2-3 on Top Album Sales with 15,000 sold (down 68%) while the Stranger Things: Season 4 soundtrack re-enters at a new peak of, fittingly, No. 4 with 14,000 sold (up 2,067%), following its arrival on vinyl. Of that sum, vinyl sales comprise 13,000, enabling its debut at No. 2 on the Vinyl Albums chart.

Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss – which launches atop the Billboard 200 – starts at No. 5 on Top Album Sales with 12,000 sold.

Home Free collects its highest charting effort on Top Album Sales, and third top 10, as So Long Dixie debuts at No. 6 with 8,000 sold.

Steve Lacy’s Gemini Rights bows at No. 7 with nearly 8,000 sold following its vinyl release. Nearly all of its sales for the week were driven by its vinyl LP (No. 3 debut on Vinyl Albums). Gemini Rights was released on streaming services and to purchase as a digital download album on July 15, but never sold enough to chart on Top Album Sales until its vinyl was released. It has yet to be issued on any other physical format other than vinyl.

Rounding out the top 10 on Top Album Sales is Berner’s From Seed to Sale (4-9 with 6,000; down 55%) and Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city (16-10 with 6,000; up 45% thanks to continued strong performance of its 10th anniversary reissue variants).

In the week ending Nov. 10, there were 1.749 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 8.1% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.363 million (up 10.2%) and digital albums comprised 386,000 (up 1.3%).

There were 631,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Nov. 10 (up 1.8 % week-over-week) and 720,000 vinyl albums sold (up 18.8%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 29.652 million (down 7.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 33.294 million (up 3.7%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 80.993 million (down 6.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 63.412 million (down 1.7%) and digital album sales total 17.581 million (down 21.1%).

17 Nov 2022

2022 FIFA World Cup: All the Ways to Watch & Stream From Anywhere

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

It’s almost game time! The 2022 FIFA World Cup begins Sunday (Nov. 20) with host country Qatar squaring off against Ecuador at Al-Bayt Stadium.

There are 32 countries participating in this year’s World Cup, which includes the U.S., Mexico, England, Brazil, Iran, Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Tunisia, Poland, France and Australia.

Read on for all the details on how to watch the 2022 FIFA World Cup from anywhere (click here to buy tickets).

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2022 FIFA World Cup: Date, Time & How to Watch

The 2022 World Cup will be held from Nov. 20-Dec. 18 at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. World Cup matches will air on FS1 and Telemundo Deportes, while select games will air on Fox.

The opening ceremony is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday, followed by the Qatar vs. Ecuador match at 11 a.m. ET.

On Saturday, Maluma and Lebanese singer Myriam Fares are expected to headline the FIFA Fan Festival and perform the official World Cup anthem “Tokoh Taka” for the first time. The song, featuring Nicki Minaj, will be released Friday. Lil Baby, Ozuna and Camilo are some of the other recording artists who have released songs for the 2022 World Cup.

Over the next month, several other music artists are expected to appear at the Live Stage by FIFA Sound, including Diplo, Kizz Daniel, Nora Fatehi, Trinidad Cardona and Calvin Harris.

Sunday’s Qatar vs. Ecuador match will broadcast on FS1 and Telemundo Deportes. Monday’s schedule will feature matchups between England and Iran airing on FS1, followed by Senegal vs. Netherlands and the United States vs. Wales, both airing on Fox (the U.S. vs. Wales match begins at 2 p.m. ET). Mexico’s first match will take place against Poland on Monday at 11 a.m. ET. Click here for the full schedule of matches.  

How to Watch the 2022 World Cup on Peacock

Peacock will livestream all 64 World Cup matches in Spanish. The streaming platform will also provide hour-long pre- and post-match onsite coverage from Qatar. The first 12 matches of the FIFA World Cup 2022 will be available to Peacock subscribers on the free tier, while the remaining 52 games will be available to Peacock Premium subscribers beginning on Nov. 24.

Peacock Premium is $4.99/month after a free trial (cable customers may be eligible to receive a free subscription to Peacock).

If you already have access to local and cable channels, feel free to check your local listings for channel information to watch the World Cup on TV, computer or streaming device (you’ll need a cable or streaming provider log-in to watch online).

Cord-cutters can stream the World Cup on platforms such as Fubo TV, Direct TV Stream, Sling TV, Vidgo, and Hulu + Live TV, all of which are priced at less than $75 a month. And if you don’t want to pay anything up front, Fubo and Direct TV Stream offer free trials for up to a week.

Streaming the World Cup from outside of the U.S.? Use ExpressVPN.

Where to Buy World Cup Merch & Apparel Online

Stock up on shirts, socks, jerseys, and more World Cup gear at Adidas, Nike, Amazon, Fanatics, Dick’s Sporting Goods, World Soccer Shop and Soccer.com.

17 Nov 2022

‘America’s Got Talent’ Favorite Roslyn Singleton Dies of Brain Cancer

Roslyn Singleton, who first shot to viral fame with her husband in 2020, passed away on Tuesday (Nov. 15) after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. She was 39.

“WELL DONE!! Our wife earned her wings yesterday while peacefully sleeping right at home where she wanted to be,” Ray Singleton shared on Instagram. “This road ahead is going to be INCREDIBLY long & difficult! She taught us all SOMETHING…She’s where we’re all trying to get one day so no need to be sad! Now we celebrate her legacy, her impact, her story & HER SPIRIT! She will LIVE FOREVER!!”

The singer’s sad announcement garnered responses in the comments section from famous faces like Dwyane Wade, H.E.R., D-Nice and more.

The Singletons’ story became well-known after Ray posted a viral video of himself singing to Roslyn as she prepared to go in for surgery to fight the cancer. The sweet video led to an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Ray later competed on Season 16 of America’s Got Talent, making it all the way to the Deliberations round.

During his audition for the NBC reality show, Ray brought Roslyn out to meet the judging panel and sang Andy Grammer’s “I Am Yours” to her. “Actually, the reason I’m here is because of my wife,” he told Simon Cowell and co. at the time. “She’s a U.S. Navy veteran. She is also a brain cancer survivor. And tonight, I am very happy to announce she is cancer free.”

Read Ray’s touching tribute to Roslyn and relive their emotional introduction on AGT below.

17 Nov 2022

U2, Gladys Knight & Amy Grant Are Among 2022 Kennedy Center Honorees

UPDATE (Nov. 17): The 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors have an air date: Wednesday, Dec. 28 (8-10 p.m ET/PT) on CBS. Paramount+ Premium subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service as well as on demand. Essential-tier subscribers will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs. As previously announced, the show will tape on Sunday, Dec. 4 in Washington, D.C. 

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PREVIOUSLY (July 21): U2, Gladys Knight, Amy Grant, actor-director George Clooney and Cuban-born composer, conductor and educator Tania León are the 2022 Kennedy Center Honors recipients.

The 45th edition of the prestigious awards, presented for lifetime artistic achievements, will be held on Sunday, Dec. 4, on the Opera House stage at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The Honors Gala will be recorded for broadcast on CBS at a later date as a two-hour prime-time special and will be available to stream live and on demand on Paramount+.

U2 is the fifth band to receive the honor, following The Who (2008), Led Zeppelin (2012), Eagles (2016) and Earth, Wind & Fire (2019). Before 2008, the Kennedy Center Honors focused entirely on individuals. Brian Wilson was honored rather The Beach Boys, for example. U2 consists of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr.

Knight is the fifth Motown Records alumnus to receive the honor, following Stevie Wonder (1999), Smokey Robinson (2006), Diana Ross (2007) and Lionel Richie (2017). Last year, Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. was saluted. Gladys Knight & the Pips had a long string of hits on Motown, including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).”

Knight has won seven Grammys; impressively, in three different musical fields – pop, R&B and gospel. At the 1973 Grammys, Knight & the Pips became the first group to win in both pop (for “Neither One of Us”) and R&B (for the immortal “Midnight Train to Georgia,” one of the most classic recordings of the past half-century).

U2 has won 22 Grammy Awards, more than any other group in history. Their Grammy haul includes two wins each for album of the year (The Joshua Tree and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb), record of the year (“Beautiful Day” and “Walk On”) and song of the year (“Beautiful Day” and “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”).

Grant has won six Grammys – all in the gospel field. Her most recent Grammy was best Southern, country or bluegrass gospel album for Rock of Ages…Hymns & Faith in 2005.  Grant was nominated for album, record and song of the year at the 1991 Grammys for her smash “Baby Baby,” a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and her album Heart in Motion, which made the top 10 on the Billboard 200.

Grant is among the very few gospel honorees in Kennedy Center Honors history. Marion Williams was a 1993 honoree.

León received a 2012 Grammy nomination for best contemporary classical composition for Inura for Voices, Strings and Percussion.

Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. U2 were inducted in 2005.

Clooney is a two-time Oscar winner – best supporting actor for Syriana (2005) and best picture for co-producing Argo (2012). He has also been nominated for directing and writing Oscars. He received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2010 Emmy Awards. Clooney’s dozens of films include O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The soundtrack to that film topped the Billboard 200 in March 2002, after winning the Grammy for album of the year.

Grant’s husband, Vince Gill, has yet to receive a Kennedy Center Honor, but very well may someday. Such peers as Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire have been honored. Clooney’s aunt, the great pop and jazz singer Rosemary Clooney, was not chosen as an honoree. These awards are not presented posthumously, so there is no chance that she will be.

The 45th Kennedy Center Honors Gala concludes with a dinner in the Grand Foyer.

The Honors recipients are recognized for their contributions to American culture through the performing arts—whether in music, dance, theater, opera, motion pictures, or television—and are confirmed by the executive committee of the Center’s board of trustees.

Deborah F. Rutter, Kennedy Center president, noted: “For nearly a half-century, the Kennedy Center Honors has represented the very best of America’s creative culture. The Honors is often referred to by past recipients as the pinnacle of awards because it recognizes not just one performance, album, or film, but esteems an artist’s cumulative body of work and influence over many decades…”

Done+Dusted, producers of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize since 2018, have been selected as executive producers of the 45th annual Kennedy Center Honors. Done+Dusted will produce the show in association with ROK Productions, represented by Elizabeth Kelly, who will executive produce alongside David Jammy and Ian Stewart. The show will be directed by Alex Rudzinski.

Here are complete and unabridged statements from each of the 45th Kennedy Center Honorees:

“Growing up in a small town in Kentucky I could never have imagined that someday I’d be the one sitting in the balcony at the Kennedy Center Honors. To be mentioned in the same breath with the rest of these incredible artists is an honor. This is a genuinely exciting surprise for the whole Clooney family.” –George Clooney

“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine ever receiving this prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. Through the years, I’ve watched so many of my heroes serenaded by colleagues and fellow artists, always moved by the ability of music and film to bring us together and to see the best in each other. I cannot wait to celebrate with my fellow honorees, friends, and family. Thank you for widening the circle to include all of us.” –Amy Grant

“I’m humbled beyond words to be included amongst this prestigious group of individuals, both past and present. You could never have told me as a young girl starting my career that I would be honored on a stage such as this, with artists and humanitarians such as these—it just wouldn’t have seemed possible. It would have been the dream of all dreams. I have been blessed with so much in my life and this certainly stands with those achievements at the top of that list. To be honored as a Kennedy Center Honoree is among the highlights of my career. I stand here with my fans, my family, my friends, my team, and my faith in accepting such an amazing distinction. It is dedicated to all those who paved the path for me to be able to accomplish the wonderful blessings I’ve been able to receive. The Kennedy Center’s commitment to the arts is unparalleled and I am so very grateful for this moment.” –Gladys Knight

“Little did I imagine when studying in La Habana that life was going to grace me with such a distinction! My first thoughts went to my ancestors: they believed in my dreams, and what we lacked in material wealth, they made up for in spirit, encouragement, and support. My heartfelt thanks go to the many people who have blessed my path by helping my talent to blossom and by giving me the chance to be heard. I am incredibly humbled to join such a prestigious family of artists, and deeply grateful to the Kennedy Center for bestowing me with this incredible honor.” –Tania León

“In December 1980, we made our first trip across the Atlantic to America. Our first show was at The Ritz in New York City, the second, The Bayou in D.C. We had big dreams then, fueled in part by the commonly held belief at home that America smiles on Ireland. And it turned out to be true, yet again. But even in the wilder thoughts, we never imagined that 40 years on, we would be invited back to receive one of the nation’s greatest honours…It has been a four-decade love affair with the country and its people, its artists, and culture. We consider America to be a home away from home and we are very grateful to the Kennedy Center Honors for welcoming us into this great clan of extraordinary artists.” –U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr.)

For ticket inquiries, visit kennedy-center.org/honorsinfo or email Honors@kennedy-center.org.

17 Nov 2022

Kelly Rowland Thanks Fans for Support After Peter Rosenberg’s Beyonce Comparisons: ‘I Know Ya’ll Got My Back’

Kelly Rowland is taking a moment to shout out her fans for always defending her.

During a Wednesday interview on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning With Laura Stylez and Rosenberg, Rowland was asked by Peter Rosenberg how it felt being compared to Beyoncé while in and out of Destiny’s Child.

“Everyone who gets into the entertainment business gets into it to be the man,” Rosenberg said to Rowland. “It does take an ego check, and you happen to be standing next to the brightest light on planet Earth. You think Big Boi from Outkast has it tough being next to André [3000]? You’re with Beyoncé, and not only did you not fight it, it seems like you really embraced the position that you were in and took it seriously.”

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Rowland had the perfect response, telling Rosenberg: “Here’s the thing. Light attracts light. I am light, so I am a beautiful brown shining light, so I don’t think anybody’s light dims anyone else’s. I think that when other people start to compare you, I think that that’s when it shows you how dim they are of themselves. So I don’t take somebody else trying to dim my light anymore for anybody else. I love Bey, I know that she’s a light, but I know that I’m a light too.”

Rosenberg added: “It’s also created such an interesting role for you. You could have rested on your laurels and just been like, ‘Hey, I’m part of this iconic group. My best friend is the biggest star in the world. We kick a–, we’re awesome.’”

“And her best friend-slash-sister is one of the big stars in the world too. People only see things one-sided … we both shine together,” Rowland replied, explaining that there is a place for several Black women at the top of the game. “Now everybody is starting to take the hit of and starting to believe this thing where … ‘Only one woman can do this and they shine the biggest.’ My sister has knocked down doors and made positions for so many women that look like her, that are a deeper shade than her, but specifically for Black women and put Black women in other places we’re grateful for. But also somebody else did that for her, and another group has done that for us. And I do it for other brown girls, so it’s a cycle and a space for all of us to open up doors for each other instead of compare. Don’t be so limited.”

Following the interview, Rosenberg faced several negative comments via social media about his questions to Rowland, with many highlighting the singer’s talents outside of being in a group alongside Beyoncé. Once Rowland caught wind of her fans defending her online, she tweeted on Thursday (Nov. 17), “Have The most amazing day Twitterville!!! Thank you all for your Love & support!  I know ya’ll got my back! And that made me do a happy dance this am! Let me see your happy dance!! Here’s mine!”

Rosenberg later tweeted out a personal apology to Rowland for his words on the program. “I messed up. Sorry @KELLYROWLAND … wasn’t remotely my intention but intentions don’t always matter. I will take the L,” he wrote, adding that he will “still [be] playing Nelly and Kelly at my wedding.”

Watch Rowland’s interview on Ebro in the Morning With Laura Stylez and Rosenberg in the video above, and see the tweets regarding the matter below.

17 Nov 2022

Animal Collective’s 10 Favorite Movie Soundtracks

This Friday (Nov. 18), nine months after their bright, buoyant studio album Time Skiffs, Animal Collective releases a new project in the form of The Inspection, the soundtrack to an A24 film that opens the same day.

“The Inspection is a story of a Black, gay man who joins the Marines in search of validation from and acceptance from his mother,” says star and executive producer Gabrielle Union in a teaser trailer. “It’s about the fight every day to be seen and respected.”

The film stars Jeremy Pope as Ellis French, a character inspired by director/screenwriter Elegance Bratton’s own life. And while Animal Collective probably isn’t the first band you think of when you hear the words “U.S. Marines,” Bratton feels the experimental indie outfit provided him with the “perfect backdrop” to explore various emotional states on screen.

“We were very inspired by the music of our composers Animal Collective. We wanted to create the right rhythms to blur the line between what French thinks is real and what is really happening,” Bratton explained. “So those fantasy sequences could serve as the evolution of French’s inner life. In essence, we wanted to create a sense of the stir craziness of the monotony of boot camp, juxtaposed with the massive transformation Ellis French undergoes. Animal Collective provides the perfect backdrop to shrink and expand the time according to the emotion.” (The soundtrack also features contributions from singer-songwriter Indigo de Souza.)

With The Inspection being AnCo’s second feature-length film soundtrack (following 2021’s Crestone), we asked the group to share their favorite movie soundtracks of all time. See what Avey Tare (David Portner), Geologist (Brian Weitz) and Deakin (Josh Dibb) chose below.

17 Nov 2022

K-Pop Groups With No Korean Members Try a Proven Formula for Global Success

TOKYO — This summer, the Japanese entertainment company Avex launched the seven-member girl group XG on a weekly music TV show — in South Korea, instead of Japan. The move was strategic. Rather than promote the group, which was five years in the making, at home, Avex leveraged Korea’s K-pop-rich media market to make an international splash.

It’s a prime example of the newest chapter in K-pop’s globalization: non-Korean acts tapping into the training, promotion, styles and strategies that made the genre an international success.

Korean networks’ many music programs showcase dozens of bands and live performances, which are readily available on YouTube — a key factor in K-pop’s international expansion, according to industry experts. In stark contrast, Japanese TV networks have been slow to embrace YouTube because sharing original content there often leads to unauthorized reuse. “Japanese TV shows are really inside — we can’t really reach to the global fans,” says Reina Aiguchi, a manager in Avex’s digital marketing group who works with XG. “In order to gain the global fans, we had to go on Korean TV shows.”

XG — like JO1 from Japan and boy band SB19 from the Philippines — followed the K-pop star incubation model, drawing their members from thousands of auditioning hopefuls and undergoing yearslong training regimens. Thanks to instruction from K-pop vocal coaches and choreographers, they appear to be gaining traction, accumulating millions of audio streams and YouTube views. What remains unclear, though, is whether they will lure non-Korean listeners away from Korean bands or grow the genre’s fan base by having lesser-known artists attract more listeners.

Either way, experts say the development could help boost K-pop’s long-term viability worldwide. Non-Korean K-pop bands may displease some existing fans, but this expansion evolves the genre beyond Korean pop. “If globalizing Korean acts was the model in the past, now the mindset is to create global-level groups around the world,” says Kim Young-dae, a Seoul-based music critic. “It didn’t happen overnight. This has been the goal that [the industry] has been working on for the last two decades.”

K-pop acts with members from outside Korea aren’t a new phenomenon. Starting in the 1990s, agencies recruited from the Korean diaspora and later expanded the talent pool to such key target markets as Japan and China. From Super Junior to TWICE to Aespa, bands have benefited from members who communicate with fans and media in relevant markets in their own languages.

But this latest wave of K-pop groups has no Korean members. Instead, they are working within Korea to take advantage of the know-how, distribution channels and global attention K-pop has established. They were often exposed to K-pop from childhood and see Korea as a platform for international stardom.

XG

XG

Courtesy of XGALX

XG, for example, is produced by an agency led by Simon Jakops, a former K-pop idol who was born in the United States to Korean and Japanese parents. Avex selected XG’s members from a pool of 15,000 Japanese girls in 2017 and put them through five years of training — starting when they were ages 10 to 15 — to master hip-hop and R&B music, as well as English and Korean. They lived together in a dormitory in Tokyo and moved to Seoul during the pandemic. Singing and rapping in English — with the occasional Japanese word thrown in — the group made 14 appearances on six different Korean TV shows in June and July to promote its first two singles, “Tippy Toes” and “Mascara,” Aiguchi says. The group is marketed by XGALX, an agency overseen in Tokyo by Avex, which, in recent years, has struggled to repeat its J-pop idol successes from the 1990s and 2000s.

“We wanted to refer to K-pop and have those methods for XG,” says Yudai Hasegawa, manager for XGALX, speaking through Aiguchi’s translation. “Second is, we wanted to shoot those music videos in Korea, where they have good music video directors.” Such strategies appear to be making a difference: XG has about 700,000 subscribers on YouTube and around 600,000 on TikTok, while “Mascara” reached No. 14 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, spending 11 weeks on the chart. In addition, the group won the Rising Star award at the MTV Video Music Awards Japan in November. Comments below the group’s videoclips contain English, Bahasa (Indonesia) and Spanish, alongside Japanese.

JO1, a Japanese boy band formed from the 11 winners of the 2019 reality TV contest Produce 101 Japan, also received training in South Korea. Their music, often a collaboration between Japanese and Korean producers, is sung in Japanese with English words peppered into the mix, a K-pop formula for upping the songs’ global appeal. The members have appeared on Korean variety shows and K-pop-focused YouTube channels. (Their latest single, “SuperCali,” borrows the famous compound word from Mary Poppins.) JO1 has racked up several No. 1s on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, including “Bokura no Kisetsu” (“Our Season”), which topped the chart last December and has nearly 420 million combined views on YouTube.

Korean agencies in recent years have also launched non-Korean bands that perform K-pop-like music — notably SM Entertainment’s China-geared boy band WayV, as well as NiziU, an all-Japanese girl group from JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan. 

After an open call for auditions beginning in 2014 involving hundreds of Filipino boys, SB19 was formed by ShowBT Philippines, a subsidiary of Korean agency ShowBT Group. The five-member boy band, which sings in English and Tagalog, trained in South Korea for three years before signing with Sony Music Philippines in December of 2019. They recently have begun cracking the Billboard charts and touring overseas, including a show at Los Angeles’ Avalon nightclub this past Saturday (Nov. 12). “They’ve really raised the bar, the Koreans,” Roslyn Pineda, general manager, Sony Music Entertainment Philippines, said in September. “Number one is the discipline” SB19 members learned in Korea, which led to a “sharpness of [dance] movements…that doesn’t lie,” she says.

“We can’t deny the K-pop influence [on JO1],” says Choi Shin-hwa, CEO of Lapone Entertainment, a joint venture between entertainment conglomerates CJ ENM of South Korea and Yoshimoto Kogyo of Japan that produces JO1. He doesn’t describe Lapone artists as K-pop, but rather envisions “a new genre that is a hybrid of K-pop and Japanese culture.”

In an interview in Tokyo, some members of JO1 told Billboard they grew up listening to K-pop CDs from boy band TVXQ and pop rock band CNBLUE, which their respective mothers, as fans, had played around the house. The members nervously denied they were already stars. “We keep on working with the hopes of catching up with all the awesome K-pop artists who are active today,” says member Issei Mamehara. 

Additional reporting by Alexei Barrionuevo