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Blossoms have again proven their indie rock prowess, securing their fourth U.K. Official No. 1 album with Gary, their fifth studio release. The British band’s latest effort topped the charts after a tight battle with chart-dominating pop princess Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet (No. 2) and Chappell Roan’s hugely popular The Rise and Fall of […]
The second installment of “NOW PLAYING JAPAN,” a conference and networking event held by Billboard Japan and Luminate on domestic and international music consumption trends and marketing, was held at Billboard Live Tokyo on Sept. 18.
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At this event, representatives from Billboard JAPAN and Luminate gave presentations on the latest music consumption trends in Japan and abroad. In addition, Tatsuya Hori of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry appeared as a guest speaker. Using the recently released “Report on the Music Industry’s Business Model for a New Era” as a basis, Hori explained the current status and challenges for Japanese artists to expand overseas. The following is a report on the event.
Presentation 1: Scott Ryan (Luminate)
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Scott Ryan, Executive Vice President of Luminate, took the stage first to introduce the latest trends in music streaming: In the first half of 2024, global on-demand audio streaming increased 15.1% compared to the previous year, which is equivalent to approximately 300 billion new streams. Among countries in the APAC + ANZ, Japan has displayed a steady increase of more than 10% in streaming, while several countries in Southeast Asia have shown growth of 20-30%. He also touched on listening trends that vary by country, including preferred genres (in Japan, “jazz,” “rock,” and “soundtrack” are over indexing compared to other Asian countries), the #1 source of music discovery (streaming in Indonesia, SNS in the Philippines, and TV in Japan), and differences in engagement with “foreign content” (95% in the Philippines, 74% in Singapore, and 57% in Japan). He also explained a snapshot of Japanese Gen Z music listeners: 44% of Gen Z listeners encounter music via streaming, are 1.4 times more likely to listen to music shared by friends on SNS than Japanese music listeners as a whole, and 27% less likely to listen to music from overseas.
Ryan concluded his presentation by giving three key points: “Streaming numbers are increasing globally, but the way people enjoy new content differs from country to country, so it is necessary to devise marketing plans and approaches accordingly”; “The way people encounter new music differs by region and generation, so for effective targeting, it is important to have smart information”; and “Streaming is still on the rise, and there are opportunities for growth on a global scale across regions.”
Presentation 2: Helena Kosinski (Luminate)
Helena Kosinski, Luminate’s Global Vice President, presented the challenges and new solutions for the industry in assigning key music data identifiers and metadata, including ISNI, ISRC and ISWC, with examples from Japan. While the assignment of music data identifiers is becoming more widespread in the industry, the importance of ISNI is not yet fully understood. In addition, there are cases where incorrect information is linked due to duplication of artist names and song titles, and where multiple identifiers are registered for the same song. Furthermore, songs having identifiers that are unknown to the rights holders is also an issue. As a result, there are many recordings that are not linked to the correct rights holders (lyricists, composers, etc.), and royalties are not being accurately distributed. In fact, it appears that 16.25% (approximately $120 million) of the royalties that were due to be paid by the MLC in 2022 have still not been distributed as of 2024.
As a solution to these issues, Luminate acquired Quansic, a service that collects multiple identifiers and consolidates them in one place, in February 2024 to improve the quality of metadata. Kosinski spoke about the importance and benefits of having correct metadata, with an explanation of this service. For labels, the benefits of having ISNI are “increased visibility and clarity of content on DSPs,” “increased promotional opportunities such as additions to official playlists (as songs with more complete metadata are preferred),” and “getting paid quickly and correctly”. In a test case conducted by Luminate, the number of streams also increased by 6-18%.
Benefits for DSPs through Quansic included improved search accuracy on the platform, support for artist names in other languages, and the ability to distinguish duplicate artists by adding more than twice as many new identifiers. For music publishers, the benefits include securing royalties from all the songs and recordings they manage, automatic recognition of new releases in their catalogs, and better predictability of future revenues. A test case for a publisher showed a 3-18% increase in streaming numbers. Kosinski concluded by giving “metadata is hard” and “fix the problem before you lose royalties” as key points, and urged a free evaluation with Luminate.
Presentation 3: Tatsuya Hori (METI)
Tatsuya Hori, Consulting Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), gave a presentation on “The Potential of the Japanese Music Market” based on the “Report on the Music Industry’s Business Model for a New Era”, which was released in July 2024 and attracted wide attention both within and outside the industry. The “content industry,” which includes music, is growing remarkably on a global scale. In Japan, overseas sales are comparable in scale to exports from the steel and semiconductor industries, and the high economic ripple effect has led to the recognition that this industry could become a key industry in Japan and drive economic growth. Based on this premise and the data used in the report, he indicated that the characteristics of the Japanese music industry are the “diversity and accumulation of music”.
He also noted that, since streaming has become the center of the global music industry, overseas expansion and digitalization are two sides of the same coin, and that it is essential for the music business to respond quickly to the digitalization of the industry. He also stressed the importance of creating an environment that facilitates the activities of creators who are engaged in production and distribution on their own.
Presentation 4: Seiji Isozaki (Billboard Japan)
Seiji Isozaki of Billboard Japan, gave a presentation on current trends in the world of Japanese music based on the Global chart data for the first half of 2024. In particular, he pointed out that compared to the first half of 2023, the share of Japanese music is increasing in the U.S. and South Korea, and that the share of new releases at the top of the charts is rising in line with the attention paid to anime and game releases. He explained the importance of understanding the market structure of each country and the importance of “increasing resolution” in order to create hits in Asia & globally.
In the U.S. and South Korea, “Artists who increased the number of streams per day and increased their market share” and “Artists who increased the number of streams per day and increased their market share in the corresponding countries” were respectively presented in comparison to the previous year. Names such as Azumi Takahashi, known for her singing in the “Persona” game series, PSYCHIC FEVER from EXILE TRIBE, and eill were mentioned.
Text: Haruki Saito, Maiko Murata
There’s a brand new venue coming to Toronto, and it will be one of the biggest in the country. Rogers Stadium will open in summer 2025. At 50,000 capacity, it will also be one of the biggest venues built specifically for music. Despite the stadium designation, the venue will not be home to a sports […]
A new generation of artists are pushing the envelope in Arabic music, striving to explore new ground. Among them is Ayed, who humbly claims no desire to be a pioneer. Instead, he insists that his work merely carries forward the rich legacy established by the many artists who came before him. This young talent has achieved remarkable success in Khaleeji (Gulf) music while becoming the most-listened-to artist among his peer group. As of this publication, he holds the No. 1 position on the Top 50 Khaleeji Songs chart with his hit, “Lammah” (Hints), and ranks No. 9 on Billboard Arabia’s Artist 100. Despite these significant strides, he embodies the humility of the Khaleeji music legends that preceded him, utilizing modern production tools and techniques, which he credits for expanding the reach of his music.
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When asked about his musical style, one that combines the rhythms and melodic structure of Khaleeji music but delivered through a sound that is very much Ayed, he says, “I don’t think I’ve done anything that different. It’s just a continuation of the music of my predecessors; I’ve followed in their footsteps. But let’s say we’re in the digital age now, and maybe that’s what has changed [regarding the sound]. But that aside, it’s the same kind of music.” Ayed aims to continue enriching the Khaleeji pop landscape, hoping to make a lasting contribution to its history. As a fan of the genre, nothing is stopping him from cementing his contributions to the genre as he strives for the excellence of the artists that inspire him be it Mohamed Abdu, Abdel Majid Abdallah, Rabeh Saqr or Rashed Al Majid.
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The year 2024 has been remarkable for Ayed, who graces the cover of Billboard Arabia’s September issue. It started with a bang: he netted the “Male Musical Artist of the Year” at the 2024 Joy Awards, a ceremony organized by the General Entertainment Authority that honors achievements in the Arab artist community.
Following this accolade, Ayed collaborated with Khaled Al Muthafar, a Kuwaiti performing artist, in the song “A’lam al-U’shaq” (The World of Lovers). Initially composed for Al Muthafar’s play, “Al’uwl Min Nweih” (The First of its Kind), the duo recorded it together when Ayed heard the song. The song proved a hit, finding virality across social media platforms and climbing the ranks of Billboard Arabia’s Hot 100 and the Top 50 Khaleeji Songs chart.
“I expected the song to be successful, but I didn’t expect this overwhelming success all over the Arab world,” says Ayed. “We were meant to collaborate on a project long ago and thank God I was able to work with him on this project and I hope this is the start of many successes for us together.”
Hot on the heels of this success, “Lammah” (Hints) also went viral a month after its release, quickly climbing to the top of Billboard Arabia’s charts. As of this article, it has held the No. 1 position on the Top 50 Khaleej Songs chart for eight consecutive weeks. It has broken into the top 10 on Billboard Arabia’s Hot 100, prompting Ayed’s return to the top ten on Billboard Arabia’s 100 Artists chart. Ayed always believed in the song’s potential, and its performance on the charts has validated his assumption.
Ayed’s artistic journey began at a young age, with the 2015 launch of “Nasitini” (You Forgot Me) on Instagram. It was remastered and rearranged in January 2016, tallying upwards of 16 million views on YouTube at the time of publishing this article. The song remains close to Ayed’s heart, as he’ll rarely forgo an opportunity to mention it: “It’s special,” he says, “because it marked my beginning. I think your first song always has a special place, regardless of what else you make. It’ll never be a disappointment. If my work ever comes up, that song’s inevitably mentioned, too.”
Ayed continued to evolve his craft in the next eight years. This evolution can be traced through the EP Bel-Mout Ja (A Hard Time Coming), then the two LPs, Thaman Al-Alam (The Price of Pain) and Kol Al-Khata (All the Mistakes), as well as several singles like “Rdy” (transliteration for “Inferior”), a late 2023 release that achieved remarkable success and propelled Ayed to the top of the charts. “Rdy” landed him his debut on Billboard Arabia’s Hot 100, landing the No. 4 spot in the week of Dec. 11, 2023. “Rdy” sparked curiosity about the artist’s love life, prompting Ayed to reaffirm on social media at the time that he keeps his personal life separate from his professional one.
In an exclusive reveal to Billboard Arabia, Ayed says that he is preparing to release an album, “The album will feature songs that, God willing, you will enjoy,” says Ayed. “The composers are diverse, with noted composer Rakan taking the lion’s share, followed by Yasser Buali and Saham. Most lyricists involved are part of a new generation of talent.” The composers Rakan and Yasser Bou Ali have been key to Ayed’s journey, shaping his sense of sound over the years. They’ve allowed him to deliver the essence of the voice of the generation preceding him, like Abdul Majeed Abdullah and Rabeh Saqer, while allowing it to take on a contemporary and dynamic style. Their continued collaboration on Ayed’s upcoming album reflects his commitment to the partnerships he has established and his belief in repeating his successes by drawing on the talent that enabled it.
Ayed
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Fifty-eight artists and 29 DJs took the stage at a special outdoor venue in Odaiba, Tokyo, over the weekend (Sept. 21 & 22) for the hip-hop festival THE HOPE. Day 2 headliner Awich performed a blistering nine-track set, including her latest single “Are you serious?” being featured as the theme song for the Netflix series […]
Hinatazaka46’s “Zettaiteki Dairokkan” blast in at No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100, dated Sept. 25.
The J-pop girl group’s 12th single sold 546,483 copies in its first week to rule sales, while coming in at No. 16 for downloads, No. 98 for radio airplay, and No. 82 for video views to take the top spot on the Japan Hot 100 by a narrow margin. The single is Hinatazaka46’s seventh No. 1 hit and the first since “Bokunanka,” which topped the tally in June, 2022.
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Lilac” rises a notch to No. 2 this week. Streams for the former No. 1 hit are up 104% from the week before, while downloads are up 124%, video up 108%, and karaoke up 110%. The track has been cruising along at No. 1 for streaming for 14 consecutive weeks, and also tops video for the fourth. Total streams for the track is currently at 249,797,859, and is expected to sail past the 250 million mark next week.
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The three-man pop band released the film Mrs. GREEN APPLE // The White Lounge in CINEMA in theaters on Sept. 13, which may be why the group’s catalog has climbed the chart this week. 15 songs are charting on the Japan Hot 100, with 13 including “Que Sera Sera,” “Ao to Natsu,” and “Dance Hall” increasing in points from the previous week.
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Last week’s No. 1 song, back number’s “to new lovers,” drops to No. 3 this week. While points for sales are down following the CD release week, streams have shown only a slight decrease (97%), and karaoke is on the rise (117%).
Three songs including this week’s chart-topper debuted in the top 10 this week. Pandadragon’s major label debut single “Night Before A Dance” bows at No. 5 and FRUITS ZIPPER’s “NEW KAWAII” at No. 10.
Outside the top 10, Kenshi Yonezu’s “Sayonara, Mata Itsuka!” jumps four rungs this week, probably because the highly acclaimed historical legal drama it serves as the theme — Tora ni Tsubasa — is ending this week and a special program focusing on the series and the hitmaker’s songwriting (Tora ni Tsubasa x Kenshi Yonezu Special) recently aired. Downloads for the former No. 2 hit nearly doubled (1.9 times) compared to the week before.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Sept. 16 to 22, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
With P1Harmony‘s new album Sad Song released on Friday (Sept. 20), the K-pop boy band continues to rise in creative maturity and chart success. Last summer’s Harmony: All In debuted at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 to mark the group’s first appearance on the albums chart, while their first full-length LP Killin’ It, released in February, peaked at No. 40 entry and secured their first No. 1 on Billboard’s World Albums chart. The Christopher “Tricky” Stewart–produced “Fall in Love” earned them a certified top 40 on the Pop Songs airplay chart and, now, the sextet is taking even bigger steps—on stage as well as behind the scenes.
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For Sad Song, P1Harmony took a more hands-on approach than ever. “We’ve never been this involved with an album before,” the group’s leader Keeho explained to Billboard during an early album preview in Los Angeles. “It’s a huge stepping stone from the other albums.”
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Keeho and his band mates Jiung, Theo, Intak, Soul and Jongseob say the late-summer weather of September marked the perfect chance to finally experiment with Latin music on the title track single, while the EP also brings their first sub-unit track with “WASP,” a standout rap cut performed by Intak and Jongseob.
“Now that we’re becoming more senior, we’re starting to hear the company listening to what we have to say and trusting us a lot more,” Theo says of working closer with their agency, the influential K-pop agency and talent management firm FNC Entertainment. “I’m in a much more comfortable of a position to really talk to our in-house staff about what we want to do .”
Beyond the actual music itself, Intak stepped up to help develop the stage choreography for “Sad Song” (“I really wanted to capture, ‘How can we look more emotionally invested?’” he says). At the same time, Theo’s expanding role into a musical director of P1Harmony’s live shows specifically inspired Jiung to produce the EP’s rock concert anthem, “Last Call.”
As P1Harmony look to climb higher on the charts, diving deeper into their creative instincts is producing more confident and comfortable energy in the boy band who aren’t afraid to speak up for their interests without abandoning what has made them unique since Day 1.
Read on for more into P1Harmony’s process of producing their latest EP, Sad Song.
Billboard: Tell us about “Sad Song” and how this title track single fits within the album?
Keeho: I’m sure you already know, but P1Harmony loves to experiment with new genres and try to mix in different types of vibes. I feel like we never want to stay in one place. We’re always trying to move around, but also add P1Harmony’s color into it, right? The whole Latin inspiration was something that we really wanted to experiment with and I feel like we really brought it out with this title track [single]. It’s out in September so I feel like it’s right when it’s still warm, but starting to get cooler — I feel like with the weather’s vibe, it’ll just suit the song so well.
Especially with this album, we did a lot, a lot, of experimenting within the the songs in the album as well too. We’ve never been this hands-on with an album before. It’s a learning curve, so we’re also very scared. We have one song called “WASP,” which is Intak and Jongseob’s [as a] sub-unit, so the two of them are just rapping. Actually, it’s one of my favorite songs on the album. You’ll listen to the album and it’ll be a completely different vibe. So, it’s like really cool that they have that in there. Also, Jiung and I did separate songs for the album. He did “Last Call,” and I did “It’s Alright.” Mine is a little bit of a reggae-like guitar vibe, but he is more like a band guitar vibe.
On the albums before, we usually only had one song where we would be very involved in its production, but this time, we’ve had three. So, it’s a huge stepping stone from the other albums; we’re really excited to see what the fans are going to think. I’m a little scared, but we’re really, really excited. And this is the first time where our mini album has seven tracks. So we’re including the English version of “Sad Song” in the album as well, so that’s three out of seven tracks that we are very deeply — like whole foot in — involved.
But P1Harmony has always been involved in music, especially when it comes to songwriting. What was so different this time?
Keeho: Before, I think it was more like, “We want to have a song that’s this vibe” and we kind of just write to the tracks. But this time, we were really in the structure of it, so we talked to producers and were like, “This is a vibe we want, this is a melody we want,” and we would actually be in the song camps with like other really great amazing writers and producers. We would sit down with them, bounce off each other’s ideas and really be a part of this song-making process. Whereas [the past] was kind of like, “This is the vibe; you guys kind of just write on top of it.” And I feel like Jiung and Jongseob also have a lot to say about it because, while I wouldn’t say they were restricted, I would say that there’s definitely a limit to what they wanted to do creatively. But I feel like this time they were allowed to kind of run wild and be able to really just do what they want. This is our first time having a unit song as well, in general, too; I mean, creatively, they gave us a lot of freedom this time.
Jiung: Actually, I talked a lot about our album with Theo. Because he does a lot of things for the stages of our concerts and tours. So, I asked him, “What do we need for our concert? What do we need for the next tour?” he said, “We need a song that can hype people up — make people enjoy us on stage even more and just jump.” I then made the concept of the song [“Last Call”], then I talked with our producer and the top liner from the very beginning of the process. Knowing that we would use it for a certain occasion, it was a lot easier for me to create my song and map out what I wanted to make sonically. Theo is really the one who sets up our whole setlist for our tours and conceptualizes and creates the whole show.
Theo, have you always been interested in musical direction, or is this a role you naturally stepped into?
Theo: I’ve always been interested in musical directing and loved the idea of musical shows and concerts. It’s not something I did out of the blue, but I’ve been coming up with ideas and communicating with the company since the beginning. And now that we’re becoming more senior, we’re starting to hear the company listening to what we have to say and trusting us a lot more in what we want to do for shows, so a lot of my ideas have come to life. Now, I’m in a much more comfortable of a position to really talk to our in-house staff about what we want to do for our next tour, the current tours, and what we’re doing right now. I think we’re gradually expanding our horizons.
Keeho: Yeah, they’re really listening a lot now, and Theo is always at the forefront of that.
I love that. Sad Song is your seventh mini album. Previously, you had three Disharmony EPs, three Harmony EPs, Killin It was a full album. Is this the beginning of a new era or trilogy?
Keeho: I think our trilogies, like Harmony and Disharmony, and then what’s happening after Killin’ It are very two different things. I had talked to our people because I’m a part of a lot of the visualization and conceptualizing of the albums. With the storytelling aspect of it, I told our company that it’d be really dope to not make trilogies anymore but kind of make it, like, a standalone project each time. That way for each album, we can really bring in something new and different without having to feel like we need to tie everything together. It gives us more freedom to creatively create something new just for the album without having to be like, “Okay, but how is this going to tie into ‘Killin’ It’?”
Visually, it’s very different too. But as you know, we debuted with a movie and the whole story of the six of us being superheroes that are coming together to save the world figuratively, and also literally at the same time with our music, I wanted to keep that concept going. So, even if the songs and the concepts are different, I still wanted to bring [the idea] that we’re still superheroes. Visually, I think you’ll be able to see it in the music video and the concepts. That’s the one thing that we’re keeping consistent.
Tell me about creating the choreography and what we should look out for?
Soul: By the time of KCON in July, we had learned all the choreography for Sad Song tracks. Difficulty-wise, “Sad Song” is not that difficult compared to our other releases because I feel like in the chorus, there’s a simple point choreography that anyone can really just look at and kind of understand. Intak was very involved in how the choreography was made this time.
Intak: Yeah, when I listened to the song, I really wanted to capture, “How can we look more emotionally invested in the stage?” So, I thought about how it’s called “Sad Song,” but there’s also a lyric where it says “mad song,” and we repeat those two lyrics a lot. When creating the choreography, I wanted to be able to portray that on stage as well so that when people see they can just understand the sadness and the madness in the choreo. I talked to our performance director back in Korea and we really kind of curated this choreography to hopefully portray that emotion.
Keeho: And if I put my little two cents in, we actually get “skeleton” choreographies from, like, four different dance teams. That’s what’s really fun about K-pop. I don’t know if other people do it too or if other dancers do it, but we’ll pick out choreographers that we really think are super cool and good at what they do, and ask them to create a choreography for the song. Then, we’ll have four different choreographies for the same song. And Intak and the creative director would then sit down, look at the videos, and sort of mix and match to see which choreo suits us best and how we can make it better, right? Intak was super, super involved in that process.
I remember when P1Harmony started, you shared how it was very important for you not to lose yourselves or feel like you’ve sold out. As you go more global and experiment with different genres, how have you stayed true to yourselves?
Keeho: Honestly, I don’t think it’s that difficult anymore. I feel like it’s become really simple and easy for us because we really understand that no one can be us — and we can’t be anyone else. As long as we’re really in tune with what we think is cool, what’s hot, and what we feel is good, that automatically becomes P1Harmony.
So, no matter what you throw at us — it can be rock, pop, R&B, jazz, Latin — if it goes through us, it still comes out as P1Harmony. And I feel like that’s so simple and easy now because we’re so confident and so in tune with what we know our strengths and our weaknesses are; I feel like it’s not something we have to think about; whatever we do, there’s always that feeling of P1Harmony in there.
Since we’re almost four years into our careers now, I feel like it’s more of a subconscious thing. A couple years ago, I would be like, “Okay, how do we make this ours?” or “If this is this experimental, how do we make it without sounding like someone else?” That was always something in the back of our heads, but now it’s coming through subconsciously.
HyunJin, ChanYeon and JiSeok came together as Big Ocean to debut in April this year as the first Deaf/Hard of Hearing group in K-pop. The group’s warm embrace onto the scene by superstars, production and executives across Korea points towards a more inclusive global music scene. Brought together by Korea’s only agency representing talent with […]
A smiling Big Ocean greet you for a nighttime Zoom call with shaking hands — the American Sign Language translation of applause and cheering — which encapsulates a palpable energy bursting from a K-pop trio unlike any other pop group.
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HyunJin, ChanYeon and JiSeok came together as Big Ocean to debut in April this year as the first Deaf/Hard of Hearing group in K-pop. The group’s warm embrace onto the scene by superstars, production and executives across Korea points towards a more inclusive global music scene.
Brought together by Korea’s only agency representing talent with disabilities Parastar Entertainment, Big Ocean sees three stars with different backgrounds and hearing abilities as a sign of hope and possibility.
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The group’s main vocalist Park HyunJin lost hearing in his left ear after a childhood accident, but a cochlear surgery led him to learning to play the piano, speak some English, and break out as a YouTube creator and TV personality educating viewers about hearing disabilities. Main rapper Lee ChanYeon, who underwent cochlear implant surgery for both ears, developed his musical interest after experiencing the positive side effects of music therapy. Meanwhile, youngest member and main dancer Kim JiSeok was born Hard of Hearing and attended a special school for those with disabilities before becoming a professional ski racer for Seoul skiing team.
Big Ocean admits that the members’ varying auditory perceptions can present challenges when it comes to learning choreography, singing in rhythm and performing live, but it’s inspired innovative ways for the group and their Parastar team to find new ways to rehearse successfully like utilizing vibrating smartwatches as metronomes or flashing lights for rhythmic counting.
While the definition of a K-pop act has expanded from Korean-born pop singers to artists representing a range of different countries, cultures, and languages, Big Ocean not only look the part of handsome, shining stars with international appeal but align with one of the core messages within in K-pop to instill inspiring messages to listeners both with their stories and music.
“The message from our song ‘Slow’ is that if you move forward and continue, slowly and steadily, you can do anything,” HyunJin says of the group’s latest single released last month that features Young K of chart-topping K-pop rock outfit DAY6, marking their latest venture to share more personal storytelling through their songs.
“Not only our seniors but also people from outside the company are giving us a lot of support, so we are really thankful,” adds JiSeok. “If we didn’t have that help, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
“Not only our seniors but also people from outside the company are giving us a lot of support, so we are really thankful,” adds JiSeok with a special shoutout to the group’s fans, known affection as PADOs. “If we didn’t have that help, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
With recognitions from members of Stray Kids, ITZY and even the President of Korea, read on for more from Big Ocean’s story and why they are a group to watch as Billboard‘s K-Pop Rookie of the Month for September 2024.
Congratulations on your debut this year and being named Billboard‘s Rookie of the Month! Overall, how has 2024 been for you?
JiSeok: I was really worried if we could do well. I was concerned, “Are we going to be okay?” But fortunately, so many people and so many senior idols gave us a lot of support and help. Not only our seniors but also people from outside the company are giving us a lot of support, so we are really thankful. If we didn’t have that help, we wouldn’t be where we are today.
HyunJin: And even today, we got an opportunity to meet with the President of Korea. We are also getting tons of invitations from outside of the country, so we’re getting so much love and support. So we are really, really grateful.
ChanYeon: And so many of our fans, PADOS, from so many countries, are sending us love and then recognizing us. So, we are really thankful and I feel like we have to pay back with even greater performances.
Thank you for taking time while you’re so busy. Congratulations on your latest single, “Slow,” featuring Young K of DAY6. It’s such a great collaboration; how did it come together, and how was your experience?
HyunJin: The message from our song” Slow,” is that if you move forward and continue, slowly and steadily, you can do anything. And in the process of making this song, we made a proposal to DAY6’s Young K that featuring his voice would sound great and work great with our song. He said “Yes” immediately, so that’s why we were able to release the song successfully and we’re so grateful for it. Thanks to him, we were able to feel even more support and we feel he really has our back.
JiSeok: We were really hoping that we could thank him in person, [but] because Young K was very busy preparing for the [new DAY6] album, we weren’t able to do so. But if we could meet in person later, that would be really great.
Are you guys fans of DAY6? Their latest album is topping the charts in South Korea.
HyunJin: We listened to one of the new songs released from their album, “Melt Down,” and really, really loved it. We wanted to pay back our debts for Young K featuring our song, so we took the highlight of the song and turned it into a challenge on social media with sign language.
JiSeok: The song is doing really great and is really popular — we really want to congratulate them!
I was curious about how you create your sign language challenges and incorporate signing into your performances. Are you the ones making the moves? Do you work with a team?
ChanYeon: When we do a simple sign language challenge, we discuss among ourselves and make it. But when we’re choreographing or releasing something like our official music videos where we are mixing Korean and American Sign Languages, we actually get reviewed by sign language experts to make sure everything is expressed in the most precise way.
Some readers might be surprised to learn that Deaf or Hard of Hearing people can sing, dance, rap and more. Can you tell us about your different backgrounds with just music?
JiSeok: I go to a special school for people with hearing disabilities. At the time when I was in school, RM from BTS sunbaenim actually made a large donation to help the school’s music education. It was thanks to that donation that I actually got a lot more interested in music; I learned about dancing for the first time, I had a lot of opportunities to learn different musical instruments. So, that’s how I was able to fall in love with music and able to dream of becoming an idol.
HyunJin: When I was nine years old, I had an accident and lost hearing ability in my left ear completely. I had a surgery that allowed me to hear sounds; however, afterward, it didn’t really sound natural to me anymore; it sounded very artificial. I felt very uncomfortable hearing any kind of or type of sound.
At the time, I was also learning piano and attending an academy. Listening to the actual piano was very pretty and the only pleasant sound to me. So, as I played piano, sound felt positive, not negative anymore. So that’s when I started to become more interested in music because the piano was the only sound that made me feel good. After I grew up and became an adult, I became a YouTube creator and made many videos about breaking the barriers regarding misunderstandings and prejudices regarding hearing disability. I started making TV appearances and that’s when I actually learned about my current agency, Parastar Entertainment, so I naturally challenged myself to be an idol.
ChanYeon: In my case, I wasn’t really interested in music at all. Only after I got the surgery for cochlear implants for both my ears did I go through a lot of music therapy, and music actually really helped me. That’s when I found my interest in music.
As a boy band, how do you interact with music to perform as a group? Can you share the different ways you overcome any challenges?
HyunJin: Because the level of hearing is different in each one of us, the way we perceive beats and rhythms is also different. So, our company came up with the idea of using smartwatches and vibrations from the smartwatches as metronomes. That’s how we were able to feel the beat and rhythm in sync — and it made it so much easier for us to feel the music.
We also developed a “beam monitor” that flashes lights in sync with the music. So, that was another way. We also continuously film ourselves dancing to the music and constantly monitor ourselves and review to see who feels the beats differently or if we’re not in sync. And we continuously practice. And that’s how we can move in sync.
You’ve performed on Korea’s weekly K-pop music programs like Show! Music Core, Inkigayo, The Show, Music Bank and more. These shows are famously very fast-paced. How was your experience, and could they meet any accommodations you needed?
JiSeok: Our first time going on music programs, they were aware of the fact that we had hearing difficulties, so they always made sure to use hand gestures, give visual signals for cues to enter the stage, or whenever they wanted to send us some type of message. They were really nice about it; very, very kind. They constantly asked us whether we had any problems hearing or listening to the music. So, thanks to them, we could put up a good performance.
HyunJin: If the set or environment is too loud or noisy, we might have trouble listening for the start of the song. So, during rehearsals and the actual shooting, they made sure to ask for the audience’s understanding and to be quieter than usual so that we could actually hear the music. They were very generous for that. Also, our dancers make sure the choreography opens with a starting dance move. The background dancers initiated the choreography so then we knew the performance had started.
ChanYeon: And even our staff members ensured that everyone at the TV stations and on-site knew we might have trouble communicating or listening. So, they ensured everyone was aware, and I think we had no trouble. We’re really grateful for everyone being so considerate.
I saw you met with Felix from Stray Kids backstage during the shows to learn the “Chk Chk Boom” challenge. Tell me about that experience.
JiSeok: After the broadcast, I met Felix for the first time. I thought he was a complete angel — I really thought he was an angel. As soon as I met him, he greeted me with American Sign Language. He prepared it himself and showed us that he learned “Nice to meet you” and “How are you?” It really impressed us. We did the dance challenge together — I was so nervous, soo nervous! — but I was happy and really appreciative of everything. I thought about how I should practice and work even harder to perform even better.
After the dance challenge, Felix gave us [Stray Kids’] album as a gift. I was so grateful; I can’t even express it in words. I really want to see him again and meet him in the future.
I saw a recent announcement from Parastar Entertainment that Big Ocean is auditioning new members. Could we see the group expand in the future?
HyunJin: We have three members, right? We think three of us is too small and that our group is not big enough. That’s why we’re we’re hiring new members. If you come to our website of the company you can apply for the audition 24-7 so please come! We’re definitely looking for more members to apply.
Any other messages you want to share with your international fans at this time?
HyunJin: So three days after this interview, it will be five months since we debuted as Big Ocean so I really want to say thank you to all the fans and people who made Big Ocean possible and gave us a lot of support. To our fandom, PADOS, who are continuously supporting us, promoting us, and even doing all these activities to attract more PADOS on social [media] communities — I really want to say thank you. We will do our part and work harder to show you even greater performance and activities.
JiSeok: Thank you so much for such this great opportunity. Also, in November, we’re trying to release another song, so we will really work hard with our company. If we do release our new song, please send us a lot of support. We will work hard.
HARU NEMURI will launch the U.S. leg of her Flee from the Sanctuary Tour on Saturday, Sept. 28. Her U.S. tour will kick off from Seattle, following into San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Brooklyn, and finishing at Reggies in Chicago on Oct. 15. Tickets are now on sale for all shows here. “When I felt […]