So most of the music I hear in Korea is, to my ears, pretty bad. It sounds like it's made by people who think the Backstreet Boys would be just the bees' knees if only they'd have sung in Korean. Another contingent takes its cue from Celine Dion, still another Britney Spears circa 1998. And this stuff is everywhere---coffee shops, clothing stores, restaurants, the sidewalks in front of businesses, where outdoor speakers regale your walk past. So I'm relieved when I hear one of the few currently popular songs that's got an interesting part in it, or is at least catchy. The other day I remarked to Chris and Hong-Eun, "Hey, I like this one."
And that's when I learned I'd been listening to a phone commercial. Apparently one of the major girl groups here recorded a song about the new LG Chocolate phone, and I've been hearing it a lot. But seriously, I mean I've been hearing it in the rotation when I'm sitting at the coffee shop working, which means---I think---Korean corporations not only control pop music, they get songs produced that advertise their products, and those ad-songs then top the charts and get played in stores, cabs, bars, and homes all over the country. It's like that episode of The Simpsons where the Navy manufactures a boy band and has it sing a song with backwards-message Navy propaganda, except that there's no attempt to mask this one.
So here it is. Does it make you want to buy a phone?
Bonus: Here's Son Dam-Bi with After School singing about the new Amoled. (Subtitles can be turned on from the triangle in the lower right.)
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1 comments:
Yeah, I remember hearing a news story about these advertisement songs that were pop chart hits. But I think it was in Europe somewhere.
ps- my captcha was "Garlene." I think she used to work at the Heavy Metal Waffle House.
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