4 ms·

Real reason for K-pop success: hire the best Swedish pop songwriters in the world and give them carte blanche to create any crazy songs they want. Same with Kor

Real reason for K-pop success: hire the best Swedish pop songwriters in the world and give them carte blanche to create any crazy songs they want. Same with Korean car companies and hiring the best German and Italian designers. Start with money, import talent, then cut them loose.

thaumasiotes 4y ago
You know, the best Swedish pop songwriters in the world could probably do a really good job on the musical accompaniment to a K-pop song, but they're likely to be among the worst possible people to write the song. Any three-year-old Korean kid would be a better choice.
- carabiner 4y ago
  Nope, they're doing just fine writing for BTS etc.: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bts-red-velvet.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bt...
  - thaumasiotes 4y ago
    But they aren't. The headline of that very article (ok, the subhed) notes that they aren't capable of writing Korean songs and don't try. This is repeated in the text: > Carlebecker writes in English, and then Korean songwriters add new lyrics to her melodies
    - consumer451 4y ago
      > Korean songs I believe the correct term would be lyrics, not songs. A song can have its lyrics translated/altered into an entirely different language and still carry the same weight. Many pop songwriters would argue that the lyrics are one of the least important components. Non-anglophone countries are full of such songs based on English language originals. Though this musical localization seems have be have been more popular in the past, for multiple reasons.
      - WalterBright 4y ago
        > Many pop songwriters would argue that the lyrics are one of the least important components A B C It's as easy as 1 2 3 Doe Rae Me You and me or: 1 2 3 4 I am going to keep on counting 5 6 7 8 Yep.
        WalterBright 4y ago
        P.S. both of those lyrics are from hit songs. The first from the Jackson 5, the second Gloria Estefan.
      - thaumasiotes 4y ago
        > A song can have its lyrics translated/altered into an entirely different language and still carry the same weight. This is not true. Try listening to "the same" song in two different languages that you can speak, one of which being the language the song was written in. One of two things will be true: (a) It is obvious which songs was originally written in that language and which is a translation. (b) It is not obvious that the two songs are the same. > I believe the correct term would be lyrics, not songs. Nope. The lyrics are the song. Music with nothing but lyrics sung to a melody is still a song. Music without lyrics is not a song.
        pronlover723 4y ago
        Plenty of anime, jpop, and kpop songs translated and sung by fans in English. They do a great job of making the lyrics fit, rhyme, and feel like an English song. I've actually been kind of shocked how good they are given how poor many professional subtitle translation are. Like recently watching Cyberpunk 2077 and the English subtitles are not remotely close to the Japanese dialog
        Kiro 4y ago
        I never listen to lyrics. Even when I've heard a song hundreds of time I wouldn't be able to tell you what it is about. For me, the vocals are just another instrument and it doesn't matter what the lyrics are or what language they are in.
andrekandre 4y ago
wow, i never heard that! any interesting articles/videos about that?
- carabiner 4y ago
  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bts-red-velvet.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bt...
  - andrekandre 4y ago
    thanks!
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
poisonarena 4y ago
This is absolutely true and I wish more people knew.. They even imported several New Jack Swing producers (the type of HipHop/RNB 90s dance style that was popular in the 90s.. Think Bobby Brown/Keith Sweat/GUY).. Korea is the ONLY nation on earth still making NJS, and where NJS is still relatively popular, pleading out into several kpop tracks. The producer who created that, Teddy Riley, and several others have been going there and producing KPOP for decades now..

thaumasiotes 4y ago

You know, the best Swedish pop songwriters in the world could probably do a really good job on the musical accompaniment to a K-pop song, but they're likely to be among the worst possible people to write the song. Any three-year-old Korean kid would be a better choice.

carabiner 4y ago
Nope, they're doing just fine writing for BTS etc.: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bts-red-velvet.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bt...
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  But they aren't. The headline of that very article (ok, the subhed) notes that they aren't capable of writing Korean songs and don't try. This is repeated in the text: > Carlebecker writes in English, and then Korean songwriters add new lyrics to her melodies
  - consumer451 4y ago
    > Korean songs I believe the correct term would be lyrics, not songs. A song can have its lyrics translated/altered into an entirely different language and still carry the same weight. Many pop songwriters would argue that the lyrics are one of the least important components. Non-anglophone countries are full of such songs based on English language originals. Though this musical localization seems have be have been more popular in the past, for multiple reasons.
    - WalterBright 4y ago
      > Many pop songwriters would argue that the lyrics are one of the least important components A B C It's as easy as 1 2 3 Doe Rae Me You and me or: 1 2 3 4 I am going to keep on counting 5 6 7 8 Yep.
      - WalterBright 4y ago
        P.S. both of those lyrics are from hit songs. The first from the Jackson 5, the second Gloria Estefan.
    - thaumasiotes 4y ago
      > A song can have its lyrics translated/altered into an entirely different language and still carry the same weight. This is not true. Try listening to "the same" song in two different languages that you can speak, one of which being the language the song was written in. One of two things will be true: (a) It is obvious which songs was originally written in that language and which is a translation. (b) It is not obvious that the two songs are the same. > I believe the correct term would be lyrics, not songs. Nope. The lyrics are the song. Music with nothing but lyrics sung to a melody is still a song. Music without lyrics is not a song.
      - pronlover723 4y ago
        Plenty of anime, jpop, and kpop songs translated and sung by fans in English. They do a great job of making the lyrics fit, rhyme, and feel like an English song. I've actually been kind of shocked how good they are given how poor many professional subtitle translation are. Like recently watching Cyberpunk 2077 and the English subtitles are not remotely close to the Japanese dialog
      - Kiro 4y ago
        I never listen to lyrics. Even when I've heard a song hundreds of time I wouldn't be able to tell you what it is about. For me, the vocals are just another instrument and it doesn't matter what the lyrics are or what language they are in.

andrekandre 4y ago

wow, i never heard that! any interesting articles/videos about that?

carabiner 4y ago
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bts-red-velvet.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/arts/music/sweden-kpop-bt...
- andrekandre 4y ago
  thanks!

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

poisonarena 4y ago

This is absolutely true and I wish more people knew.. They even imported several New Jack Swing producers (the type of HipHop/RNB 90s dance style that was popular in the 90s.. Think Bobby Brown/Keith Sweat/GUY).. Korea is the ONLY nation on earth still making NJS, and where NJS is still relatively popular, pleading out into several kpop tracks. The producer who created that, Teddy Riley, and several others have been going there and producing KPOP for decades now..