Move over K-pop - South Korea's old-timey trot music in resurgence backed by fans with resources

Record ID: 1586978

  • Title: Move over K-pop - South Korea's old-timey trot music in resurgence backed by fans with resources
  • Date: 13th November 2020
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND MERCHANDISE FEATURING LIM YOUNG-WOONG ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) HWANG EUN-JEONG, 54-YEAR-OLD HOUSEWIFE AND FAN OF LIM YOUNG-WOONG, SAYING: "BTS has (its fan club) ARMY but we are known as 'Mommies'. Most of us are mothers with children, so we, 130,000 mothers, want to protect Lim Young-woong like we care for our children." FULL-SIZE CUTOUTS
  • Embargoed: 27th November 2020 03:48
  • Keywords: K-pop Mr. Trot Seoul South Korea business comeback culture elderly fan fan club music resurgence senior trot
  • Location: SIHEUNG, SEOUL, GOYANG, VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS, GUNPO AND BUCHEON, SOUTH KOREA
  • City: SIHEUNG, SEOUL, GOYANG, VARIOUS FILMING LOCATIONS, GUNPO AND BUCHEON, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Human Interest/Brights/Odd News,Society/Social Issues,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA00DD4EF8T5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:The living room of middle-aged South Korean man Song Jong-choon is full of trot singer Song Ga-in's photos and merchandise in her signature pink ranging from cushions to hoodies.
    The 54-year-old, who runs a construction firm with 50 employees, is also the head of Song Ga-in's 57,000-member fan club "AGAIN". He says trot songs "heal his broken soul" and remind him of the countryside home he had left behind for the city.
    Once ridiculed as music for grannies, the trot is making a huge comeback, partly due to the popularity of several reality TV singing competitions. Young South Korean pop stars performed covers of old-timey trot in the "American Idol"-style competition shows, such as "Mr. Trot", with videos of the episodes amassing millions of views online.
    South Koreans, many in their 40s to 60s, are fuelling the fandom of an alternate to K-pop idol music in one of the world's fastest ageing societies.
    K-pop is a multi-billion-dollar global music industry with high-energy stars in bands like BTS and BLACKPINK enjoying huge fan bases outside South Korea.
    But at home, in contrast to K-pop's fluffy idol music and slick choreography, trot signers performing old ballads have seen the biggest increase in fans, according to top portal website Daum that analyses growth rates of fan clubs and their social media activities.
    "I had never done fan club activities before but I joined it for the first time. It was difficult for me to do something online, even leaving a comment, but trot helped me to become connected online and to be a part of the mainstream community in the days of 'Ontact'," said 62-year-old Yoon Ki-ok, who is a fan of popular trot singer Lim Young-woong, as she explained the concept of "online contact".
    Today, fans of the trot genre have become an economic force to reckon with and many use their unlimited data plans to plug into streaming sites or vote for their favourite stars at awards, embracing ways of K-pop followers.
    "The middle-age and elderly group who have time and money to spare, invest aggressively in their stars. They feel that their stars help to energise their life," said Jung Duk Hyun, a pop-culture columnist.
    (Production: Dogyun Kim, Daewoung Kim, Soohyun Mah, Hyunyoung Yi)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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