KBS to air special on K-pop's growing popularity

KBS 1TV's "KBS Special" will air "K-pop: Making the World Dance" on June 26th at 8PM KST. The program will shed light on the new Hallyu Wave of K-pop, following the previous K-drama Hallyu wave. On May 21st, 2PM held a "high-touch fan meet" in Japan, where nearly 40,000 fans came to shake hands with the members for a mere 3 seconds. In addition, "SM Town Live in Paris" was planned for only a single concert, but it ended up becoming extended in answer to the protest for an additional concert from the French fans. In a poll from KBS World through Youtube, 12,000 fans from 78 different nations voted on the topic of K-pop's appeal in the order of: song - dance - visuals. Taking this information, the program will analyze the power of K-pop and the economic effects it brings. Revenue of TVXQ in Japan for 2010 totaled to $130 million dollars USD, ranking 2nd of all artists in Japan. Both KARA and SNSD, who are the leaders of the female K-pop wave in Japan, has�profited�a combined total of $30 million USD in only album sales throughout 2010. As Japan is the 2nd biggest music market in the world, there is huge revenue from album sales, but the total revenue increases even greater when other earnings are put into the equation. The producers stated, "According to our research, K-pop's economic effect tops $3.7 billion USD a year." Source + Photo: Yonhap News