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The Korea Times

By KTimes
Warner Music Group, one of the world’s top three music companies, highlighted the success of the song “APT” during its fourth-quarter earnings presentation.
Chief executive Robert Kyncl emphasised the collaboration between Blackpink’s Rosé and American pop star Bruno Mars as a key achievement.
Unlike previous K-pop successes by artists like Psy, who leveraged YouTube, or BTS, which used its powerful fandom, Rosé’s approach focused on integrating into local music networks from the start.












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After leaving South Korean label YG Entertainment, Rosé signed with Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, in September.
The label is home to artists like Bruno Mars and the British rock band Coldplay. Through the company, Rosé proposed a collaboration with Mars.
She sent three songs as potential joint projects, and Mars selected “APT”. Being under the same label accelerated their collaboration. Mars contributed to the lyrics, composition and arrangement of “APT”. He also worked with director Daniel Ramos to craft a “B-movie concept”, featuring casual dancing and playful visuals.
This approach marked a departure from K-pop’s signature elements – elaborate music videos with intricate storytelling, precise synchronised choreography and explosive sounds – all absent from “APT”.
Instead, the success of “APT” stemmed from the “popification of K-pop”, or its integration into mainstream pop music – a synergy between Rosé and Mars that introduced a fresh dynamic to the genre.
Music critic Kim Do-heon said: “Rosé’s success with ‘APT’ is an example of starting with K-pop and succeeding through a pop-music approach.”
Released last month, “APT” topped Billboard’s Global 200 chart for two consecutive weeks with record-breaking streams of over 200 million.

It also became the first song by an international artist in three years to achieve two consecutive weeks atop Japan’s Oricon streaming chart since BTS’ “Permission to Dance” in 2021.
This shift reflects a broader trend among K-pop idols to explore new strategies. For example, BTS’ Jungkook released his solo album Golden entirely in English to appeal to a wider audience.
Entertainment group Hybe’s chairman, Bang Si-hyuk, explained at a US pop-culture conference: “For K-pop to gain more fans in the global music market, it needs to be consumed more lightly as part of pop music, requiring expansion in both form and content.”
The evolving “popification of K-pop” was evident at the 2024 MAMA awards ceremony in Osaka, Japan, on November 22.
Rosé and Mars premiered “APT” with a minimalist performance featuring live backup singers instead of professional dancers, an unusual sight for a K-pop performance.
By blending K-pop with Western pop conventions, Rosé and Mars’ “APT” represents a new model of success, rewriting the global playbook for K-pop artists.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Read the original story at The Korea Times


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Rosé and Bruno Mars performed their song APT at the MAMA awards show in Japan on November 22. Its success stems from the “popification of K-pop”, or its integration into mainstream pop music. Photo: Instagram/@mnet_mama

Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT” represents a new model of success, rewriting the global playbook for K-pop artists.

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A still from the “APT” official music video. Korean singer Yoon Soo-il’s 1982 hit ‘A.P.T’ is enjoying renewed attention after Blackpink’s Rosé released “APT” with pop star Bruno Mars. Photo: YouTube/@Rosé

Yoon Soo-il attends the Busan International Film Festival in 2016. Photo: Instagram/@chaemifan

J.Y. Park debuted as a singer in 1994 and went on to produce some of the biggest acts in K-pop. He will soon embark on a concert tour in Korea and Japan to celebrate 30 years as a K-pop powerhouse. Photo: JYP Entertainment

Park’s career in K-pop spans three decades. Photo: Twitter / @pafe184

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Girl group Itzy, launched by J.Y. Parks JYP Entertainment, perform in Goyang, on the outskirts of Seoul, in 2021. Photo: Getty Images

Why Chinese internet users love APT, hit single by Blackpink’s Rosé and Bruno Mars

Users on Chinese Instagram-like platform Xiaohongshu cannot get enough of APT, the hit single by Blackpink’s Rosé and Bruno Mars. Photo: Instagram/@roses_are_rosie 

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The four members of virtual K-pop girl group Mave: live in the metaverse, their songs, dances, interviews and even their hairstyles created by web designers and artificial intelligence. Photo: Metaverse Entertainment

Experts say the Covid-19 pandemic aided the growth of such virtual characters like Mave:. Photo: Reuters

Kang Sung-ku, head of the technical department of Metaverse Entertainment, works on Mave: at his office in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Reuters

Lifestyle

Entertainment

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Less synchronised choreography and storytelling, more casual dancing and playful visuals – ‘APT’ blends K-pop and Western pop conventions


Less synchronised choreography and storytelling, more casual dancing and playful visuals – ‘APT’ blends K-pop and Western pop conventions.


K-pop idols

Fame and celebrity

Korea Times