https://bsky.app/profile/mc.frontalot.com/post/3ltctsvilak2b
I would have found it more interesting if the song topping the charts was from a VTuber or something completely computer-generated, not much like this.
I think that a song by a vtuber is unlikely to top the charts right now because they're still not quite mainstream enough for that. I think the current perception of them is similar to how anime was perceived in the past ("Look at all those weebs simping over their fictional girlfriends"), but it is heading towards mainstream. HoloEN did a lot to popularise it in the western world, and I don't think it's unlikely that a song by a vtuber could gain more widespread popularity in the near future. They have the talent for it, it's just not quite escaped the "streamer" bubble
Italo Disco would like to have a word I think ;)
Arte TV aired a really good documentary about the Italo Disco phenomenon recently, unfortunately it doesn't seem to be officially available on the internet yet - but they basically had it all, factory-line produced music with singers and "stage artists" being entirely different people, but among all that trash also sometimes really good stuff.
And they used synthesizers as "shameless" as nobody else, today they would go full AI slop I think.
(separately) Milli Vanilli was unfortunately a disaster for those involved.
Electronic production and distribution made the job easier in some ways - harder and more competitive in others - but the music factory system is not a new phenomenon.
Wait, wait, I know the history of that genre, it was on a very small scale... compared to modern k-pop I would still consider that normal independent music production :)
I'm not aware of any military backing, though. Kpop stars occasionally perform at army concerts - South Korea is a country with mandatory service for all young men, so as you can imagine these are popular -, and while I assume these are paying gigs it's also infrequent enough that I doubt you can call it backing.
Its probably more accurate to say k pop has already peaked its been popular massively in the west for almost a decade since at least 2016
Blackpink, newjeans, and BTS are all mega acts that are on their nth albums, the trend for kpop is fully established not really emerging just now.
You do raise an extremely good ontopic point about gorillaz being a prior example of a fictional band. I always hated their mtv cribs episode because their fake animated house always scored no.1 on the best of cribs lists.
The film is somewhat interesting because although the premise is very anime, the animation style isn't at all. Combined with the massive resources of Sony and Netflix that makes it pretty accessible to a Western audience.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Brother,_Where_Art_Thou%3F...
It's a bit like Mariah Carey singing the soundtrack to an animated movie in the aughts or something: Yeah, that sells.
It's a little more surprising that in 2025, the BBC couldn't find a knowledgable music editor to fill this piece with relevant detail.
IMO, that eagerness to collaborate was brought into modern music by rappers. It's almost not possible to build a discography of modern rappers, who happily take roles from background singing to minor rap sections in each other's works - not to mention sampling.
It used to be "Bing Crosby, with the Andrews Sisters". Now the "featuring" section is sometimes ten names long, almost never absent, and Damon was right there as the revolution was televised.
His previous success greased the wheels, sure, but Gorillaz was right-idea/right-time.
https://youtu.be/1wGOHbcQKIc as one of various examples.
The vocals are typically still provided by human performers (often not named), but they've held "fan events" or given interviews using AI voice generation with models trained on the human speakers I believe.
Completely see why Demon Hunters has taken the US charts.
I watched it for the animation (same Sony Pictures Animation studio as the Spider-Verse movies). It's breathtaking to watch if you're an animation junkie, but I was unexpectedly blown away by the soundtrack.
Every song's beautifully written and performed. It's catchy in a way that Disney stuff used to be. Yes, it's cheesy boy-vs-girl finding-yourself ultra-produced pop — but it's also just uplifting to watch. And it's full of cheek, personality, and nice production touches (like the triplet can-pull fills on Soda Pop).
The blending of English and Korean is a nice touch too, even more noticeable in the lyric videos that Sony Pictures has put out than the movie itself, which have each blown through 15-30 million views over the weekend, most of that from me.
Golden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yebNIHKAC4A
How It's Done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGsevnbItdU
In the South Korean audience, an idol doesn't rank above a celebrity or singer. There's a clear distinction between actual artists (held in much greater esteem) and idols. You can parse the term idol a bit more like "entertainer". They provide a service, not art, and there's usually no pretense at all that idols have ownership over the product instead of merely some level of contribution to it through their performance. There's no need to claim or pretend authenticity as is e.g. the norm in Western pop, even though all the songs are written and supplied by the (approximately true ...) same half-dozen Scandinavian song houses the world over.
I.e. yes, late stage capitalism perhaps, but it's also really not trying to hide it either. You can still have a discussion about finite "airtime" and the displacement of more auteur-driven music though.
(Also, Babymetal are Japanese.)
Neywiny•3d ago
EraYaN•3d ago
Copenjin•6h ago