[talk] Day6 tops the charts... Now rock is also K-pop

Rock has emerged as a new breakthrough in the K-pop market. After the success of FNC Entertainment's FT Island and CNBLUE, K-pop bands that had been quiet recently experienced a new turning point with JYP Entertainment's Day6. Debuting in 2015, Day6, despite their hiatus due to military service, managed to reverse the charts with songs like "You Were Beautiful" and "Become a Page" last year. The title song "Melting" from their recently released 9th mini-album "Band Aid" topped major music charts including Melon, and they will be performing at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul at the end of the year, a stage where only top-tier singers perform.

DAY6 built their skills through street busking and small live club performances. It has been reported that JYP CEO Jung Wook, who is a rock maniac, has spared no support. JYP Studio J, where DAY6 is affiliated, has another band called Xdinary Heroes. A JYP official said, “We put a lot of effort into creating the band, to the point where we set up a separate practice room in our building even before DAY6’s debut,” and “It seems that the fact that we approached them in a way that suits the characteristics of a band, unlike other K-pop groups, brought about good results.”

The reason why major K-pop agencies are trying to pioneer new genres is because the market has become a red ocean. Kim, a popular music critic, said, “K-pop has reached a point where both supply and demand are saturated, so they have no choice but to keep looking for new sources of income.”

Yes, idols have advanced so much that I think it's time for other genres of Korean music to go global.

Day6, cheer up