Chapter 1

The Problem

Introduction

“Fandom is a way of life. Much like daily activities such as eating, walking, watching
television, reading books and the like, fandom is a habitual activity for a fan.”

-Sandvoss

K-pop is characterized by a wide variety of audiovisual elements. While the

modern form of K-pop can be traced back as early as 90s, the term has been
popularized since 2000s and replaced the term Gayo which also refers to domestic pop
music in South Korea.

K-pop as it also known, has been growing as a phenomenon over the past few
decades. Millenials slick songs draw on many genres. Every people are affected by
their songs, dances and even their lifestyle, especially the millenials. According to
Cynthia Green. K-pop is short for “Korean pop music”. Ever since the financial crisis of
1997, it has been one of South Korea’s most important cultural exports. Along with film
and TV dramas. K-pop is part of what is called “Hallyu”, or Korean wave.

According to Sarah Kristine M. Alanzano (2001), though different media,

celebrities and broadcast program are now more reachable for the fans. It is the same
watwat that even fans from one country can access media content from other country.
The world has become border less, and media and fan activities are just two aspects of
globalization that brought about the openness of the world.

Therefore, it is no surprise that even a Mexicana named Thalia and gour-chinky-

eyed men from Taiwanese group F4 captured the hearts of the Filipinos. Their
penetration in the mainstream meadu and the openness of the Filipinos to foreign media
products brought upon the Korean wave, also known as Hallyu, affected.

According to Kristone (2011), in the Philippines, Filipinos 2009 saw the debut of
Korean music videos (MVs) in MYX Music Channel. Since then, kpop a media content,
has become a staple in the programming of said channel and can create a fandom
especially among the Filipino teenage fans. Korean songs entered MYX music charts
and stayed for weeks. Music COMPANIES DISTRIBUTED Korean albums in the
country, and most of these albums were best sellers in music stores.

The youths are the one who are most influences by the Korean wave and one of
those are the Filipino youth. The new generation today’s different and they are easily
captured to the things around them. These youths are exposed to the different kinds of
genres of music, television dramas and also in their taste of fashion. Now and then, the
taste of music, movies and fashion has been changed, improved and made more
exciting in the eyes of the Filipino youth. Everywhere you will go in schools, mall, and
stores while riding a jeepney