Kugak Fusion and the Politics of Korean Musical Consumption - Admission/Application Essay Example

Kugak Fusion and the Politics of Korean Musical Consumption Although the most dominant music culture in Korea has been westernized, Kugak, the traditional Korean music, is still popular among the tourist bronchus, historical films, and TV drama, and in many academic articles and books. The author of the article argues that, initially, kugak appeared that it was gaining popularity, and it was widely consumed, but the reality is that the kugak is struggling in the market. Promoters and performers of a new genre kugak are attempting to customize kugak for new audiences and make it more commercial and ensure it remain in the market (Howard 1988).

The author made clear to us that, although a number of awareness programs have been introduced to promote this traditional Korean music, its consumption has remained passive. The promotional activities that have been established to promote Kugak include inauguration of GugaFM in 2001 and introduction of kugak degree programs in various universities. It is argued that, musicology has increased popularity of kugak has compared to the promotional activity (Howard 1988). The effects of binding musicology to composition within the university department as resulted in more debate about kugak’s composition.

Should match it mirror the Western Enlighten understanding of celebrated artist creating music from inspiration, a concept that was exotic to Korea? Artists composing music for the Korean instruments are encouraged to respect tradition. However, since the society has evolved and so the culture, artists have turned their composition to reflect the contemporary Zeitgeist and some composers, such as Young Dong Kim, have even sought to escape the straightjacket of kugak(Howard 1988). The Third Generation, an informal 1980 group who wrote primarily for Western instruments, further loosened the kugak straightjacket.

Although this generation faced a lot of critics that made them not to succeed commercially, they acknowledge that kugak has failed to win the broad audience. More vocalists have decided to explore more territory in a more consumer environment. For example, the national folk song “Arirang,” has been modified many times to suit the requirement of the consumer. Yong Woo Kim, who sung “T’ongil Arirang,” has been linked to all these updates of folk songs (Howard 1988).The author’s argument is powerful, socially when you consider that most music’s consumers listen to music that appeals to them.

On the other hand, modification of Kugak music has resulted in decline in music that is actually devoted to this particular music. The author failed to tell us the best way of maintaining the culture and at the same time design music that appeals to the teenagers. According to my views, the authors should concentrate on creativity rather than focusing on promotional activities. They should consider that the most consumers of music buy and listen to music to satisfy their pleasure requirement.

It is real that the artist should focus on creativity rather than promotional activities. Nowadays, Korean music market has changed and this influence the people who record and distribute local kugak and also multinational companies who market the title globally. The Korea’s domestic record companies remain small as kugak albums remains slow sellers. For instance, Seoul Records sold an average of 300 copies of each of his hundred titles annually(Howard 1988).Works CitedHoward, Keith. "Korean Music: Its History and its Performance (review).

" Korean Studies 12.1 (1988):