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K-Pop is thriving on YouTube in the wake of 'Gangnam Style'

K-Pop is thriving on YouTube in the wake of 'Gangnam Style'

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Psy Gangnam Style
Psy Gangnam Style

It's been a year since the release of Psy's breakout music video "Gangnam Style," and the genre of K-Pop has experienced remarkable growth since the video went viral. YouTube has released a new report that shows that viewership of Korean musicians has tripled in the past 12 months, with a vast majority of new views happening outside of Korea. This trend shows that some viral videos have power beyond simply collecting hundreds of thousands of views, but can influence global tastes and help build an international audience for an previously niche musical genre. Psy is still the most popular K-Pop artist, with "Gangnam Style" securely ranked as the number one K-Pop song followed by his newer hit "Gentleman," but bands such as Girls' Generation and G-Dragon both have numerous songs in YouTube's top 10 K-Pop list.