The Korea Herald : The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper

The Korea Herald : The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper: "[UPGRADING KOREAN CULTURE (3)]Online fans reshaping pop music world

This is the third in an eight-part series of articles that looks into the country's cultural and entertainment sectors and explores ways to help sharpen their competitive edge. - Ed.

By Lee Yong-sung

More and more Korean pop stars are making some serious noise all across Asia. Not to mention such established stars as BoA and Rain, many young, up and coming singing and dancing talents are now targeting overseas markets from the very beginning, even before their debut here.

For one thing, this is a barometer showing the growing popularity of Korean pop musicians in the rest of Asia, which must be highly encouraging for both musicians and producers. Behind this are, however, ever-diminishing album sales in the local pop music industry."