Yang Hyun Suk Addresses Notions That YG Entertainment Is 'Eating Up' The Korean Indie Scene

One of the largest entertainment company's in South Korea just wants to help indie artists, says its CEO.

YG Entertainment's CEO Yang Hyun Suk sat down with Korean media outlets last week to discuss a variety of topics in a casual atmosphere. During the interview, Yang was asked about YG Entertainment's sub-label HIGHGRND signing the indie band Hyukoh, and whether it is YG "eating up even the indie music scene."

Yang explained that YG hopes to help make indie music more accessible.

The reason why I'm interested in the underground music scene is because the lives of underground musicians are actually much more difficult than what you may imagine," said Yang, according to YG Entertainment's official blog. "There is a fixed idea that underground musicians are always financially difficult, but it is not that they should live a difficult life to create a good music. I believe they can create better music if they can invest the time and energy put in making ends meet for their music itself."

YG's CEO also explained that the difficulties in the Korean music market keep most indie musicians from successfully making a career out of their music.

"Korea's major music market itself is so small and the underground music market is even narrower," he explained. "We call it the underground music scene, but in fact, those musicians seldom have the place to perform or the market to sell their music. Musicians are the child of a family, the boyfriend of a woman, and the breadwinner of a household. So, they also wish to do their job, music, without worries about living. Of course, they also have ambition to make their music be listened by more people."

"I myself began my musical career in the Hongdae area, so I've always thought about how I can help those underground musicians," he added.

The answer ended with Yang expressing his hope that different sorts of music can become popular in South Korea, where the music scene is currently dominated by pop groups.

"I personally wish more musicians with unique colors and characters can be produced, rather than those similar idol groups," Yang expressed. "I'll keep thinking about what I can do and continue to work hard to support the indie music scene."

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YG Entertainment
Yang Hyun Suk
Indie
interview
Hyukoh
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