"After releasing the album, shoot the music video." I'm also on "K-Pop Star."

"MUSICKING" makes you realize your dream of becoming a singer
Recording a tourist's music in a professional studio
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's "High Value-Added Project" Pra

Recently, young people's envy of idol stars is especially great. This is because these stars are already a cultural icon. When I see stars on TV, I sometimes think, "Me too." Unfortunately, many people dream of becoming stars, but not everyone can become one. The most common way is to pass an audition by an entertainment agency. However, it is not easy for the general public to pass an audition as a singer. Especially famous agencies, the higher the wall. Many people who dream of becoming singers are frustrated by these walls. MUSICKING in Sinsa-dong, Seoul, is a place where these dreams and desires come true. When you enter this place, even ordinary people become singers and dancers.

◇ Becomes a Tourism Venture Company for the first time in a year

The process of releasing an album by a musician such as a singer is more complicated than expected. Take a singer for example. A singer needs good songs and lyrics first in order to release an album. Also, vocal training is required, and if it is a dance music, he should learn dance. You should also recruit a session (performer) for recording. Experts are needed at each stage and the cost is high. This is why it is never easy for an individual to prepare and execute an album.

MUSICKING (CEO ROH Kwang kyun) is a company that runs "KING STUDIO," an album recording studio. It is a place where recording and mixing are performed, which is the final step in releasing an album. Most studios mainly aim to record professional albums of singers and performers. MUSICKING is different from other studios in that it produces albums for ordinary people. Even non-singers sing, professionals record and correct them to make music. Of course, it is not free of charge. It is not as expensive as expected because it is a studio for professional experience that has not been widely used in Korea. The price ranges from 50,000 won to 190,000 won per hour. "KING STUDIO is an experience studio where ordinary people can record songs of artists they want to become or like," said CEO Noh Kwang-kyun. "Since the studio is conducted on a one-on-one basis, you can feel as if you are becoming a singer."

MUSICKING became a tourism venture company at the 7th Tourism Venture Business Contest held this year. It was the first time in a year since the company was selected as a preliminary tourism venture company last year. The Tourism Venture Competition is one of the projects that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization have been promoting since 2011 to contribute to job creation and strengthen the competitiveness of the tourism industry by linking creative ideas with startups in the tourism sector. Tourism venture companies will be given the opportunity to faithfully carry out corporate development programs provided by the Korea Tourism Organization among prospective tourism venture companies, and only companies with excellent results after final performance evaluation will be given the opportunity to become "tourism venture companies."

A year ago, MUSICKING was selected as a preliminary tourism venture company by challenging the tourism venture business contest. The idea of the project was "K-pop Specialized Experience Program" for foreign tourists. In other words, it is a project that allows foreign tourists to sing their favorite K-pop singers' songs and produce them as sound sources. "We commercialized K-pop singers' songs in professional recording studios and produce their own sound sources for foreign tourists who visited Korea amid the Korean Wave boom due to the influence of Hallyu contents," CEO Roh said. "Foreign tourists' responses are good in that they can experience stars in person, not just meet or see stars."

◇ Sing along with the stars, and make memories

It was back in 2012. A video clip thrilled the world. It was Psy's "Gangnam Style" music video. The video surpassed 2.5 billion views last year. It was the first time in three years. It was an unprecedented record. The world began to pay attention to Korea. The number of Korean singers who are in the spotlight around the world, such as Big Bang and BTS, has also increased. The number of tourists visiting Korea is also increasing due to K-pop. This is why the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization highly value the business items of "MUSICKING."

"MUSICKING received high marks for developing Korean pop culture called K-pop as a high value-added product for Korean Wave interest groups, that is, foreign tourists," said Lee Sun-woo, deputy head of the tourism venture team at the Korea Tourism Organization. "However, we are providing necessary support for branding because of the low entry barrier and difficulty in differentiating products."

K-pop is one of the most popular Korean cultural contents overseas. In a two-month survey of 6,500 local residents in 14 countries conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Cultural Industry Exchange Foundation last year, K-pop's popularity is directly related to Korea's image. According to the survey, K-pop (39.0 percent) ranked second among the most popular Korean cultural contents after Korean food (46.2 percent). K-pop (20.1 percent) is the most popular image of Korean culture, far higher than Korean food (12.1 percent). In particular, people with higher consumption of Korean cultural contents are more likely to think of positive perceptions such as advanced economies, cultural powers, and friendly countries. More than 70 percent of K-pop users said Korea has a strong image as an advanced economy.

Currently, MUSICKING is stepping up efforts to secure overseas markets. This is because most of its major customers are foreign tourists. It has been actively participating in overseas exhibitions under the support of the Korea Tourism Organization since last year. "It is true that MUSICKING's major customers have many cultural and regional difficulties in overseas markets, not in Korea, but the Korea Tourism Organization has given them the opportunity to participate in overseas exhibitions, helping them identify the types of customers in each Asian country," Roh said. "The goal is to create a K-pop zone where foreign tourists can experience not only K-pop recording but also album purchases and goods (character of each artist) products in one space, and perform live performances regularly."

Original Article

By Kang Kyung Rok