2016 Billboard K-Town

local k-pop dance teams vie @ kaja kon dance/concert, miami beach convention center, gleason room backstage, october 30, 2016

in 2016, k-town reported on study found america becoming priority touring korean acts. study conducted concert kickstarter website, mymusictaste.com while gauging local fan interest future concerts. study examined number of k-pop concerts held between 2013 , approximately may 2016, found east asia still had concerts, numbers tapering, while north america, south america , europe showing consistent growth. top 3 countries concerts abroad japan, china , usa. number 1 touring act in study all-male group big bang. in july, forbes reported made $44 million in pretax earnings on past year, compared $33.5 million made current highest-paid american all-male arena pop group, maroon 5 , no. 54 on forbes celebrity 100.

still without designated k-pop chart, column continued feature articles on k-pop s performance on billboard charts, continued watched closely , rehashed south korean media , others internationally.

chart history news included got7 receiving no. 2 on social 50 chart , no. 45 on artist 100 chart in april, followed bts in october, received no. 1 on social 50 chart (joining psy s record) , top k-pop artist scoring of no. 16 on artist 100 chart. bts s wings, also, charted @ no. 26 on billboard 200 , no. 19 on canadian albums chart, setting records k-pop on charts. new girl group black pink became fastest act hit no. 1 on world digital songs chart boombayah , received no. 2 whistle , , cl s english language song lifted charted @ no. 94 on billboard s hot 100.

interviews , concert coverage included jay park touring aomg, dean, got7, crush , concert review of cl, in nyc; , interview tablo before epik high s appearances @ coachella. k-town again covered kcon in new york , l.a., including interviews ailee, crush, day6, shinee, amber, , twice. and, first time, covered canadian event, toronto kpop con.

k-town columnist benjamin participated in k-pop conferences , media inquiries k-pop s status in america. in february, spoke on boston university college of arts , sciences panel, music & media: korean pop industry , included issues k-pop s fit western culture , korean entertainment industry s close scrutiny of media interviews. in june, @ kcon ny, told nbc news stephany bai k-pop gaining global fans while retaining distinctive characteristics . credited continued success things accessibility on social media, song titles in english on youtube, , ability involve fans in called k-pop s scene rather genre, involves them in whole different world . in july, 190 foreign reporters registered cover kcon la, told korea times reporter si-soo park, k-pop getting closer mainstream , , mentioned coverage major news outlets new york times , others. in november, contributed k-pop analysis time report on artists cl, eric nam, , dean s attempts enter mainstream music market in america.

the year closed report of 4 girl groups disbanding: january - kara, june - 4minute, october - rainbow, november - 2ne1.