Article: The reason why Sung Si Kyung performed at a shopping mall in Japan?
Source: Hankook Ilbo via Nate
1. [+637, -51] I think his cameo role in Kodoku No Gurume was an extension of his Japanese promotions. He's a top artist in his genre so he could've easily fell into mannerism. His success aside, it's cool that he's advancing in a new market and starting from the bottom.
2. [+474, -31] Sung Si Kyung's popularity is no joke in Japan. Grandmas in their 60's like him a lot. I went to a galbi restaurant that was featured in Kodoku No Gurume and half of the customers were Sung Si Kyung fans who were there because of him.
3. [+423, -28] Lee Juck and Sung Si Kyung are top vocals, I hope the future is bright for them.
4. [+30, -5] That's how TVXQ used to promote... He's starting from the bottom... It's not easy to do that when you're an experienced artist.
5. [+25, -3] Instead of idols, I hope artists of different genres get to shine more in Korea. Sung Si Kyung is a top artist but he's promoting with a rookie mindset overseas, I wish the best for him. But please also ave a year-end concert and a new album ㅠㅠ
6. [+21, -46] He doesn't know his own level. He loves criticizing others and he's really stubborn. He's the type who mansplains.
7. [+21, -11] Why doesn't he release songs in Korea ㅠ
8. [+19, -3] Japanese idol music is weird, but it's not like only one genre is popular there. Japanese music market is really broad and they have better moral consciousness. If they like an artist, they buy the artist's albums like a hobby. I don't like Japan but their moral consciousness is one of the top ones in the world.
9. [+17, -0] Some people might think too many artists are advancing in Japan but just like how we're suffering from unemployment, the music industry is struggling the same way. Artists have no choice but to go there. You can be an MC or do other promotions for extra income but artists' main source of income is their music sales and concerts. Unless you're a popular idol with a big fandom, you have no source of income. And Melon is dominating the domestic music so you only have to pay Melon to access all songs, but Japan has a lot of streaming companies with divided music so people don't really use the streaming services. Due to various reasons like that, their physical market is still very active and they have this mindset that you must buy your music. In Korea, the audience of concerts tend to be young but in Japan, ajussis, ajummas, and grandmas go to idol concerts. They have this culture that all age groups are free to like and check out any artist. If you're passionate about music and work hard, it's possible to succeed with every genre in their environment. There's this saying that you've succeeded if you didn't lose anything as a singer in Korea. Japan is a place where every artist want to advance in for once.
10. [+14, -1] People just criticize Japan blindly but their music market is the second biggest in the world. Artists go there because they don't download music for free like Korea. Look at domestic music charts. They're full of manipulations and idol songs. It's even hard for artists like Lee Juck and Sung Si Kyung to survive here. The environment is completely different.
