A great number of Korean idol bands released new albums in the first half of the year. Starting off with popular boy group Big Bang of YG Entertainment, top girl bands such as Sistar, Ace of Angels (AOA), Girl’s Day and Girls Generation pushed out new albums, creating a fierce battle on K-pop music charts.
Amid the idols’ back-to-back releases, their unusual step to promote new tracks on Internet platforms first ― such as Korea’s No. 1 portal site Naver’s Star Cast and Afreeca TV, a live video streaming service ― was a notable change.
Sistar followed on June 22 and appeared both on Afreeca TV and Star Cast that night and the next day. This was the first time the girl band appeared on the Internet first before music programs on major TV networks. Girl’s Day, too, met their fans on two Internet platforms, while Girls’ Generation and AOA featured on Star Cast and Afreeca TV.
Na Sang-cheon, a director at Dream T Entertainment, which represents Girl’s Day, said that using Internet TV platforms was a new trend to promote albums because it offers convenient accessibility to various age groups online.
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