Recently on July 27th, the CEO of SM Entertainment, Lee Soo Man, expressed that though KPop’s popularity is spreading throughout the world with more and more popularity, it needs an extra kick to get it really out there.

How does he plan on doing this? New techniques of distributing music, such as through iTunes, is a necessity for the Korean music market. Purchasing music or downloading them for free will further advertise KPop groups and the ones they work under.

All of this was presented after Lee Soo Man received an award for having the Hallyu Wave spread through Asia. Very successful groups from SM such as DBSK and SNSD really helped boost it to where it stands now. A more specific example would be the recent fandom craze in France due to SM Town. Music shows, concerts, and sites like Facebook and Youtube are some useful tools for advertising too. Lee Soo Man claims that the ability to download KPop music for free would prevent illegal downloads. I’m assuming he means by having promotional periods for select new songs and such, because free music all the time would not get them anywhere for sure…

What’s more, this CEO suggested for Korea to build the foundations towards an international Hallyu school. This would make it easier on foreigners that visit to learn Korean and the popular culture as well. Very interesting idea right there! I’m sure many would love to attend.

What do you think about the promotional free song downloading system? Will it be effective? Does the idea of a Hallyu school interest any of you?

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