Crayon Pop's Unusual Road to Success Draws Media Interest

Published on 2013/10/31 | Source

British weekly magazine the Economist published an article highlighting K-pop girl band Crayon Pop in its latest issue, which hit newsstands on Saturday.

As part of a 14-page special report on Korea, it wrote, "Crayon Pop are not a typical K-pop outfit. They look goofy rather than glamorous, like kid sisters not dream dates, and prefer plimsolls to stilettos".

The success story of Crayon Pop's song "Bar Bar Bar" was viewed as being different from that of other Korean girl groups. It "spread like a virus on YouTube", the magazine wrote. "Whereas most songs peak early in the charts, then disappear, this one climbed to number one in some rankings months after its release".

The magazine attributed the success of Crayon Pop to the different strategies the band took to promote their songs and get recognition, instead of following "the basic formula" where "performers train for three years and more before making their debut" while signing for big entertainment agencies like JYP, SM and YG Entertainment.

Their agency, Chrome Entertainment, could not afford to spend lavishly on marketing the band before their debut, so "Crayon Pop's early performances amounted to beta-tests of their ideas. But that may be part of their charm", pointed out the Economist.

Crayon Pop are currently working on their Christmas album, which is expected to be released in late November.