The Final Chapter: The Gangnam Style Epidemic

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With Korean lyrics delivered by a cartoonish rapper named Psy riding an invisible horse, “Gangnam Style” was an unlikely candidate to become a worldwide phenomenon. On the contrast, however, the popular song has been an obvious epidemic embedded in the modern music culture of our nation as well as other nations.
In the summer of 2012, the full music video of “Gangnam Style” was uploaded onto YouTube and was immediately a sensation, receiving over 500,000 hits on its first day and racking up millions of more hits in a matter of a week. By the end of the year 2012, the song had topped the music charts of more than thirty countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Being the first ever YouTube video to reach the milestone of one billion hits, the song took the social media by storm. These staggering statistics indicate how “Gangnam Style” was able to achieve a tipping point, thus igniting an epidemic. What made it go viral? The two main reasons responsible for the cause are the Power of Context and the Stickiness Factor.
Gangnam Style originated in Korea and became one of the most popular and catchy songs of its time as a result of the Power of Context. Cha Woo-Jin, a South Korean music critic, reported that the sophisticated rendering and arrangement of “Gangnam Style” has made it very appealing to the general public. Furthermore, Choe Kwang-Shik, the South Korean Minister of Culture, told reporters that it had played an important role in introducing the Korean culture, language, and lifestyle to the rest of the world. In other words, it broke with our cultural conventions. These select contributors have made the song what it is today. However, some have criticized the song f...

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...ns making their own versions of “Gangnam Style” and Korean music industries are now following its lead into further music genres.
The various elements of “Gangnam Style” incorporated the Power of Context and the Stickiness Factor in order to tip. It broke with our nation’s cultural conventions, took the lead as a guiding light for Korean pop stars and top record label executives, and formed an erratic surge in entertainment that would forever influence the Korean Wave and future examples of K-Pop music. Additionally, with a unique chorus and lyrics accompanied by an array of enjoyable dance moves, it overcame much of our nation’s pop music and is now recognized as a worldwide phenomenon. Despite being a seemingly pointless music video at first, its feat of racking up the most views out of any YouTube video goes to show that almost anything has the potential to tip.

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