I kept on thinking, what really is Zpop? Hi this is Meraki and welcome to my channel.

There has been a buzz lately when it comes to coutnries producing their so called "first-kpop groups".

I will not be dropping names but one in particular has been under these assumptions that they fall into the Kpop category.

This would be the Zstars which are Zgirls and Zboys.

People would relate them to as international Kpop group. Some would even say they are Kpop idols but they just sing in English

However, they do claim that they are Zpop. A new genre of music which would target Asia and Generation Z.Which are people born beginning from 1995.

First on our list would be talking about the beginning of Zpop Dream Project and how they can be related to Kpop.

People automatically assumed that they were a Kpop group because

One they debuted in Korea

Two they also are handled by Zenith Media Contents or ZMC which is a Korean company.

Third if you can watch their predebut videos, they were taught about the Korean culture and were even learning about the language.

A lot of youtube videos or even articles were made about them and featured them as the first Kpop group without any Korean members.

So it is natural to think and associate them with Kpop given these circumstances.

Let's start as to why they started Zpop Dream Project.

In the beginning people were skeptic about the project because it all started with the explanation on coin token economy or blockchain economy.

So it's all about business.

I will not be dealing about it, but I was also skeptical about that time.

However this actually will become the foundation in creating the group because one

you need money to support and create a group, you need money to produce music and music videos

and all other things related to the creation of the group

A lot of articles are actually available for you to read but to summarize it all

The creation of Zpop Dream Project was about to answer the 3 main problem in the music industry.

One, millions of talented individuales but they are not given the opportunity

There are indeed a lot of talented people around the world but they don't have access to professional trainings.

So with Zpop Dream Project, they will establish Zpop Star Academies in 10 countries.

So it will be in Philippines Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Hongkong, Indonesia,India, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.

Second, the lack of involvement of fans when it comes to making the artists is something that they want to address.

Therefore, they created the glitsy app which is used to interact with the artists and the fans.

If you can check the app, you can see there how the 2nd Gen Zpop Dream Audition was done

and who were selected to follow the footsteps of the current Zboys and Zgirls

Third is to help artist enter and succeed in the global stage.

To do this, they created Zpop using the a successful K-POP music production formula as its foundation while integrating new cultural elements.

This will be done by bringing music elements that emerge from various parts of the world while riding the wave of the K-POP phenomenon.

So basically what they wanted to do is to put Kpop + new cultural elements and it will give us Zpop

Let us start to talk about the second part of this video, which about the company that handles them.

So some would say they are a kpop group because they are handled by a Korean company which is Zenith Media Contents.

So we will have a short history class about the companies and who really established Zpop Dream Project.

The project was actually started by Zenith Media Group

was established by Norimitsu Kameshima in 2013 to pursue opportunities in the entertainment industry.

Mr Kameshima focused on Z-POP Dream through a ZMG subsidiary, Seoul-based company which is Zenith Media Contents (ZMC).

Which means that ZMC is actually a sublabel of ZMG which is then known as COZMIC Group.

However following the rebranding of COZMIC into Divtone Group, Zpop Dream Project is now being transfered to Singapore headquarters of Divtone Entertainment.

It's a little messy but to help you understand, I will include a graphic representation here.

Following these events, ZMC will no longer be handling Zstars as of February 2020. Just in time for their anniversary.

So is Divtone part of the Kpop industry?

No. What is Divtone then?

Divtone, a Luxembourg holding company with three subsidiary businesses

Which is Divtone Entertainment

Divtone Studios

and Divtone Immersive

They have offices located in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States.

So the question now is...Since Zpop Dream Project is now based in Singapore will they still be considered Kpop?

Or is this a new step in realizing their project in creating a new genre that will unite Asia.

This will now bring us to the third part of this video. Defining Kpop.

Kpop now has become big phenomenon that people have find it difficult to define what really is kpop and what is not.

So to help us understand, we will have a quick lesson on what music genre

Music genre is used to refer to a variety of facets of music which includes the time when the music was written its style

the instruments used and how they were used in the music its means of production

and the location of its geographical origin sometimes it would also overlap with the cultural background of the composer

Which means that a music genre has a particular style, particular way of how it is written,

particular instruments and how they are being used,

it also includes to which group of people you are making the music for and also a particular geographical origin.

So if we have to define Kpop

it's a genre of music that can be traced back from the 90s and originated from South Korea.

It's a wide variety of audiovisual elements and it incorporates all forms of Korean popular music such as trot and folk music.

So for a music to be considered under a Kpop genre, you must have these elements.

Since Zpop Dream Project is trying to create their own genre of music, is it possible?

Yes it is. Music genre is not limited or stagnant, It's ever so changing and evolving.

You can't create a new genre out of nothing but it can be evolved from something.

Our music today is a product of overlapping elements of the music before

That's why from pop, you have western pop, kpop, jpop, jazz pop and hundreds of other variations of pop.

Now that we have all discussed everything, here are my thoughts.

Would I think that Zpop could exist?

Yes, but not really right away. It takes years for other genre to take their form and I think Zpop has a long way to go.

Would I call Zpop Kpop?

I wouldn't go as far as to call them Kpop.

Kpop has it's own elements that is unique to itself. Although Jpop and Kpop has shared elements I wouldn't go either as to call them the same.

I think Zpop can be genre that would evolve out from Kpop and will have it's unique own elements

How about you guys? What are your thoughts about this? Comment down below what do you think Zpop.