K-Pop Unmuted

Probably the best and most professional sounding Kpop podcast, recommended!

I recently binged on all episodes of this podcast and its soo good! I wish they did come out more frequently and I feel there is a never ending supply of news/opinions to cover. Love the guest speakers! Love the intelligent discussion of kpop as a business, as an art form, and as a social construct. Just because its pop doesnt mean its stupid.

Actual critical commentary about kpop? And girl group biased? What more could a person want!

I'm so glad K-Pop Unmuted exists. One of the worst things about being a K-Pop fan, is the dearth of serious critical analysis and commentary. The fandom consists mainly of very young fans (teenagers to mid-20's), and the existing podcasts, Youtube channels, web portals etc. are often very unprofessional. There's a clear lack of critical thinking, with the community just regurgitating the kind of things excited teenagers would say about the idol they love. There's almost a complete lack of knowledge of music, the knowledge required to analyze music, the understanding of the relationship between music and sociology, the inner workings of the music industry, etc. There are very few exceptions that exist (excluding K-Indie, which by default has more intelligence and depth), and they are the lonely beacons that display intelligence, knowledge, insight, and critical thinking. Critical K-Pop was doing a pretty good job, they they turned out their lights earlier this year. This Week In K-Pop is the only one that's still going strng, but despite those guys having knowledge about the K-Pop industry, they are seriously lacking in their knowledge of music and can barely do an adequate analysis of the songs they are talking about. The Kpop Show is doing a great job but they are also very new, so there's no telling if they'll stick around. MRJKPOP is about the only Youtube channel that focuses on professional level critique/commentary of K-Pop. ReacttotheK sometimes have classical musicians do reactions and they provide sorely needed commentary from the perspective of actual musicians. And then there's K-Pop Vocal Analysis website. Other than those sources, it seems the K-Pop fandom landscape is just a wasteland of shallow celebrity gossip and immature gushing fans who know next to nothing about music, songwriting, musicianship, range of musical genres, music history, music industry, music production, etc. K-Pop Unmuted is the latest beacon of hope that's sprung up in the K-Pop community, and I'm so relieved. The community sorely needs intelligent critical discussions backed up knowledge and insight, and the only way the fandom can get past the stigma of being a bunch of musically ignorant and immature teenagers, is if we get more professional commentary. K-Pop Unmuted is another step in the right direction, and I hope they'll stick around for a very long time.