IVE-'I Am' Compared to 'Golden' from K-POP DEMON HUNTERS
Added 2025-08-12 15:02:51 +0000 UTCGreat idea to do this Norbert! Wow.
Comments
You should react to NMIXX
Jimmy Jenkins
2025-08-18 13:25:06 +0000 UTCI enjoyed this reaction in comparing the two songs and understanding the technicality of why they are similar, so thank you for the reaction. I wanted to add to your comment on the number of K-pop groups. A significant part of it is the profit aspect, as many smaller entertainment companies are forming and then debuting groups with the hope of making it big. However, I believe there is another reason why there are so many, and it is the aspect of age. Before K-pop became globalized, the target audience was Korean teenagers and adolescents. The companies were putting together these groups with idols in their late teens to match the target audience. The idols sign a 10-year contract, dedicating their 20s to the company. Once the contract ends, many groups disband, and the remaining members face reduced promotion, as the company introduces a new group to target their audience. However, in recent years, this age-out is also changing because of globalization, and now there are idols in their 30s who are still going. So we have new groups being debuted every few years by all the companies, and then the older groups who are still going strong: the result, sooo many songs and groups to keep up with.
Ashley
2025-08-13 03:29:08 +0000 UTCFirst of all thanks for analyzing this! The pronunciation of IVE is basically like I've. The album for I Am is fittingly called I've Ive. Furthermore you are right, Starship Entertainment is the company IVE is signed with. This is quite common in KPop. The MVs are released on the company's YouTube channel although the groups have their own channel, where behind the scene videos and dance practices are posted e.g. I commented about this on your Stray Kids reaction. Stray Kids' MVs are not published on their channel, but on the JYPE channel. The producers for I Am are definitely different ones than those for Golden. Another interesting point is, that I Am was released in 2023, but production on KDH already started in 2021. And they must have had the songs pretty much finished by 2023 I would assume. And as you pointed out, they are similar, but Golden is not a copy/remake of I Am. They are two songs that stand on their own imho, but sound really similar. Regarding the amount of different groups it is insane how many groups are pumped out every year. To explain the current landscape in KPop and how a group is formed in detail would be too long. I will just say this, there are four big companies with the biggest market share - HYBE, JYPE, YGE & SME. Mid tier (Starship Entertainment e.g.) and smaller companies. They all see their groups as an investment that needs to generate profit. All small companies hope to debut the next BTS or Blackpink! A rough outline of the process: Young teenagers have to pass auditions by the companies, then those so called trainees are trained in singing, dancing and rapping. They are evaluated basically every week and when a company decides to debut a new group, the best suited trainees are put together as a group. It may take some more years until they finally make their debut. Sometimes members are added or deducted from the team until the final group is created. Also the standards for idols to represent a perfect lifestyle are pretty high. I'll leave it at that. Like mentioned in one comment somewhere and how you stated it is a rabbit hole! As a side note, IVE is set to release a new song on August 25th. Judging from your previous reactions to KPop songs I could imagine you will appreciate the production level of the trailer for the new release. https://youtu.be/_6Zvxj0s7SE
Norbert Follrich
2025-08-12 15:30:23 +0000 UTC
