K-Pop in the Music Collection

CDs in the Music Collection

The Music Collection has Korean popular music (K-Pop) in addition to popular music from around the world.  K-Pop is of recent interest because the video of "Gangnam Style" by PSY went viral.  Even before that, K-Pop had been increasingly popular in Asia and gaining a foothold in the United States especially with young audiences.  Billboard Magazine recently added K-Pop to its online series of popular music charts, the only style from outside of the Western Hemisphere (Latin American music has been a staple for years) to be tracked by the music media giant.

To search for Korean popular music, go to the Media Finder for non-Classical Music.  You can search for the style (rock, rap, etc.) and then select Korea as the country:

You can also search for an artist or band by using CardCat and searching for him/her/them as an "author."



PSY's album, with inserts for each song (in Korean)



Happy Birthday, Compact Disc!

30 years ago today the first CD player and commercial CD recording were released.  The CD player was by Sony and the CD was 52nd Street, by Billy Joel, also a Sony release.
52nd Street was originally issued as an LP in 1978 and proved to be a big seller for Sony.  Hit songs included "Big Shot," "Honesty," and "My Life."

The CD was meant to be indestructable, at least compared to the LP, which was easily scratched or warped.  As music librarians have come to learn, that promise was exaggerated just a bit, but it's true that it has proven to be a very durable format for recordings.  The Ball State Music Collection has over 17,000 CD titles, representing well over 20,000 individual discs.  Unlike many other formats that have come and gone, you can still borrow a CD and listen to it at the library or at home.  Use the keywords "and compact" with any other search terms, or select "Compact Disc, audio" as the format in Advanced Search in CardCat.

Read more in The Atlantic Monthly.