‘이달의 아티스트’와 ‘이달의 음악’ 선정···마리아 킴 첫 선정

#하북트진

#Melon selected 'Artist of the Month' and 'Music of the Month' for the first time.

사진/마리아킴

2월의 트랙제로 ‘이달의 아티스트’ 첫 영예는 재즈 보컬 겸 피아니스트인 마리아 킴(Maria Kim, 본명 김희진)이 안았다.

■Dream of Yoy

영상/마리아킴의 Dream of you

■Almost Like Being in Love

영상/Almost Like Being in Love

■Article

Melon will introduce a new "Track Zero," which has been reorganized so that indie artists and sub-genre music can be more popular with the public.

Melon, the music platform of Kakao Entertainment (CEO Lee Jin-soo and Kim Sung-soo), announced that it will release "Artist of the Month" and "New Song of the Month" every month from this month through the indie music revitalization project "Track Zero."

"Track Zero" is Melon's own mesena project that has actively promoted indie music through playlists, music broadcasts, and performances since April last year. The playlist composed of indie music has been released on the main screen of the Melon app every Thursday, and artists have appeared on the music show "Track Zero" of the same name in Melon Station to communicate with fans and hold performances in Hongdae through the live performance program "Track Zero Alive."

Starting this month, Melon will release "Artist of the Month" in the first week of each month and "New Song of the Month" in the fourth week, along with existing "Track Zero" programs such as playlists. The existing six "Track Zero" experts, consisting of critics and musicians, will participate in the selection of "Artist of the Month" and "New Song of the Month." "Artist of the Month" is targeted at artists who have released music in Korea, and "New Song of the Month" will be selected from songs released within three to four months. Artists selected for "Artist of the Month" and "New Song of the Month" will also have the opportunity to appear on Melon Station "Track Zero" to introduce their music world to fans in detail.

Maria Kim (real name Kim Hee-jin) won the first honor of "Artist of the Month" for track zero in February. Maria Kim made her debut with her album "Those Sentimental Things" in 2015 and won the "Best Jazz Vocal Album" at the 19th Korean Popular Music Awards in 2022 for her fifth full-length album "With Strings: Dream of You."

Melon will hold Live Club Day, a representative indie music festival, and Live Club Day X Track Zero Alive, which was piloted in October last year, every other month along with the existing Track Zero Alive performance. Through this, "Track Zero Alive" is firmly established as a performance program where music fans can directly access various indie artists, and "Live Club Day" is expected to move toward a more lively K-MUSIC festival with Melon's sponsorship. On the 26th of last month, this year's first "Track Zero Alive" performance was held in Hongdae, Belarus, with ballad singer-songwriter Minginho and Kim Hyun-chang singing enthusiastically.

"We have received feedback from various members of the music industry and introduced a new track zero that has been expanded to provide practical help to indie artists," said Heo Jun-hyuk, head of the music business partnership at Kakao Entertainment.