How to Succeed as a Solo Female Artist As Exemplified by IU (Super Long)

Found an article that was published which talks about IU and her presence in the Korean music industry. Check it out! As it is quite an interesting read, but do take note that it is a rather long read =)

Article: How to Succeed as a Solo Female Artist As Exemplified by IU (Super Long)

The unstoppable run by the national younger sister.

She debuted in 2008 at the age of 15. She got lots of attention with cute looks early on, and is now one of the main stars of the music industry. The great vocal that comes from a small body showed great potential and she’s on the verge of becoming a singer that everyone will come to love. This is the story of IU, who is in her 4^th year as a singer and grew to be one of the best in almost no time.

Her song from last year, “Good Day” is still on charts even after 4 months and all her recent songs have been huge hits no matter what genre it is. It looks like she has no rest time because of her ability to keep songs on charts for extended amounts of time.

Even with most of the songs disappearing from the charts in no time, her songs have survived long and remained on the charts. It can be safely said that she is solely leading the entire industry. Let’s look at the reasons why she was able to survive amongst the idols as a solo female artist.

There are lots of reasons for the so-called “IU Symdrome.” First, IU was able to be free of the vocal controversies that most idols experience.

Her company aims to have singing be the most important focus of the company, instead of raising idols. IU is also backed by the fact that she has many different ways to communicate with the public compared to other solo artists and idols.

When she debuted, she was not the cute IU that we have come to know, but rather a middle school student. Her debut song somewhat failed because the song was too similar in style to the songs that old idols sang.

Then, she had her name become known with songs like “Boo” and “Marshmallow” but the main reason for her longevity as a solo female singer is because she can sing slow ballads on top of bright, cute songs.

Her experiments with different genres is also why she gets lots of attention. Her newest song, “Story Only I Didn’t Know,” targets not only the teens but also the 20s and the 30s since the song is part of the nostalgic ballad. It pokes at the older fans with the acoustic sound and IU’s emotional singing.

Another part of her that pokes at the older fans is the fact that she can actually play the acoustic guitar while singing.


The producers added to this effect by experimenting different types of music with her. Popular producers such as Yoon Sang, Yoon Jong Shin, Kim Hyung Suk teamed up with Lee Min Soo, Shin Sa Dong and others to expand her music spectrum.

The most important factor of all is her flawless vocals. When most of the solo female artists have captured attention with performance and dance, IU was achieving the same type of attention gathering with only her vocals.

This is completely different from the cases where idols have been flamed for their voices cracking while singing. To add insult to injury, she created a huge buzz with her “3 level high notes” as well as stood in a position to be an idol and a solo artist at the same time, collecting fans of all ages.

She let her real self known through TV shows. If she let out her cute side in SBS’s Heroes, she let her potential as an actress known with Dream High. Lots of uncles and older men have fallen for her cute charms, making her the national younger sister.

The successful results of IU were expected because she was the only solo female artist that was able to stand in the idol-filled industry with her young age, and skilled vocals. When all the girl groups have similar concepts, she definitely stands out.

 Credits: Dongie@koreaboo

Yup, I definitely agree with Dongie about all the talents that IU has within her. But not only that, this article also reflects how demanding the Korean Music industry is. Hence, for IU, in a matter of fact for any star, to stand on stage to perform for us, isn't something that we should take for granted of.

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