…and the most streamed K-Pop act in the world.

Another year of music is about to play its final chords. Streaming services, a mere curiosity a decade ago, are now the main source of revenue for many artists. In 2019, Streaming music will account for 80% of industry revenues, nearly US$9 billion this year.

Bangtan Sonyeondan, better known around the world as BTS, were the most streamed artist in Thailand, and the the most streamed K-Pop artist in the world this year. The South Korean septet also topped the global streaming table on Spotify. BTS had more than 3 billion streams among global audiences this year.

In Thailand, the top five places were all K-Pop artists, despite the groups singing, mostly in Korean. Blackpink were second, followed by GOT7, NCT 127 and EXO.

More than 14 million listeners in Thailand follow BTS each month and the Korean girl group Blackpink has 8 million followers a month. Blackpink’s ‘Kill This Love’ was the most streamed song in Thailand, followed by the BTS hit ‘Boy with Luv’ (feat. Halsey). Globally, the two songs switched positions, with ‘Boy with Luv’ coming first, followed by ‘Kill This Love’.

‘Boy with Luv’ was streamed more than 300 million times so far this year.

Blackpink has a huge Thai following because one of its members is a Thai national. Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban was one of three people from Thailand chosen to be on Time magazine’s Time 100 Next 2019 list.

BTS are the only act, local or international, to sell out two stadium concerts at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok. In another of its 2019 record-breaking streaks, BTS landed the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to reach 1 million followers on the video-sharing platform TikTok.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

PHOTO: It looked like The Beatles performing in the same Ed Sullivan Theatre in 1964, but in May this year BTS performed on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The producers recreated the same look and feel as the earlier Fab Four performance. Only The Beatles and BTS have had three number ones on the Billboard music charts in the same year.

PHOTO: Christian Monterrosa/EPA

“My client went toe to toe with a billionaire bully.”

Tesla’s mercurial Elon Musk has emerged victorious after a defamation trial as a federal court jury swiftly rejected the US$190 million claim brought against him by a British cave explorer, Vernon Unsworth, who Musk branded a “pedo guy” on Twitter. The incident happened during the attempts to rescue the 13 young football players from the Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai in July 2018.

The unanimous verdict by a jury of five women and three men was returned after roughly 45 minutes of deliberation on the fourth day of Musk’s trial. The case has been closely watched by legal experts because it is believed to be the first major defamation lawsuit by a private individual to go to trial over statements made on the Twitter platform.

Musk shook hands with his lawyer after the four-day trial in LA. He didn’t address Mr. Unsworth, whose team had told the court earlier on Friday the Tesla CEO should pay at least US$190 million in damages for his tweets about the diver.

Meanwhile, 64 year old Vernon Unsworth spoke outside the courthouse saying that he was resigned to his defeat.

“I accept the jury’s verdict, take it on the chin and get on with my life.”

L. Lin Wood, a high-profile trial lawyer, leading the legal team for the plaintiff Vernon Unsworth, says the jury’s decision signals a higher legal threshold for challenging libelous material on social media.

“The challenge that was thrown down by Elon Musk was that if you don’t sue it’s true. We sued because it’s false.”

“This verdict puts everyone’s reputation at risk.”

The outcome was a triumph for Musk, whose fickle behaviour in a number of instances last year came under close scrutiny from federal regulators and shareholders of Tesla, his Silicon Valley-based electric car manufacturer.

48 year old Musk, who had testified during the first two days of the trial in his own defence and returned to court on Friday to hear closing arguments, exited the courtroom after the verdict.”

“My faith in humanity is restored.”

Unsworth’s lawyer says he nevertheless saw the lawsuit as meaningful in helping erase the stain he said his client’s reputation suffered.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World | The Guardian

PHOTO: PAGEANTCircle

A Thai contestant, Anntonia Porsild, has been crowned Miss Supranational 2019, beating out contestants from 77 countries. She is the first Thai to receive the honour. Miss Supranational is a privately organised beauty pageant organised by a Polish TV network.

Yana Haenisch from Namibia, Jesica Fitriana from Indonesia, Janick Maceta del Castillo from Peru, and Gabriela De La Cruz from Venezuela were named runners-up.

Anntonia, who is half Danish and half Thai, was a contestant on the first season of “The Face Thailand” in 2014-15. She’s currently studying advertising and public relations at Stamford International University in Thailand.

Miss Supranational is one of five international beauty contests at the “grand slam” level, dating back to 2009.

Other Thai contestants who have done well in the contest are Nanthawan Wannachutha and Parapadsorn Vorrasirinda, first runners up in 2012 and 2014 respectively.

SOURCE: The Nation