Kim Tae-yeon

Kim Tae-yeon (born 9 March 1989), most often credited as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She is a member of South Korean girl group Girls' Generation, its subgroup TTS, and SM the Ballad. She has also recorded singles for various television dramas and movies as well as participated in a number of variety shows. Tae-yeon made her solo debut on 8 October 2015 with her first extended play, I.

Early life

Tae-yeon was born on 9 March 1989 in Jeonju, South Korea. Her family consists of her parents, an older brother and a younger sister.

At the age of 13, Tae-yeon proclaimed that she was "only talented at singing". During her years in middle school, she was accepted as a trainee at SM Entertainment and commuted from Jeonju to Seoul on every Sunday to receive her vocal training. In 2004, her former vocal instructor Jung Sun Won, also known as The One, "wanted to acknowledge Tae-yeon's potential" and gave her a chance to be in his song "You Bring Me Joy". Later on, she won the first place at the SM Youth Best Competition and officially received a contract from SM Entertainment. Tae-yeon continued her training under SM Entertainment and debuted as a part of Girls' Generation in 2007. In 2008, Tae-yeon graduated from Jeonju Art High School and was awarded with the school's Lifetime Achievement Award. During her pre-debut days, Tae-yeon was inspired to become an entertainer by BoA. Then a teenager, she "wanted to be like her and have activities in Japan and around the world", which later came true when Girls' Generation debuted in Japan in 2010.

Girls' Generation

Girls' Generation (Hangul: 소녀시대; So Nyeo Si Dae), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment. The group is composed of eight (formerly nine) members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Girls' Generation officially debuted on August 5, 2007 with its debut single "Into the New World" and subsequently gained some attention with their self-titled debut album. However, it was not until 2009 that they rose to prominence with the single "Gee", which claimed the top spot on KBS's Music Bank for a record-breaking nine consecutive weeks and was named the most popular song of the 2000s decade by Melon. The group solidified their place in the South Korean music industry with follow-up singles "Tell Me Your Wish (Genie)", "Oh!", and "Run Devil Run" from late 2009 to early 2010.

In mid-2010, the group signed with Nayutawave Records (present-day EMI Records Japan) to embark into the Japanese music scene. In April 2011, Girls' Generation's Japanese self-titled debut album was released, which peaked atop the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart and became the first album by a South Korean girl group to achieve a double Platinum certification by the RIAJ. The group returned to the South Korean music scene in October 2011 with The Boys, which has sold over 457,000 copies in South Korea, becoming the best-selling album in the Gaon chart history since its launch in 2010. During this time, the group also expanded their endeavor to the United States by signing with Interscope Records. In 2013, Girls' Generation's fourth Korean studio album titled I Got a Boy was released. The title track was subjected to major attention from western media after it was awarded Video of the Year at the inaugural YouTube Music Awards.

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States. The service was created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005. In November 2006, it was bought by Google for US$1.65 billion. YouTube now operates as one of Google's subsidiaries. The site allows users to upload, view, rate, share and comment on videos, and it makes use of WebM, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, and Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media video. Available content includes video clips, TV clips, music videos, movie trailers and other content such as video blogging, short original videos, and educational videos.

Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, but media corporations including CBS, the BBC, Vevo, Hulu, and other organizations offer some of their material via YouTube, as part of the YouTube partnership program. Unregistered users can watch videos, and registered users can upload videos to their channels. Videos considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users affirming themselves to be at least 18 years old.

Apple Music

Apple Music is a music streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on demand. The service includes the curated Internet radio station Beats 1, the blog platform Connect that allows artists to share their posts, photos, videos and tracks with fans, and Radio which incorporates some aspects of iTunes Radio. Apple Music provides music recommendations based on user's taste and is integrated with Siri voice commands.

Overview

Apple stated at the WWDC 2015 that the service would launch at the end of June 2015 and would be free for the first three months of usage. After that, Apple Music subscription would cost US$9.99 per month, close to the economic equilibrium point for the recording industry estimated by the Open Music Model.

Users select music on a device, which then plays on the device via Internet streaming and may be saved to the device for offline access. The service also provides music recommendations based on user taste. While Apple Music's cost and music library are similar to other music streaming services, the service aims to distinguish itself with added features and content exclusives.

Google Play Music

Google Play Music is a music streaming service and online music locker operated by Google. Users with standard accounts can upload and listen to up to 50,000 songs from their personal libraries at no cost. An "All Access" subscription, sold in combination with YouTube Red for US$9.99 per month, entitles users to on-demand streaming of any song in the Google Play Music catalogue for their geographical region and the ability to create custom radio stations. Users can purchase additional tracks for their library through the music store section of Google Play. In addition to offering music streaming for Internet-connected devices, the Google Play Music mobile app allows music to be stored and listened to offline.

The service was announced on May 10, 2011, and after a six-month, invitation-only beta period, it was publicly launched on November 16. Google Play Music offers more than 30 million tracks for purchase or streaming. It is currently available in 63 countries for Android and iOS devices, web browsers, and various media players (such as Sonos and Chromecast).