YouTube Awards Surprise

The audience seemed underwhelmed by the winner, probably because the majority were Americans who had never heard the nine-member South Korean girl group.

But the win shouldn’t have been a surpise, as the criteria for winning is based on page views, likes and comments from Internet users.

Girls’ Generation is one of the most popular groups in all of Asia.

Actor Jason Schwartzman and comedian Reggie Watts presented the group the award for video “I Got a Boy.”

In related news, Korean media was buzzing in late October after influential music executive Park Jin Young, more familiarly referred to as JYP, had a long breakfast meeting with Google excecutive chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt.

The meeting was a sideshow to the monthlong Big Tent Seoul 2013 Conference, a forum for discussing the international viability of Korean pop culture that drew dozens of high-level foreign executives. JYP, a singer himself and the founder of JYP Entertainment, one of the most successful entertainment companies in South Korea, pioneered the promotion of digital downloads in his country and has essentially created the model for Internet promotion of K-pop.

Almost all the competition has copied JYP’s lead, especially with regard to exploiting YouTube. JYP tweeted that he learned a lot from the former Google chief, and some insiders are wondering if JYP’s methodologies will change as a result, since he’s on the verge of breaking several new acts.