Ask a Korean! Wiki: Downloading Korean Music

Dear Korean,

How can I get K-pop mp3s online without stealing? Do you have any sites to recommend? I can't make heads or tails out of Naver's music section, I can find the music I want, but I can't figure out how to buy it (I'm a begining 한국어 핵생, so I can read some, but not well enough to be comfortable that I'm inputting my credit card info in the right spots!). I'm happy to pay for them, but I don't want to spend 20-30$ for a CD full of stuff I may not like to get a single song I know I will like.

Paul Cabana


Dear Paul,

The Korean can tell that you are a beginner student in Korean -- as you misspelled 학생 ("student"). But your English needs work too -- you also misspelled "beginning".

Readers, allow the Korean to reiterate: the Korean learned English when he was 16. Most of you have been speaking and writing in English for your whole life. The Korean expects mistake-free emails from your questions. If you make dumb mistakes like that, be prepared for ridicule.

But your question is a solid one, so the Korean will let this one slide at this point. To buy albums, the Korean uses www.aladdinus.com; the Korean does not buy mp3 for single songs as far as Korean music goes, but understands that www.bugs.co.kr has an option for purchasing single songs.

Readers, do you know of any other sources?

Caveat: absolutely nothing illegal please. And yes, downloading a song without paying for it is illegal. The Korean does not care if you like that law or not.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@hotmail.com.