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fyexo · 5 years

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191010 SuperM Aim to Conquer America By Staying Korean

A monolithic coliseum, intimidating and gleaming in the sun, materializes in the desert like a mirage. Inside, seven men clad in black and metallics stand tall in its center, facing the thousands gathered to watch them.

The scene that opens South Korean supergroup SuperM’s debut music video, “Jopping,” is an apt metaphor for K-pop’s most buzzed-about new act — donning their armor, the gladiators prepare to take on one of the most intimidating contenders of them all: the U.S. market.

In August, Korean music juggernaut SM Entertainment, in partnership with Capitol Records and its subdivision Caroline, announced that it would debut a new K-pop supergroup featuring the cream of the crop, pulled from some of SM’s most popular active groups. These acts combined (SHINee, EXO, NCT 127, WayV) have sold more than 14 million adjusted albums and garnered nearly four billion views of their music videos. Though SM has experimented with a few supergroups in the past, this announcement was especially mind-blowing to K-pop fans, as it promised to take a cross-section of some of the very best dancers, singers, and rappers in the business — an Olympic-level performance team.

Taemin, 26, is the industry vet, who joined K-pop darling SHINee as its maknae (youngest member) in 2008. Along with a successful career in the group as its charismatic main dancer, he also has made a name for himself through his popular solo work, dramatic and often androgynous looks, and sultry vocals. From EXO — a group so revered they were chosen to perform at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Closing Ceremony — is SuperM’s leader Baekhyun, 27, known for his killer sense of humor and soaring tenor. Then there’s Kai, 25, the ballet-trained dancer whose secret weapon is a combination of long, sharp lines and arresting looks.

From subunits of the 21-person umbrella group, NCT, is NCT 127’s bright-faced Canadian rapper Mark, 20, and its 24-year-old charismatic leader and rapper Taeyong. And from the Chinese-language unit WayV is the quadrilingual Thai triple-threat Ten, 23, as well as 6-foot-something, 20-year-old striking Hong Kong-born rapper Lucas.

While the announcement garnered a monsoon of excitement online, it was also met with a hefty dose of skepticism and criticism. Some were upset that the activities of NCT 127, EXO, and WayV would be put on hold, and felt bad for the remaining members. But the most vocal faction seemed to float somewhere in the middle, unsure of what to make of the all-star lineup. One thing was sure: the sheer talent would be next-level. But SuperM was notably announced as group aiming to appeal to an international audience and debut in the U.S. — would that mean stripping it of its K-pop identity to make it palatable to the American mainstream?

That fear was all but quelled with one word: “Jopping.” The lead single off of SuperM’s self-titled seven-track EP is a bombastic, genre-bending dance track that blends English and Korean, and even samples the Avengers theme — apt for the self-proclaimed “Avengers of K-pop.”

K-pop can now can add “Jopping” — a blend of the words “jumping” and “popping” — to its lexicon, joining the ranks of “Boombayah,” “Dumb Litty,” and “kitty-incidence.” Not only is the title very K-pop, but the song is classic SM. In fact, it evokes a specific company-coined sonic style called SMP, or SM Music Performance, which is choreography synced with a mix of rock, R&B, and hip-hop beats.

“It's our debut single and first appearance as SuperM, so we knew that we had to do something that shows off all our best sides — whether it be our style or each of our personas and characters,” the affable Mark tells Refinery29 following SuperM’s debut Los Angeles showcase. “We knew that ‘Jopping’ had a large feeling to it and we knew that only something that big could contain our performances, our raps, our singing, and our dancing.”

It’s a bold move. Many K-pop acts looking to make it in the U.S. have opted to collaborate with big-name Stateside artists, or even release straightforward pop/hip-hop English-language songs that do everything to hide even a trace of a foreign accent. But SuperM deliberately chose to take a risk.

“Now that we’re entering the American market, we could have released a song that suits the American taste better, but that’s not what distinguishes us as a group,” says Kai, a silver Rolling Stones necklace adorning his graceful neck. “We chose ‘Jopping’ because we wanted to show something that hasn’t been done in the States. Also, given that we’ve pulled together all these great members for this kind of performance, we saw a potential in this song to captivate the world and show our identity.”

“It gives us an opportunity to show fans a variety of styles, and prove that we can pull off anything,” adds the purple-haired Taeyong.

Dig deeper into the EP, and the tracks reveal a roadmap that winds even deeper into the group’s Korean identity. Take “I Can’t Stand The Rain,” an immense electro-pop song that opens with echoing traditional Korean drums and whose chorus is cradled by a classic haegeum melody. The synthy R&B B-side “2 Fast” features a classic K-pop tempo change halfway through, slowing down during the bridge before picking up the beat and adding undulating trills of vocal distortion.

“We’re from Asia,” says cotton candy-haired Baekhyun, who's taken quickly to his leadership role. “We wanted to emphasize the harmony between Western and Asian music. That’s why the drums and haegeum are on that Westernized beat [in ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’]. With ‘2 Fast’, the sudden change within the track is very K-pop because K-pop itself changes all the time. There’s no limitation and it takes on many different forms. This song is just another representation of that, and how we try to differentiate ourselves.”

“I’m honestly constantly learning from these six people how we can best represent SM’s history and show Americans what K-pop is,” says Lucas, who palpably relaxes when he speaks in Chinese, his native language. “I’m learning how, through this music industry, to be a vessel for spreading culture, thought, and happiness.”

And people are certainly noticing. After releasing their EP, SuperM delivered a blowout debut showcase in LA. Hundreds of roaring fans gathered to watch their first performance in Capitol Records’ backlot, which was streamed live around the world on YouTube. The group has since sat on Ellen’s couch, and announced a 10-date North American tour that includes New York City’s Madison Square Garden. It’s a promising beginning for the septet, and something that Mark didn’t think he’d ever see growing up.

“Growing up in Canada and being in the West, nobody really knew about K-pop unless they were Korean,” he says, his expressive eyes growing contemplative. “To see a Korean group like SuperM that’s so powerful, making an impact on America and sharing their energy and story, and to have Amercian fans come and run to us to see our synergy, is something I’d never thought that I’d see, nevertheless be a part of. I always try to remind myself how lucky I am to bridge two cultures together. It’s a cool moment.”

Though the EP is rumored to make a strong debut on the Billboard 200 next week, it seems unlikely that the average American will be "jopping" anytime soon. But it’s not about simply putting out songs that can dominate charts or airwaves right away — if that were the case, we'd be hearing a much more Western-sounding lead single.

It all comes back to an ethos instilled by SM’s founder and K-pop pioneer, Lee Soo Man. “I love what I heard from him yesterday,” says Ten with a quiet confidence. “Be humble, and learn from other people. Don’t put yourself above other people. Then, if you do that, you’ll rise higher without knowing.” It’s about promoting cross-cultural understanding, and hoping to change minds enough for the world to make room for what Korean culture has to offer. “K-pop itself is not just a music genre, but a whole cultural phenomenon,” says Taemin warmly. “It includes fashion, music, and so much more. When other people look at K-pop with a more traditional Western lens, or when people listen to it, it may sound like a combination of all different genres. Although it might sound unfamiliar at first, I think it's in the process of being blended into the mix of U.S. culture. Hopefully, SuperM can also make a contribution.”

source: Natalie Morin @ refinery29

#exo #baekhyun #kai #t: interview #album: superm

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trackunknownblog · 5 years

Audio

Last Month In Review_1019

Tame Impala - It Might Be Time

Alfie Templeman - Tragic Love

Allah-Las - Star

Mating Ritual - King of the Doves

Nilüfer Yanya - H34T RISES

Men I Trust - Say, Can You Hear

Stereolab - The Flower Called Nowhere

Angel Olsen - Too Easy

Chromatics - You're No Good

Låpsley - My Love Was Like the Rain

Art d'Ecco - This Flight Tonight

Banoffee, Empress Of - Tennis Fan

Vagabon - Water Me Down

Barrie - Drag

Clairo - 4EVER *10/15 @ The Wiltern

Bayonne - Uncertainly Deranged (Yumi Zouma Remix)

Black Marble - Feels

Georgia - 24 Hours *10/08 @ The Moroccan

Charli XCX, HAIM - Warm *10/01 @ The Wiltern

Blue Hawaii - Trust

Spang Sisters - King Prawn the 1st

Moreish Idols - Mobile Phone

Oracle Sisters - Spotlight

MOTO BANDIT - KEANU: WEAPONIZED

GRMLN - Skeleton

BRONCHO - Boys Got to Go (Computer Magic Remix)

Caribou - Home

Caroline Polachek - So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings

Cass McCombs - Confidence Man

Mamalarky - Hero

The Drums, Jonny Pierce - I Didn't Realize

The Growlers - Truly

The Limiñanas, Lionel Limiñana, Étienne Daho - One Blood Circle

Cherry Glazerr, Portugal. The Man - Call Me *10/01 Fashion Pop Up Event @ Fred Segal

Peggy Sue - Motorcade

Penelope Isles - Leipzig

Cigarettes After Sex - Falling In Love *10/03 @ The Wiltern

Hildur Guðnadóttir - Bathroom Dance *10/12 Joker @ Los Feliz 3

Perfume Genius - Pop Song

Miya Folick - I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Korey Dane - The Big Undone

Michael Kiwanuka - Piano Joint (This Kind Of Love)

Kurt Vile, The Sadies - Baby's Arms

Primrose Forever Sanctuary, Korey Dane, Alyssa Miller - Lonesome Town

Steve Gunn - New Familiar (Acoustic Version)

Courtney Barnett - Keep On

Destroyer - Crimson Tide

FINKEL, NNAMDÏ - J Walk

Kilo Kish - BITE ME

FKA twigs - home with you

Tei Shi - Alone in the Universe

Sudan Archives - Glorious

Floating Points - Falaise

Frank Ocean - DHL

Toro y Moi Feat. Old Grape God - tron_new_rose_hifi_v2

Free Nationals, Chronixx - Eternal Light

Whyte Horses, John Grant - Hard Times

The Never Ending Fall - Trisha

Jacques Greene - For Love

Tyler, The Creator - EARFQUAKE (Channel Tres Remix)

Little Dragon - Tongue Kissing

Local Natives - Gulf Shores - (Tiger & Woods Remix)

Keep Shelly In Athens - Caryatid

Project Pablo - Sofware

Teebs, Panda Bear - Studie

King Princess - Useless Phrases

TOPS - Seven Minutes

Younghusband - Translation

Weyes Blood - Wild Time (Rough Trade Session)

Wilco - Love Is Everywhere (Beware)

illuminati hotties - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Free Fallin

Lucy Dacus - In The Air Tonight

SuperM - Jopping *10/05 @ Capitol Records

#2019 #October #Playlist

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sneek-m · 5 years

Photo

Monthly Listening: October 2019

What I remember being interested in: Soundcloud rap in Japan, Korean rap, Glenn Branca and his loud ass guitars, the album after the one that made it big, early Heisei Japanese singer/songwriters, sad rap, Takafumi Matsubara and his fast ass guitars, whatever Taiwanese rock YouTube recommends me, and of course, we jumpin’ we poppin’ we JOPPING.

Here is October’s playlist. And here is the full list of albums I checked out this month.

2019 albums

9lokknine: Loyalty Kill Love

AB6IX: 6IXENSE

Alessandro Cortini: Volume Massino

ARIAZ: Grand Opera

Astrid Sonne: Cliodynamics EP

AzChike: Rich & Ratchet

BeWhy: The Movie Star

Boris: LOVE & EVOL

Cana Biss: Karma! Karma! Karma!

Caroline Polachek: Pang

Carry Loose: Carry Loose

Chromatics: Closer to Grey

CRCK/LCKS: Temporary

CVN: I.C.

DADARAY: DADABABY

DJ N****a Fox: Cartas Na Manga

DJs Pareda: The After EP

Dove: Irrational EP

Dress & Sogumm: Not My Fault

E-40: Practice Makes Paper

Eartheater: Trinity

Emi Okamoto: Gappy

Erika Nishi: Love Me

Exhumed: Horror

Floating Points: Crush

Francois J. Bonnet & Stephen O’Malley: Cylene

G Perico: Two Eight

Gen Hoshino: Same Thing EP

Gigi Masin & Jonny Nash: Postcards from Nowhere

Glenn Branca: The Third Ascension

Heize: Late Autumn

Hoodboi: Sahara EP

Hoody: Departure

Indigo La End: Nureyuku Shishosetsu

JPEGMAFIA: All My Heroes Are Cornballs

JYOCHO: A Perfect Triangle, Rising Sun Human EP

Ken the 390: Unbirthday

Kevin Gates: I’m Him

Kim Gordon: No Home Record

Lightning Bolt: Sonic Citadel

Lim Kim: Generasian

Lucki: Days B4 III

Machina: Willow

MAVI: Let the Sun Talk

Meemo Comma: Sleepmoss

Mustard: Perfect Ten

N.Flying: Yaho

Nagisa Kuroki: Remon No Toge

NU’EST: The Table

Obsess: Pain;Us

ONEUS: Fly with Us

ONF: Go Live

Passepied: More Humor

Pelada: Movimiento Para Cambio

Polkadot Stingray: Hyper Craction EP

Powder: RA.700

Pi’erre Bourne: The Life of Pi’erre 4

Sada Baby: Whoop Tape

Sogumm: Sobrighttttttt

Special Request: Offworld

Split End: Deep Love EP

Summer Walker: Over It

SuperM: SuperM

Sushiboys: Bones

Suzanne Ciani: Dekmantel 250

Taeyeon: Purpose

Taeyoung Boy: Howl of Youngtimz

Taichi Mukai: Savage

Takafumi Matsubara: Strange, Beautiful and Fast

Taylor Swift: Lover

Telefon Tel Aviv: Dreams Are Not Enough

Tendre: In Sight EP

Toki Asako: Passion Blue

Tomorrow X Together: The Dream Chapter Magic

Toshifumi Hinata: Broken Beliefs

Tove Lo: Sunshine Kitty

Xanman: Broken

Yanakoto Sotto Mute: Humoresque

Yunovation: Hogarakani

Yurufuwa Gang & Ryan Hemsworth: Circus Circus

Yuzion: Young Trapper

ZICO: Thinking Part 1

Non-2019 albums

2PM: 1:59 PM

Ciara: The Evolution

City Morgue: Hell or High Water

Davido: Omo Baba Olowo (O.B.O.) The Genesis

French Montana & Waka Flocka Flame: Lock Out

Glenn Branca: The Ascension

Glenn Branca: Lesson No. 1

Gridlink: Amber Gray

Gridlink: Orphan

In the Blue Shirt: Sensation of Blueness

Jimmy Eat World: Futures

Kelis: Tasty

Keyshia Cole: Just Like You

Mala: Mala in Cuba

Mantronix: Music Madness

Noriyuki Makihara: Kimi Wa Dareto Shiawase No Akubi Wo Shimasuka

Noriyuki Makihara: Kimi Wa Boku No Takaramono

Plastikman: Sheet One

Portal: Vexovoid

Prodigy: Hegelian Dialectic (The Book of Revelation)

Roc Marciano: Behold a Dark Horse

Romeo Santos: Formula, Vol. 1

Seo Taiji and Boys: Seo Taiji and Boys II

Skinny Puppy: Too Dark Park

Simmy: Tugela Fairy

State Property: State Property

Taking Back Sunday: Where You Want to Be

TLC: Ooooooohhh… on the TLC Tip

Todd Edwards: Odyssey

Tofubeats: First Album

Toshinobu Kubota: The Baddest

Toshinobu Kubota: La La La Love Thang

Ultramagnetic MCs: New York, What Is Funky

Uhm Jung Hwa: 005.1999.006

Underworld: Second Toughest in the Infants

Vektroid: Seed & Synthetic Earth

Vybz Kartel: Kingston Story

Zazen Boys: Zazen Boys

#Monthly Listening

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ilovedspinach · 6 years

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March

Nayuka Gorrie, Sobering statistics

Porn Actresses Accuse Powerful Industry Agent of Fraud, Sex Abuse

Solange Searches for Epiphany

The Canberra Bubble

The Media Is Spreading A Murderer’s Manifesto – Don’t Be A Part Of It

Why is the Australian media promoting white nationalist ideas?

How Britney Spears Built a Billion-Dollar Business Without Selling a Single Record

Rascal Flatts restaurants failed nationwide. Did a Mafia soldier pull the strings?

Wayne’s World director Penelope Spheeris on leaving Hollywood behind: “They can blow me”

Theory: Non-possessive language

Tucker Carlson's sexist rants reveal an ugly truth

WRITING MY NOVEL TURNED INTO COOKING BOOT CAMP

He filmed the killing of Eric Garner - and the police punished him for it

LUKE PERRY, DYLAN MCKAY, AND THE MYTH OF THE ‘BAD BOY’

Protocols: Duty, Despair and Decentralisation transcript

THE SINGER TALKS ABOUT WHAT IT COSTS US, HAVING TO DO ALL THAT WORK.

In Conversation: Alex Trebek: The Jeopardy! icon on retirement, his legacy, and why knowledge matters

'Blackness will never go away': how Solange takes pride in her roots

Karen O and Danger Mouse Made an Album. It Only Took 11 Years.

Mario Batali and the Appetites of Men

The pagan boom – why young people are turning to non-traditional religions

Jenny Lewis

Hotels at centre of rape allegations promoted on TripAdvisor

WWF Funds Guards Who Have Tortured And Killed People

SURVIVING THE ORDINARY: WHY WE NEED MEMOIRS OF REGULAR LIVES

When the story comes before the survivor

The Bey Keeper: Yvette Noel-Schure Stands Between the World and Beyoncé

The Year That Skin Care Became a Coping Mechanism

What Does a Canceled Ryan Adams Album Mean for Record Stores?

How to Think About Empire

Why pools are rectangular, and other things you probably didn't know about swimming

The Busier You Are, the More You Need Quiet Time

The Next Step for #MeToo Is Into the Gray Areas

Review: Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez — it’s a man’s world and women don’t fit

How Google, Microsoft, And Big Tech Are Automating The Climate Crisis

Extreme fasting: how Silicon Valley is rebranding eating disorders

Lydia Loveless on Sexual Misconduct Allegations in Music Industry

Ryan Adams and the Perils of the Rock-Genius Myth

Clear History: Amid the craze of reassessing our attachment to physical objects, digital storage can seem like an infinite safety net. But what is the emotional weight of this virtual acreage? What happens when our archived memories no longer spark joy?

This Is Her: The Lost Past and Hopeful Future of Mandy Moore

Chasing rainbows: inside the battle between Radiohead and EMI's Guy Hands

Pazz & Jop: So, Are Women Here Yet?

Stacey Abrams for …. Governor? Senator? Veep? President?! The Georgian who is usually sure about everything finds herself conflicted about her future.

Atlantic City Is Really Going Down This Time

Who’s Afraid of Lorena Bobbitt?

From vibrating beds to infinity mirrors: motels that never left the 70s – photo essay

OzTix is now Australia’s largest independent ticketing company

POC Journalists: before Christchurch

Japanese Breakfast on Making Her Mom’s Kimchi Soup and Embracing Her Half-Korean Roots

https://deadline.com/2019/03/netflix-tv-series-cancellations-strategy-one-day-at-a-time-1202576297/

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pianotex · 5 years

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web管理人(教育楽器販売㈱)♪worldwide #PianoLove #MusicLove

×7 @superm #슈퍼엠 -#Jopping #WeAreTheFuture #SuperMtheFuture #SuperM_Jopping #SuperMinLA

#SMTOWN @SMTOWNGLOBAL

#CapitolRecords @capitolrecords #CAROLINE @carolinemusic

#Dance #Rap #KPOP#USPOP 教育楽器 http://kyoiku-gakki.co.jp

(Link) https://pic.twitter.com/NS5vAHz4zh

https://twitter.com/Piano_Kannazuki/status/1180359606343569408

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usviraltrends-blog · 7 years

Photo

New Post has been published on https://usviraltrends.com/scientists-beware-the-price-is-high-the-payoff-uncertain-at-glossy-publications-aimed-at-europes-decision-makers-science/

Scientists beware: The price is high, the payoff uncertain at glossy publications aimed at Europe’s decision-makers | Science

Covers of publications produced by Pan European Networks, which some EU officials worry look too much like official publications.

Pan European Networks

By Jop de VriezeMar. 14, 2018 , 4:05 PM

Last July, Marcel van der Heyden, a molecular biologist at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, got a cold call with an intriguing offer. Would Van der Heyden be interested in writing up some of his laboratory’s work, the caller asked, to be included in a glossy publication aimed at some of Europe’s most senior science decision-makers?

Intrigued, Van der Heyden began asking questions. But when he learned he would have to pay about ₤9000 ($12,400) to publish the two-page profile, “I immediately hit the brake,” he says. He said he would have to think it over, but the caller persisted. “I was told I had to decide rapidly, because their board meeting was about to start. He offered me a large discount if I would decide immediately.”

Van der Heyden isn’t the only European researcher to get such a hard sell from Pan European Networks (PEN), a 6-year-old publishing company with offices in Congleton, U.K., and Brussels that promises to provide opportunities for “leading figures from across Europe” to get attention for their work or ideas. Many other scientists had similar experiences, Van der Heyden discovered when he started poking around on blogs and Twitter, including the promise of attention from decision-makers and the warning about the imminent board meeting. Some also said that PEN suggested it is directly affiliated with EU agencies. (PEN declined to answer questions from Science.)

The strategy appears to work well. PEN operates a handful of websites about projects funded by Horizon 2020, Europe’s largest research program; science and technology; and health that feature news and stories about labs, research groups, conferences, and emerging technologies, as well as interviews with researchers. The websites also host digital magazines that can include up to 100 profiles per issue, many of them paid for by labs and researchers, and written by the researchers themselves or their press officers. One such magazine, SciTech Europa Quarterly, has published 26 issues since 2011; Health Europa Quarterly, which started in 2017, has published four.

Some of PEN’s websites state that “PEN is an independent publication” and “is not, and does not purport to be, an official partner of the European Commission;” the digital magazines’ table of contents also mention that all articles marked “profile” are advertising features. But EU officials aren’t happy about the booming business, in part because some of PEN’s current and past websites resemble the official web pages of European institutions and even feature star-spangled logos.

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation regards PEN as a “very aggressive marketing company, which gives the impression it is affiliated with the commission,” a spokesperson says. In fact, she adds, it has little influence. “There might be people in the [commission] who actually read it, but it is not regarded as a credible organization,” she says. The commission can’t officially tell researchers to steer clear of PEN, she says, but does so informally.

A letter that the European Research Council (ERC) sent to its grantees last July didn’t mention PEN by name, but warned about “certain publishing houses and online publications” whose tactics, “including vague references—usually by telephone—to any sort of official recognition by the ERC, the EC or the EU, are to be considered an attempt to fraud.” And in a 2016 letter to PEN, Jörg Polakiewicz, director of legal advice and public international law at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, asked the publisher to remove the council’s logo from its website and to note use the words “in association with.” (The Council of Europe, which has 47 member countries, is separate from the European Union.)

PEN is owned by Darren Wilson, former director of a now-defunct company called Public Service Ltd. that published public sector information in the United Kingdom and was also known for its aggressive marketing tactics. Wilson did not respond to requests for an interview.

PEN isn’t the only outlet that offers scientists and labs exposure for a price. Journals including Science and Nature run advertorials that feature academic and company labs and even individual researchers. Euroscientist, the official publication of a researchers’ association named Euroscience, also based in Strasbourg, occasionally publishes sponsored special issues as well. A U.K. digital magazine named Impact, founded in 2016, runs paid profiles, this far mainly focusing on large European research projects. But PEN appears to be unique in its aggressive marketing tactics, high prices, and unsupported claims about reaching into the highest echelons of European policy.

PEN does have dozens of positive testimonials, though many come from people who didn’t publish a paid profile but were interviewed for one of the publications, which is free of charge. “They were always helpful, replied promptly, and above all, interested in getting the details right, rather than sacrificing them for the sake of journalistic sensationalism,” wrote physicist Manus Hayne of Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, who was interviewed in SciTech Europa Quarterly, then still named Science and Technology. (Hayne says he would not pay to appear in the publication.) Maria Die Trill, president of the International Psycho-Oncology Society at the Hospital Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, wrote in a testimonial that she expected her PEN interview to help “spread the word” about the society. Caroline Lynn Kamerlin of Uppsala University in Sweden did pay for a profile, but now regrets writing a nice review afterward because of the “incessant harassment” of PEN’s sales force since then.

“For me it was a good opportunity to show what we were doing,” says Berber Vlieg-Boerstra, a research dietician at the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis Hospital in Amsterdam. She managed to negotiate the price of a profile about new dietary approaches to food allergies, published in PEN’s health magazine in August 2017, down to ₤1500. Realizing now that she is unlikely to see any returns, “I won’t do it again.” she says. “Still, I don’t really regret it. At least I have in writing what we’re currently doing, so that I can show it to others.”

But Jon Snaedal, a geriatrics professor at Reykjavik University, feels he did not get his money’s worth. “Being in the middle of the ocean, I saw it as an opportunity to get some connections at the continent.” He paid ₤12,000 from his research budget for an ad and three profiles, one published in the health magazine in 2017, the other two due out this year. After the first publication, PEN sold him a ₤2000 “partnership,” as part of which the company promised to show him how many readers looked at the publications. (PEN’s managing editor, Michael Thame, didn’t answer questions but wrote to Science that the company is “able to provide bespoke reports tailored for individual advertisers detailing the full extent of their exposure upon request.”) Snaedal says he never received such data, and he would not work with PEN again.

PEN can be aggressive against its critics, says Czech chemist Michael Bojdys of Charles University in Prague, who was approached by the company last year. In an 8 September 2017 blog post, he wrote that PEN “tries to take on the appearance of an EU agency or affiliated body” and described the business as “parasitic.” Bojdys soon received a phone call from PEN Executive Director Daniel Bott, who threatened to take legal action if the “slanderous” blog post wasn’t removed. Bojdys says he insisted there were no factual errors in his post and has not taken it down; he says Bott has dropped the matter.

As to Van der Heyden, he ended up refusing PEN’s proposition and feels lucky that he did. “They do seem to operate within the legal borders,” he says. “But I can imagine better ways to spend my valuable research money.”

#Science

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