Big Bang

Big Bang has been labelled as the "Revolutionary Group of Hallyu Wave" and "South Korea's Most Wanted" for their unique urban-originated music and flamboyant fashion style compared to other boy bands and girl groups. The members' involvement in writing and producing their own music, most notably G-Dragon's, has garnered respect and praise from music industry experts for being the only idol group at the time who were artists of their craft. To this day, they remain Korea's national boy group as they lead the Korean music scene, fashion scene, and Korean pop culture through their innovative sound and unwavering popularity worldwide.

Starting on January 20, 2012, YG Entertainment began releasing teasers for Big Bang's 5th mini-album Alive, released on February 29. Preorders for Alive amounted to 260,000 copies in two weeks. The lead single "Blue", released on February 22, became the first certified "Perfect All-Kill" of 2012, meaning that it placed 1st on over seven digital charts in Korea and was the most downloaded ringtone. The music video received 2 million views on YouTube within 24 hours. All six tracks from the album reached the Top 10 on various charts. Alive also charted at number 5 on US iTunes Top Albums and number 3 on Canadian iTunes, beating the previous record for a Korean album set by their album Tonight. The Japanese version of Alive was released on March 28 with 2 additional Japanese tracks "Ego", "Feeling", and the Japanese remake of "Haru Haru". It sold 23,000+ units on the first day and peaked at #2 on the Oricon Charts and top spot on iTunes Japan. Japanese promotion began with a performance at 2012's Springroove Festival alongside top American and Japanese hip hop artists. Big Bang was the first Korean act to be invited along with label-mates 2NE1. The album release coincided with their annual concert, Big Show 2012, held at Seoul Olympic Park Stadium from March 2–4 to a sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans. This marks the official kick off of their first world tour BIG BANG ALIVE TOUR in partnership with Live Nation. It is directed by renowned choreographer Laurieann Gibson and will be stopping on 5 continents, 16 countries, and 25 cities. In addition to TV promotions and their own hour-long comeback show, YG released live band performances of every track on the album through their YouTube channel and the Korean equivalent Naver. Concert footage from Big Show was broadcasted in 160 countries through MTV World Stage, which pushed the promotion for their world tour. Internationally, Big Bang obtained 5 spots out of the Top 10 on Billboard K-pop's Hot 100 and charted at 150 on Billboard 200, making them the first Korean artist with a Korean album to do so. The also charted at #4 on Heatseekers Albums, #22 on Independent Albums, #4 on World Albums, and #1 on Taiwan Album charts, beating out local artists. Their popularity through social media landed them #24 on Billboard 50 Social Chart, marking another first for Korean boy groups. Since the release of Alive, Big Bang has received recognition from notable sites such as Gawker, Jukebox (France), Refinery29 (Britain), Letras (Brazil), Ligação Teen (Brazil), Rolling Stones, Ebony Magazine, Time Magazine, and a photo was featured on the Grammy Awards homepage. G-Dragon and TOP collaborated with British singer Pixie Lott's "Dancing On My Own" included on her Japanese album. On May 5th, 2012, six months after their EMA win, the group won an international award at MTV Italy's "2012 TRL Awards" under the category "Best Fan", beating out artists such as Avril Lavigne and One Direction. In its sixth year, Big Bang continues to prove their longevity and high popularity in Asia with being voted the Most Popular Male Singer once again. They have landed a string of new endorsements with the most recent being Jeju Airlines, which will sponsor the Asia leg of the ALIVE TOUR. The group has plans to release a full studio album later in the year, as well as leader G-dragon's solo album in August, 2012. Reports indicate Big Bang will earn an estimated $69 million USD from group activities this year.