Jeff Benjamin

About

I'm an award-winning music and travel journalist, editor, curator and host based in New York City. In addition to his writing, his expertise on pop music—particularly in international music and his specialty as an expert in K-pop (Korean pop)—has been featured in and commissioned as a source for outlets like the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, USA Today, Time, BBC, Allure, VICE, Forbes, Pollstar, MTV, Money, NPR, The Fader, Yahoo!, The Korea Times and many more. I've made on-air appearances and hosted segments for CNN, Billboard, ABC News, CBS, NBC, Good Morning America, Time, E! News, Inside Edition, FOX, BUILD Series, Entertainment Tonight, Variety, Cheddar, NY1, Extra, Arirang TV and more. I've spoken on radio and podcasts for the New York Times’ ‘Popcast’ podcast, WNYC, NPR's Here & Now and All Things Considered, Billboard’s Must-Hear Music podcast, Barstool Sports and more. I've been asked to share his expertise as an expert, journalist and consultant to speak at local and international events including SXSW, Comic-Con and KCON in the United States, MU:CON, the Culture Communication Forum, the Korea Foundation’s Public Diplomacy Week and MBN Y Forums in South Korea, MIDEM in France, and more. As of Summer 2019, I'm currently acting as the international correspondent for 'We K-Pop,' a K-pop variety show filmed in South Korea by KBS World that is aired weekly to more than 100 million viewers in 120 countries around the world. His weekly segments include an in-depth analysis on that week’s guest as well as a featured picks and analyses on artists on the scene. For the 2020 season in the era of COVID-19, 'We K-Pop' re-branded as 'We K-Pop Friends' to make fans wishes come true remotely with new segments each week. In January of 2020, I was recognized with my first award as a journalist. The Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) named me winner of The Korea Image Stepping Stone Bridge Award for "his contribution to introducing K-pop artists to the world becoming a bridge between the artists and the global audience." In 2021, I officially grew to the streaming and tech industry working as TIDAL’s K-Pop Editor to handle all K-pop content including curation, playlisting, programming, editorial, live opportunities and content. Within months, I also took lead on high-fidelity audio listening experiences (including content in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio) and viral content (the Viral Hits playlists). As well, I launched the New Arrivals: Global Pop playlist to highlight trending music around the world.