Wk20 2025

Mix

みんなのきもち Minna-no-kimochi

Cinematic Mixes

Recently, there has been a surge in what I call ‘cinematic’ mixes with visuals filmed in-situ and often in unexpected locations.

In the West you will often see these in coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and some also on the move on the street, a trend that started on TikTok during the pandemic when clubs and bars had strict capacity limitations.

However, Korea has been pushing doing a lot of work pushing this trend forward for a while now, and using even more unexpected locations.

I first came across this trend through LAYBACK, a Korean channel that curates playlists with visuals of people just hanging out. Often times the videos are of a group of friends catching up at a restaurant or a bar but there are also others where it’s just featuring someone reading or working in very well-designed venues throughout Korea.

The premise is quite simple and I think commercially it’s very savvy as well, these are great videos for people who want something in the background while they work, so the views rack up over time.

And as the channel has grown in popularity they have begun partnering with retail stores to feature them in their videos also, pivoting towards a very subtle form of branded content that is a win-win for the creator and viewer.

The creator is able to monetise their content, while the viewer can enjoy a type of branded content that is not as obnoxious and doesn’t interrupt the original experience that got them into watching the channel in the first place.

Harder In-Situ Mixes

While I do find the concept fascinating, often times the genre of music they choose is not quite up my alley most of the times. It is rare that I find myself leaving these on in the background at work.

However, recently there have been channels that adopt the same concept while offering deeper genres of electronic music, like a techno mix at a coffee shop in Tokyo, or ambient mixes at a factory in an non-descript location.