K-pop singers compete for the throne, pop stars skip Korea

The issue of lack of performance venues specializing in popular music is constantly raised.

Source: The Fact DB

Global interest in K-pop artists like BTS is increasing, but there is practically no stage for them to stand on in Korea. The size of the Korean music market as of 2022 ranks 7th in the world, but the reality is that the country does not have a suitable performance dome. Fortunately, discussions about building a performance dome specializing in popular music have become heated recently. Accordingly, let's look at the past, present and future of performance domes in the country.

[The Fact | Reporter Gong Mina] Last August, 2PM’s fansheld a truck protest near the headquarters of their management company, YG Entertainment, in Seongnae-dong, Seoul. This is because Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, where the 15th anniversary concert was held, has a space that is too small compared to the size of the fandom.

Previously, in May, SHINee's fandom SHINee World also organized a truck protest near SM Entertainment headquarters in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, claiming that the rented location for the 15th anniversary fanmeeting was not appropriate. . KINTEX in Ilsan, Kyunggi Province, which was announced as a fan meeting venue, had severely limited visibility and was criticized as unsuitable as a performance venue. Finally, the management company quickly changed the fan meeting venue to Jamsil Indoor Stadium.

Fandom was angry because of the lack of concert domes, and the popular music industry was in a difficult situation. As the popularity of K-pop increases day by day, the demand for concert halls is also increasing but the domestic concert hall infrastructure cannot keep up. In particular, when the demand for hiring popular music performances exploded after the Covid-19 pandemic, the problem of lack of performance venues seemed to become even more serious.

This sometimes results in pop stars “passing by Korea.” American pop star Taylor Swift recently announced the Asia and Oceania schedule for next year's world tour, however Korea was removed from the tour area. The band Coldplay has also announced a tour around Asia and Australia, but Korea is not on the list of performance destinations. This is in contrast to both artists performing two and four times in neighboring Japan, respectively.

Even if you visit Korea, you will still have trouble with the venue. Last September, when American pop star Post Malone held a concert in Korea, he chose KINTEX in Ilsan, Kyunggi Province as the venue, causing complaints from the audience. KINTEX is an exhibition hall, not a professional performance hall, so there are no stairs and limited use of the protruding stage. When performing here, there are often problems with the audience's vision and sound. In the festival industry, KINTEX is sometimes called the ‘festival graveyard’. The reason is because there has never been a successful performance held here. Live Nation Korea, which held Post Malone's concert in Korea, also revealed that they chose this location because there was no suitable location at the time.

Source: YG Entertainment

The lack of performance venues in the country has recently worsened as the main Olympic Stadium at Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul is being renovated. This is the Olympic Stadium which is the largest concert hall in Korea with 65,599 seats. Construction began last August and is expected to be completed by December 2026.

Another venue that can accommodate more than 50,000 people is Seoul World Cup Stadium located in Mapo District, Seoul. This place is not easy to open for famous singers for fear of damaging the grass, but last August, '2023 Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree K-Pop Super Live Concert' was held in an emergency situation. As a result, the grass carpet at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, which was maintained at a cost of nearly 1 billion won, was damaged, causing a wave of outcry from many football fans.

Gocheok Dome in Seoul and KSPO Dome (formerly Gymnastics Stadium) at Seoul Olympic Park, which can accommodate 20,000 people. However, it is difficult to rent Gocheok Dome from April to October when the professional baseball tournament is going on, and renting KSPO Dome is almost a dream. In particular, after the main Olympic Stadium began to be renovated, the competition to rent space became more fierce when big singers started performing at KSPO Dome. Recently, singers Kim Dong Ryul and Lim Young Woong each held six performances in two weeks here, meaning only two groups of singers could perform at KSPO Dome in October. Additionally, When these big singers turned their attention to KSPO Dome, like a domino effect, other singers could not be hired here so there was no other choice but to scale down their performance and move to other venues. less.

The mentioned spaces are also sports facilities, not professional performance halls, so organizing performances faces many difficulties. This is why the controversy is getting bigger and bigger, so there is a need to establish more performance halls specializing in popular music.

Source: The Fact DB

Mr. A, a performance industry official who specializes in promoting pop stars' performances in Korea, said: "In the past, there was a time when it was possible to rent a venue 3 to 4 months in advance. but nowadays, it's very difficult to rent a venue even if you contact us at least 6 months in advance." “Even if top foreign musicians express their intention to come to Korea, we don't have room to receive,” he explained.

In particular, there is an opinion that it is difficult to meet the rental period of the KSPO Dome, the Olympic Arena and the handball court located in the Olympic Park because of the fixed rental period. These performance halls are managed and operated by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, accepting regular rental applications during the first half of the year, the second half of the year, and the end of the year. Mr. A said: “Pop stars who announced plans to visit Korea a year or two early were not able to register for concert hall rentals in advance, so it was difficult to pursue a visit to Korea in unexpected situations. sure".

It is pointed out that this happens not only in large concert halls, but also in small and medium-sized concert halls. According to the 'Status of Registered Performance Venues 2022' data released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last December, the number of performance halls nationwide is about 1,300. Although it may seem like a lot at first glance, most are facilities such as community centers or theaters and music performance halls. There are only a few performance halls that specialize in popular music. Additionally, most of them are concentrated in urban areas such as Seoul and Gyeonggi.

Mr. B, another performance industry official, said: “The reality is that the number of performance halls cannot keep up with the scale of the Korean popular music market, including K-pop,” and said adding, “The popular music market will only be able to grow further as more performance halls open not only in urban areas but also across the country.” I looked ahead.