Content Promotion Agency Steps Up to Support Popular Music Performance Sector Hit by COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The government is stepping up to support creators in the popular music performance industry, which has been weakened by the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency announced on the 8th that they are recruiting production companies and musicians to participate in support projects aimed at revitalizing the popular music performance industry, which has been stagnant due to COVID-19. To support online and offline non-face-to-face performances that comply with COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, the projects are conducted under the 'Emergency Popular Music Performance Support Project to Overcome COVID-19' and the 'Muse On 2020 Musician Recruitment' aimed at discovering and nurturing promising musicians.

The support targets include offline or online non-face-to-face performances of all genres of domestic popular music, and additional points will be given as preferential treatment if the applying company or performing musician can prove damage caused by COVID-19. In particular, when applying, a quarantine plan that complies with COVID-19 prevention guidelines such as distancing between seats, wearing masks, and environmental disinfection must be established.

For short-term performances held once or 3 to 4 times, up to 45 million KRW per project will be supported, and for long-term or multi-regional performances held in 3 or more regions, up to 100 million KRW per project will be provided to cover necessary performance costs.

Muse On is a project that discovers promising musicians and supports them in various ways to increase public recognition, including performance hosting, live clip production, and media-linked promotional support.

This year, applicants will be recruited by dividing them into established and rookie musicians, and support programs suitable for each musician's stage will be operated. Established musicians are defined as those who debuted more than 3 years ago as of the announcement date and have released more than 20 songs, while rookie musicians are those who debuted less than 3 years ago or have released fewer than 20 songs as of the announcement date. The selection scale is about 20 teams in total.

Kim Young-jun, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency, said, "We urgently prepared this project to help the music industry struggling due to COVID-19," and emphasized, "We will continue to spare no support so that all creators, including musicians, can keep challenging without losing opportunities in the post-COVID-19 era."

For more details and application methods, please check the Korea Creative Content Agency website and e-Nara Deum.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.