K-pop 'Big 4' to Launch Music Festival Surpassing Coachella

President Lee Jae-myung (center) is taking a commemorative photo holding a cheering lightstick at the K-Culture Experience Zone with J.Y. Park (left) and Choi Hwi-young, co-chairmen of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee, at the launch ceremony of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee held last October at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by the Presidential Office News Photographers Group

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The four leading entertainment companies driving the domestic popular music industry have joined forces to build a global festival brand.

According to the entertainment industry on April 17, HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment are moving forward with plans to establish a joint venture (JV) and have begun planning a mega event that aims to surpass the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the world’s largest music festival.

The four companies recently submitted a business combination report to the Fair Trade Commission for the establishment of a joint venture dedicated to concert planning and operations. Since HYBE, a conglomerate with assets exceeding 5 trillion won, and SM, a subsidiary of Kakao Group, are participating, the related administrative procedures are also accelerating. The Fair Trade Commission is reportedly reviewing the potential impact of this business combination on market competition.

The most likely name for the joint venture is ‘Fanomenon’, a combination of ‘Fan’ and ‘Phenomenon’, reflecting the intention to expand the cultural movement created by fans into a global festival. The joint venture will be operated with equal shares contributed by the four agencies and will serve as the implementation platform for the project of the same name championed by J.Y. Park, co-chairman of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee.

At the launch ceremony of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee held in October last year, Chairman Park declared, “We will hold a mega event called ‘Fanomenon’ in Korea and around the world.” Fanomenon is scheduled to debut in Korea in December 2027, after which it will be expanded into a global festival touring major cities worldwide starting in May 2028.

This project also aligns with the policy direction of the Lee Jae-myung administration, which aims to foster K-Culture as a core industry of the Korean economy. The government is promoting a public-private partnership model based on the so-called arm’s length principle of “support without interference.” At the launch ceremony, President Lee emphasized, “We will nurture K-Culture as a national flagship performance intellectual property (IP) and make it a new growth engine.”

The motivation to target Coachella lies in its enormous economic impact. Held annually in California, USA, Coachella draws more than 250,000 spectators per event and is estimated to generate an economic ripple effect of about 700 million dollars (approximately 1.03 trillion won). The UK’s Glastonbury Festival and Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival are also considered key cultural assets that drive not only performances but also city branding and tourism demand.

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Hive, SM, YG, JYP logos. Provided by each company

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Fanomenon is expected to become a turning point that transforms the revenue structure of existing K-pop concerts. Moving beyond the traditional focus on single-artist tours or agency-specific joint concerts, the new model aims to integrate the artist pools of the four major agencies and create a platform-type festival where fandoms from around the world can gather. Through this, the strategy is to expand K-pop’s influence in the global music market and establish Korea as a hub for music tourism.

According to JYP, “We are currently discussing a cooperation model with the government’s Popular Culture Exchange Committee to expand the K-Culture industry globally,” adding, “We are also reviewing a corporate collaboration structure to ensure stability in the private sector implementation stage.” However, the specific structure of the board of directors and the appointment of the CEO will be determined based on the results of the Fair Trade Commission’s review and the market situation.

Industry insiders believe that the establishment of this joint venture will serve as a catalyst for the advancement of the K-pop industry. This represents an effort to pool capital and capabilities at the industry level, moving beyond competition among individual companies. The status of Fanomenon is expected to be further elevated if it is combined with plans to build a world-class concert venue dedicated to K-pop. There is also a strong possibility that it will establish itself as a distinctive brand maximizing the value of offline performances amid the music consumption environment centered on digital streaming.

However, as a latecomer to the global festival market, securing a clear identity will be crucial. The key challenge will be how to combine the free-spirited atmosphere of Western festivals with the uniquely powerful K-pop fandom culture. Chairman Park stated, “We will create a mega event where fans are the main characters, going beyond a simple performance,” and added, “It will be a stage that engraves the power of K-pop in the minds of people around the world.”

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