HYBE, SM, YG, and JYP to Establish 'FANOMENON' Joint Venture... Under Fair Trade Commission Review

'FANOMENON' to Debut in Seoul and Goyang in December Next Year

Popular Music Ticket Sales Expected to Hit 981.7 Billion Won in 2025

Addressing Concert Venue Shortages

Developing a World-Class Festival IP

Seoul Arena bird's-eye view. Provided by Seoul Arena

The four companies representing Korea's K-pop industry—HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment—are joining forces, moving beyond competition to collaboration. It has been confirmed that the companies are currently undergoing a business combination review by the Fair Trade Commission in order to establish a joint venture (JV) that will promote the global K-culture festival, "FANOMENON."

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Public Culture Exchange Committee on July 29, the four companies participating in the music subcommittee of the Public Culture Exchange Committee will establish a joint venture dedicated to hosting FANOMENON. With the completion of the Fair Trade Commission review, they will begin the formal process of launching the company.

The joint venture’s first project will be a large-scale K-culture festival to be held in December 2027 at Seoul Arena in Dobong-gu, Seoul and KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. Centered around K-pop concerts, the festival will also showcase fan awards, as well as exhibitions and interactive events encompassing games, webtoons, movies, dramas, animation, food, fashion, and beauty. The goal is to create a comprehensive cultural event that goes beyond a simple music festival, offering a one-stop experience of Korean culture. The Korea Culture & Tourism Institute forecasts that the event will attract 520,000 visitors, including 200,000 foreign tourists, generating an estimated economic effect of about 1 trillion won.

The joint venture will act as the control tower overseeing FANOMENON. Private entertainment companies, which have accumulated experience in the global market, will take responsibility for event planning and management, while the government will provide support in public areas such as tourism, immigration, and safety management. The four companies will leverage their artists, global networks, and production capabilities to attract overseas fans to Korea. Co-chairman Jinyoung Park of the Public Culture Exchange Committee said, "The four K-pop companies have established a separate firm to speak with one voice," adding, "By joining forces with the government, we aim to achieve public-interest goals."

The primary reason behind these competing companies building a united front is the explosive growth of the concert and fandom market. According to the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS), ticket sales for domestic popular music concerts in 2025 reached 981.7 billion won, a 29% increase from the previous year. Popular music accounted for 56.7% of the overall sales in the performance market. While the number of shows accounted for only 19.8% of all performances and just 5.7% of total performance sessions, the number of tickets reserved was 7.64 million, representing 30.8% of the total.

The influence of large-scale venues was even more apparent. Last year, approximately 3.58 million popular music tickets were sold at venues with capacities of 10,000 seats or more, amounting to about 530.1 billion won. These large venues accounted for 54% of all popular music ticket sales revenue. Most of the top ten performances by ticket revenue were also held at such venues. Securing large venues is essential not only for maximizing concert profits but also for expanding related consumer spending such as tourism and merchandise sales.

Concert business performance also overwhelmingly stands out within these companies' financial results. HYBE held a total of 279 events in 2025, including 250 concerts and 29 fan meetings worldwide, recording 763.9 billion won in revenue from the concert business alone—a 69% surge from the previous year. JYP Entertainment also posted an all-time high in concert revenue, with 188.9 billion won—a rise of 82.4% from the prior year—driven by successful world tours of Stray Kids and TWICE. The concert business, which combines ticket sales, merchandise, and fan services, has become a core profit engine for major entertainment companies.

On the afternoon of the 27th, at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jongno-gu, Seoul, during the press conference of the Public Culture Exchange Committee announcing the '2027 Phenomenon Promotion Plan,' Choi Hwiyeong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism (left), who serves as co-chairman, and Park Jinyoung, CEO and chief producer of JYP Entertainment, are responding to questions. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the other hand, Korea's concert infrastructure has not managed to keep pace with market growth. In this year's work plan, the government diagnosed, "There is a serious lack of large-scale concert venues compared to the high demand for K-pop." Accordingly, 12 billion won will be invested in turf protection and stage facility upgrades at sports venues such as Seoul World Cup Stadium, and there are plans to support the construction of Seoul Arena and Goyang K-Culture Valley. In the long-term, there is also a push to build a 50,000-seat dome venue.

Due to the shortage of venues, top K-pop artists have been conducting world tours focused on large domes and stadiums overseas. The spending by fans attending concerts in North America, Europe, and Latin America remains concentrated abroad. The government’s simultaneous efforts to establish flagship festivals and large venues are aimed at encouraging this concert-related consumption to remain domestic.

FANOMENON is a project that aims to turn concert venues into spaces annually imbued with Korea's leading K-pop intellectual property, drawing fans from around the world. By coordinating schedules and lineups through the joint venture, the four companies are expected to achieve greater bargaining power. This framework will also make it easier to organize large-scale lineups and execute overseas marketing than if individual companies managed events separately. Moreover, it enables a wider variety of revenue models—not just ticket sales but also corporate sponsorships, online streaming, and the sale of limited-edition merchandise.

Co-chairman Hwiyeong Choi of the Public Culture Exchange Committee stated, "To bring overseas K-pop fans to Korea, we are preparing extensive promotion and a range of events," adding, "We will create a structure where expenditures become direct revenues, not merely costs." Co-chairman Park also emphasized, "The most important thing is to establish a profit-making structure. Profitability is essential for attracting the world's leading artists and companies." The government plans to provide budget support as necessary, given the public-interest goal of increasing national wealth.

The remaining challenge is to ensure that the joint venture does not merely serve the four companies, but becomes a platform accessible to the broader K-pop industry. An industry insider commented, "Criteria must be established so that artists not affiliated with the four companies, as well as smaller agencies, can participate. The systems for distributing performance fees, ticket revenue, and sponsorship income must be transparently designed." The source also noted, "As public funds are invested, it is crucial to clearly distinguish between government support and private sector profits. Once the four companies fully launch the business, the K-pop industry will embark on a new experiment aimed at establishing a cooperative foundation for global expansion. The festival’s success will depend not only on the combined capabilities of the four companies, but also on how broadly it expands to include smaller agencies and other cultural industries."

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