HYBE, SM, YG, and JYP Advance Global K-pop Festival “Fanomenon”

South Korea’s K-pop industry is pursuing unprecedented collaboration. The four largest entertainment companies in the country—HYBE, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment—are jointly developing a global K-pop festival named “Fanomenon.”

“Fanomenon” is a combination of “fan” and “phenomenon,” intended to highlight the cultural influence and economic value of fanbases within the global music industry. The festival is scheduled to debut in South Korea in December 2027, with expansion to major cities around the world beginning in 2028. Its goal is to become a massive event on par with the prestigious “Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival” in the United States.

Park Jin-young, founder of JYP Entertainment, is at the center of this project. He currently serves as co-chair of the government’s Fair Trade Commission for popular culture exchanges and was appointed by President Yoon Suk-yeol to lead the global promotion of K-pop and Korean culture. The government has committed to supporting the global expansion of K-culture through public-private partnerships while ensuring it does not interfere with artistic decisions.

The large-scale collaboration among the four entertainment companies will be based on equal investment and shared governance. An application has already been submitted to the Fair Trade Commission to review a potential merger between HYBE and SM Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Kakao Group. However, the four companies emphasized that discussions on cooperation are still in the initial stages, and specific business plans, timelines, and operational structures have not yet been finalized. They stated that decisions will be made carefully after considering market conditions and industry opinions.