IVE Becomes First K-Pop Girl Group to Be Invited to Rolling Loud Berlin, Expanding Global Presence

The global spread of K-pop is accelerating through music festivals and international training academies. IVE became the first female K-pop group to receive an invitation to Rolling Loud Berlin, thereby strengthening its position on the international music stage. The group performed for 55 minutes at Berlin’s Olympiastadion and Olympiapark on July 12 (local time). This marked the first time a K-pop girl group had been invited to Rolling Loud Berlin in its history. IVE first participated in Rolling Loud Chicago last year, where it received high praise from international music fans and media for its live band support and powerful vocals. The American music magazine Rolling Stone described IVE’s performance as “shaking the stage,” while Billboard ranked it among the top 10 performances at the festival. Billboard noted that the group “captivated the entire audience with perfect high notes and operatic spectacle,” calling it “the most memorable performance” of the event. In addition to Rolling Loud Berlin, IVE will also perform at Rolling Loud Paris on July 20. This makes them the only K-pop girl group to be invited to Rolling Loud three times within two years. With their third mini-album, *IVE Empathy*, released in February this year, IVE has achieved 15 number-one spots on music shows, including 11 for the Title Track “Level Up” and 4 for “Attitude.” They are also set to perform as a halftime act for the first match of the 2025 Coupang Play series on July 30. The K-pop training system is also expanding into Southeast Asia. SM Universe, a subsidiary of SM Entertainment, operates a local training academy in Singapore. SM Universe, along with HYBE, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment, is part of what is known as the “Big Four” K-pop agencies. SM Universe (Singapore) opened in June and is the only SM Universe training academy in Southeast Asia. All instructors are Korean industry experts from the Seoul headquarters. Recently, 15 students aged 11 to 19 participated in a five-day intermediate K-pop training program. They trained from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, receiving lessons in dance, vocals, recording, and modeling just like real K-pop trainees. One participant, 17-year-old Kuti Tan, joined the program based on her self-taught K-pop choreography skills learned from YouTube. She said she became fascinated with K-pop after first watching BLACKPINK’s “How You Like That” music video in 2020, and since then has explored music, performances, and idols. 13-year-old Cherry See Sim is also one of the students in the program. 15-year-old Kasa Tan received a scholarship to train at SM Universe in Seoul and is currently balancing her studies at an arts high school with K-pop training. SM Universe (Singapore) is currently planning a 21-week program that will eventually conclude with auditions in Seoul, aiming to equip students with the essential skills needed to enter the K-pop industry. The cost of the program is $1,000 (approximately 1.36 million won). IVE’s participation in global festivals and the opening of SM Universe’s training academy in Singapore demonstrate that K-pop is evolving from a mere music genre into a worldwide cultural phenomenon. In Asia, teenagers eager to experience Korean culture are joining official training systems, while on the international music stage, K-pop artists are playing increasingly prominent roles.