Policy Support to Eliminate Song Pre-Orders and Ticket Scaling and Address Venue Shortages...Active Efforts to Strengthen the K-Pop Industry

Policy support and infrastructure improvements aimed at ensuring sustainable growth for the K-Pop industry are accelerating. Multi-faceted efforts are underway, ranging from enhancing fairness in the music streaming market to resolving venue shortages and conducting foundational academic research. The Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association has been selected as the implementing agency for the “Monitoring and Eradication Campaign against Song Pre-Orders and Ticket Scaling” led by the Korea Content Agency. The association plans to strengthen fairness in the popular music industry by establishing a system to monitor ticket scalping, managing reporting boards for suspicious tickets, and raising awareness of a fair consumer culture. It also aims to create a collaboration model among the government, the performance industry, and fan communities, while launching participatory campaigns on social media and online platforms. The association stated, “In recent years, issues such as song ranking manipulation by some agencies and distributors and the distribution of scalped tickets have come to light,” adding that “this project is part of efforts to address unfair practices and create a fair musical environment.”

Venue shortages have emerged as one of the most urgent challenges facing the K-Pop industry. According to the “2024 Annual Performance Market Ticket Status Analysis Report” released last year by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Arts Management Support Center, the total sales amount for popular music concert tickets reached 75.69 billion won, a 31.3% increase from the previous year. The number of concerts also rose by 9.8%, while ticket bookings increased by 22.2%. However, in Seoul, the only venues capable of holding 50,000 or more spectators are the Seoul World Cup Stadium and the Seoul Olympic Main Stadium. Venues with capacities between 10,000 and 50,000 seats are also extremely limited to the Olympic Gymnastics Stadium and the Gochek Sky Dome. Moreover, the Seoul Olympic Main Stadium began renovations in August last year and will remain unusable until December next year. Due to these infrastructure shortages, large international artists frequently exclude South Korea from their Asian tours, a phenomenon known as “Korea passing.” Last year, controversies arose when Taylor Swift and Billy Joel omitted South Korea from their Asian tours. Experts point out that attracting pop star performances requires at least 50,000 spectators, but securing venues capable of accommodating such crowds is extremely difficult. Comparisons with other countries highlight the severity of the situation. In Tokyo, Japan, there are 4 venues with capacities over 50,000 seats and 14 venues with capacities over 10,000 seats, while California, USA, has 40 venues with capacities of 10,000 seats or more. The root causes of venue shortages include difficulties in securing land, low added value, and short-term policy focus by policymakers. High land prices in cities drive capital toward high-value investments such as housing and commercial facilities, making it difficult to expect profitability from venues like concert halls. Additionally, noise complaints are frequent. Although over 20 promises to build large-scale venues were made in the past 10 years, fewer than 5 have been completed. The CJ Live City, a venue with an indoor capacity of 20,000 seats, saw its construction delayed by 6 years due to approval issues and was eventually halted in April last year.

Efforts to establish a solid academic foundation are also intensifying. The Korean Society for Popular Music will hold its 36th regular academic conference on June 7 at the Korea Radio and Communication University to commemorate its 20th anniversary. Under the theme of “Reflection and Outlook,” the conference will review the trends in popular music research over the past 20 years and explore future challenges. A special session will be dedicated to honoring the late Kim Min-ki, who was regarded as a symbol of democracy, to examine the intersection between Korean popular music and democracy. The society has published the academic journal “Popular Music” as a journal listed by research foundations and has grown into a mid-sized academic organization with around 300 members. In this way, enhancing fairness in the music streaming market, systematically expanding performance infrastructure, and building an academic research foundation represent integrated efforts to mature the K-Pop industry. Experts predict that when there is cooperation among the government, the cultural sector, and the sports sector, along with long-term policy implementation, K-Pop will be able to further solidify its status as a global cultural industry.