Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
More than 7,000 indie musicians active in Korea, most of them in Seoul
SEODo Band. From left are: keyboardist Kim Seong-hyun, percussionist Park Jin-byeong, vocalist sEODo, guitarist Yeon Tae-hee, bassist Kim Tae-joo and drummer Yang Jung-hoon. / Courtesy of Universal Music
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
There are around 7,000 indie musicians in Korea and most of them are active in Seoul, according to a study published Wednesday.
According to data compiled by the Record Label Industry Association of Korea based on performances and albums released between 2017 and 2020, there are 2,814 indie bands in Korea, including 7,004 musicians.
The data showed 353 indie bands are signed to record labels, while the others are on their own.
The number of Seoul-based indie bands that are not signed with record labels accounted for 74.8 percent of the total (2,105 bands). The data also showed that 100 indie bands are active in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, while 72 are active in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province.