KOCCA holds K-Music Week festival for global fans
The Korea Creative Content Agency will hold K-Music Week from Thursday to Monday. Courtesy of KOCCA
By Lee Gyu-lee
The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is holding a series of concerts through K-Music Week for global Hallyu fans.
The state-run agency announced Thursday that the event is being held for five days from Thursday to Monday and is streamed online every night at 9 p.m. through KOCCA MUSIC's official YouTube channel.
This is the third music event organized by the agency this year, following MU:CON 2021 in September and ON THE K in October. It intends to present the diversity of K-pop to international audiences to promote and expand the horizons of the Korean music industry.
“Hallyu is currently led by K-pop idols, and through K-Music Week, we hope to widen that scope to include all genres of K-music,” Jo Hyun-rae, the agency's president, said in a statement. “Moving forward, we will continue to seek to provide opportunities for unique, talented musicians across genres to make their way abroad.”
Hosted by Oscar-winning film “Parasite” actress Jung Ji-so, the event will have different themed concerts on each day, starting with one to celebrate the wrap up of the annual national college entrance test ― the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) ― held Thursday.
A list of performers for the event / Courtesy of KOCCA
Thursday's concert will feature eight artists and groups, such as Loco, Key, Norazo, Momoland and Blackswan, and dance group Hook. The next day's concert will have performances of popular K-drama soundtracks by seven artists, including Soyou, Kim Jae-hwan, Punch, Yu Seung-woo, and duo MeloMance.
On Saturday, K-pop artists' performances will be hosted with singers such as BoA, Jeong Se-woon, and girl group ITZY. The fourth day's concert will have K-pop acts Golden Child and ONF, performing their song at the site where they filmed the song's music video.
The last day's concert will cover various genres from trot and rock to K-pop with performances by singers such as trot star Lee Chan-won, girl groups STAYC, Everglow and Oh My Girl, and rock band CRAXILVER.
Some 15 individuals and groups who were named the best musicians of this year's MU:CON will also take part in the concert.
MU:CON, which is the agency's major annual music fair, scouts “hidden gems” to discover up-and-coming artists and selects a number of them as the best musicians of the year to provide promotions and support.
This year's best musicians will also be offered support for online promotions, targeting the European music market, and given an opportunity to collaborate with European musicians, as well as consultancy on entering its music platform.