Big 4 K-pop agencies pushing for joint venture to launch global festival

BTS performs during BTS World Tour "ARIRANG" at Goyang Stadium, Saturday. Courtesy of BigHit Music

Korea's top four K-pop agencies — Hybe, YG Entertainment, SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment — are working to establish a joint venture, seen as a move toward creating a global music festival involving their artists.

The four agencies, which participate in the music division of the Presidential Committee for Popular Culture Exchange, said Thursday they are "preparing to set up a corporation to advance a 'Fanomenon' event."

Park Jin-young, founder of JYP Entertainment and co-chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, speaks during the kickoff ceremony of the committee held at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 1, 2025. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seok

JYP founder Park Jin-young, the committee's co-chair, introduced the "Fanomenon" initiative in October at the committee's inauguration ceremony in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, explaining that the name combines the words "fan" and "phenomenon." Park also outlined a vision to launch the massive Korean music festival under that name by December 2027, which could rival the U.S.-based Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

The agencies described the joint venture as a "model for collaboration designed to explore new possibilities for Korean culture's expansion, including K-pop, in global markets."

They said procedures to establish the corporate body are currently under way but emphasized that detailed business plans and operational methods have not yet been finalized.

"The companies will make cautious decisions after taking market conditions and diverse opinions into account," they added.