The powerhouses of the South Korean music industry, Hybe, YG Entertainment, SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, have confirmed they are pooling their resources to launch a major joint venture, Yonhap reports.
The move is a strategic bid to establish a massive global music festival that would showcase their world-famous artists on a single, unified stage.
Known as the «Big Four», these agencies are currently working within the music division of the Presidential Committee for Popular Culture Exchange. On Thursday, they revealed that preparations are underway to form a legal corporation dedicated to launching an event titled «Fanomenon».
The vision for Fanomenon
The concept for the festival was first introduced in October by JYP founder Park Jin-young during an inauguration ceremony in Goyang. Park, who serves as the committee’s co-chair, explained that the name is a portmanteau of «fan» and «phenomenon».
He outlined an ambitious roadmap to debut the event by December 2027 with the explicit goal of creating a South Korean alternative to the world-renowned Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the United States.
The agencies have described this partnership as a pioneering collaborative model designed to explore fresh avenues for the expansion of Korean culture and K-pop within international markets.
Strategic collaboration
While the legal process to establish the joint corporation is active, the agencies were careful to note that the finer details of the business plan remain in development. Operational methods and specific artist line-ups have yet to be finalised.
In a joint statement, the companies emphasised that they would proceed with caution, ensuring that all final decisions take current market conditions and various industry perspectives into account.
