[INTERVIEW] Real market for K-pop is at overseas countries: Chinese businessman

By Park Sae-jin Posted : December 20, 2019, 17:13 Updated : December 20, 2019, 17:13

Idea Music Entertainment CEO Brian Chow [Courtesy of iMe]


SEOUL -- South Korea's flourishing entertainment industry, backed by popular bands such as BTS, BLACKPINK and TWICE, has garnered huge acknowledgment from global fans, but an international entertainment company headquartered in Beijing calls for more active and frequent two-way cultural exchanges with other countries to seek K-pop's steady and stable growth.

"89 percent of YouTube viewers who watched the content of top 20 K-pop artists are from countries other than South Korea. The real market for K-pop is at overseas countries," Idea Music Entertainment (iMe) CEO Brian Chow told Aju News. iMe is an entertainment company headquartered in Beijing that organizes concerts and cultural events around the world.

"There's still a great room for K-pop's growth potential in many countries," Chow said, stressing that K-pop should focus on two-way cultural exchanges for stable growth abroad. "By doing so, it will be even easier and quicker to distribute K-pop culture."

The two-way cultural exchange, or interactive communication, has been the key that brought BTS to global fame. The seven-member band has consistently communicated with fans through social media platforms and other offline events such as fan meetings and concerts. BTS already had some 136.4 million members of ARMY, the band's international fan club, before it became the mainstream player in the global music scene in 2017.

After earning its global acknowledgment, BTS reached out to global fans through concerts in 2018 and 2019. According to Billboard's year-end box score charts, BTS was the top-grossing touring group of 2019 with more than $196 million. The band met more than 1.6 million people in 42 concerts across the world this year.

Just like BTS, other K-pop artists should seek opportunities in the global market, Chow said. "Chinese artists pay more attention to their home market because of China's huge population of consumers, but because South Korean artists receive attention globally, it will be an important first step for them to leave their home country."

iMe will try to discover talented artists in South Korea, Chow said, promising to spend some 300 billion won ($258 million) on organizing over 250 overseas events for 20 South Korean teams. "We also plan to make a foray into the Vietnam market next year."

"K-pop's music and dance performances are the world's best. I see that the concert service we provide will create a superb combination with K-pop content," Chow said, vowing to run a concert platform targeting Asian fans. In South Korea, iMe operates an entertainment management agency, which plans to recruit and nurture young promising artists in earnest.

(This interview was conducted Aju News reporter by Jang Yoon-jung)
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