When KBS announced that they would be holding ‘Music Bank‘ concerts around the world this year, fans were overjoyed at the thought of seeing their favorite idols in their home countries.
While it may have been good news for fans, industry officials were another matter. Broadcast networks have already been criticized for trying to profit off of the K-Pop wave when it was the artists themselves who created it.
Companies like SM Entertainment have already started going on world tours, even developing solo tours for artists like Super Junior. Cube Entertainment‘s B2ST has also announced their plans for a 21-city world tour, indicating that this will be a new trend amongst Hallyu artists.
Should networks like KBS continue to hold their own overseas concerts, this will conflict inevitably with the artists’ schedules, making it either impossible to attend or forcing them to give up one for the other. Industry officials also pointed out that fans would rather pay to watch a whole range of artists rather than a concert by one, thus dropping the worth of solo or family concerts.
Many individuals in the industry have also voiced their concerns about indirect blackmail. Should the artists opt out of overseas concerts like ‘Music Bank’, the networks could use backdoor pressure or provide less than favorable circumstances for them in the future.
Still, the influence that they have in spreading K-Pop all over the globe can’t be ignored, especially by smaller agencies who don’t have the funds or opportunities to promote their artists overseas.
CEO Hong Seung Sung of Cube Entertainment commented, “Thea media definitely plays a large role in the growth of the K-Pop wave, and there’s definitely a risk factor in planning such concerts for areas that have never been properly introduced to K-Pop. However, once networks begin holding similar concerts in areas like Japan, where there’s already a flourishing K-Pop market, the intention behind holding such concerts will inevitably be discolored and meaningless.”