South Korea's four main K-pop agencies planning to launch new global music festival

SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Hybe are in early talks to launch a large-scale music event that can rival Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival, slated for a December 2027 debut.

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South Korea’s four largest K-pop music labels – SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Hybe – are preparing to form a joint venture to launch a large-scale global music festival project tentatively titled Fanomenon, combining the words ‘fan’ and ‘phenomenon’.

On Thursday (Apr 16), JYP Entertainment confirmed discussions about this venture with South Korean news platform, OSEN.  

The label told OSEN: “It is true that we are discussing a public-private co-operation model with the government's The Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange to expand the global reach of the K-culture industry.”

It added that the four companies are currently in the preliminary discussions and planning phases. As this requires “industry-level co-operation rather than individual corporate action, [they] are reviewing an inter-company collaboration structure”. Details such as business structure and operations are yet to be finalised.

The four have also filed a corporate merger notification with the Korea Fair Trade Commission, South Korea's regulatory authority for economic competition.

The festival is currently targeted for a December 2027 debut in South Korea before touring major global cities from 2028.

The 'Fanomenon' festival concept was first revealed by JYP Entertainment founder Park Jin-young at the launch of the committee in October 2025. He proposed a large-scale festival designed to bring together global fans of K-pop culture with a goal to rival major international events such as the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival.

Collectively, the four agencies represent some of the biggest names in K-pop. 

SM Entertainment is home to acts such as Girls' Generation, Super Junior and EXO, while YG Entertainment manages groups including BigBang, 2NE1 and Blackpink. JYP Entertainment houses Twice and Day6, and Hybe is behind BTS, Seventeen and Enhypen.

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