The K-pop scene was also hit hard by the aftermath of the COVID 19 Pandemics. K-pop groups such as BTS and TWICE have canceled or postponed their domestic and overseas performances, while performances by foreign artists such as Green Day and Halsey have been temporarily postponed in Korea. In addition, the music industry, which was swept away by COVID 19, was seriously hurt, with various music festivals, concerts, events, and live club performances being canceled altogether.
COVID 19 aftermath K-pop market such as BTS and TWICE is also red light
BTS, which was set to host the stadium-sized world tour concert “MAP OF THE SOUL TOUR” in 18 cities around the world, has finally decided to reschedule the tour altogether.
The agency Big Hit Entertainment announced its official position on the 28th of last month, saying, “We have decided to temporarily suspend the entire tour schedule for the BTS World Tour concert and set up a new schedule in the future.”
Initially, the world tour was scheduled to be held 38 times in 18 cities around the world, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Britain, Germany and Spain, starting with performances in Seoul on April 11 and 12. However, as the COVID 19 spread rapidly around the world, Big Hit indefinitely postponed performances in the U.S. and Europe, including the cancellation of its solo concert in Seoul.
TWICE also canceled a solo concert in Seoul and a World Tour Tokyo Dome performance due to COVID 19. It has officially announced that it has decided to cancel the concert in order to put the health and safety of artists and fans first.
In addition, domestic and overseas concerts such as Taeyeon, Seventeen, Super Junior, Taemin, NCT Dream, Stray Kids, MONSTA X, GOT7, (G)I-DLE, Sechs Kies, Akmu, Shin Seung-hoon, Sung Si-kyung, and Eric Nam were canceled or postponed altogether. In addition, TVXQ, Mamamoo and Momoland also temporarily postponed their overseas fan meeting schedule in the aftermath of COVID 19.
As such, the K-pop industry shrank significantly as a series of concerts and fan meetings were canceled or postponed due to the COVID 19. K-pop industry officials expressed concern, saying that the impact of the COVID 19 on the K-pop industry will inevitably lead to an overall blow to the overseas K-pop market.
‘After 10 years in Korea’ Green Day and ‘BTS Collaboration’ will disrupt the schedule of the concert in Korea
The worldwide spread of COVID 19 has also disrupted performances by foreign artists in Korea.
Green Day, which drew keen attention due to its first visit to Korea in a decade, temporarily postponed its schedule in February for fear of spreading COVID 19. Green Day said it has decided to temporarily postpone the performance in consideration of various problems that could arise from the COVID 19, drawing fans’ disappointment. Recently, however, Green Day reported the resumption of the concert in Korea in March next year, which comforted local fans.
Pop star Halsey, who participated in the featuring of BTS’ “Boy With Luv,” also canceled her performance in Korea in the aftermath of COVID 19. Halsey, which was originally scheduled to perform in May, decided to cancel the concert in consideration of the health and safety of the audience at a time when the number of confirmed cases of COVID 19 is increasing rapidly.
In addition to them, British pop stars Mika, Young Blood, American rapper Stormsey, American singer Khalid, British singer-songwriter Tom Walker, Bruno Major, Italian composer and pianist Ludovic Enoudi, American saxophone player Kenji and Australian singer Luel decided to postpone or cancel the original schedule due to COVID 19.
Long term social distance policy…a direct hit at music festivals and live performances
Outdoor performances were canceled one after another following the government’s policy to keep social distance from the spread of COVID 19. In particular, a series of spring music festivals scheduled for April, when outdoor activities began in earnest, were canceled or postponed.
Spring music festivals such as “Love Some Festival,” “Have a Nice Day” and “Hip Hop Playya Festival” have either been canceled or pushed back due to the prolonged COVID 19.
“Seoul Jazz Festival 2020,” which was scheduled for the 23rd and 24th of this month, postponed its performance to fall, and “Green Plug Seoul 2020,” which was scheduled for this month, was also scheduled to be postponed to July. Beauty Mint Festival 2020 finally canceled its performance 20 days before its opening.
Amid the inevitable cancellation or postponement of large music festivals in the aftermath of COVID 19, small live concert halls were also all-stopped as all performances were canceled in the aftermath of COVID 19.
As most of the performances were canceled due to COVID 19, artists communicating with the audience lost their stage. In particular, many artists have been hit hard by the government’s prolonged policy to distance themselves from society.
According to data compiled by the Korea Music Label Industry Association on the 1st, 73 of the events scheduled to be held between February and April this year by 44 small and medium-sized labels and distributors, members of the association, have been postponed or canceled. Damage caused by this alone amounted to about 6.27 billion won.
In particular, a separate tally of performances by small concert halls near Hongdae in Seoul, the main venue for indie musicians, showed 117 performances were postponed or canceled during the same period, resulting in about 950 million won in damages. Given the overall scope of popular music, 211 performances nationwide were postponed and canceled, resulting in about 63.32 billion won in damages.
In addition, if various deposit and refund fees paid to the venue rental and stage equipment companies are added, the damage is expected to increase further.
Acting on ‘Mr. Trot’ concert…”Participate in social straddling.”
TV Chosun’s “Mr. Trot” concert, which has heated up the music industry trot craze, has also decided to postpone some of its performances to join the government’s social distance to prevent the spread of COVID 19.
Showplay, the production company of “Mr. Trot,” said in its official position that it will inevitably postpone performances in five regions, including Suwon, Ulsan, Gangneung, Gwangju and Cheongju.
As a result, the schedule for performances in Suwon, Ulsan (9th), Gangneung (10th), Gwangju (16th), and Cheongju (17th) were postponed, and the “Mr. Trot” concert will announce the full-fledged opening of the concert starting with the concert in Seoul on the 30th of this month.
The production company explained, “As the serious stage of the national crisis alert continues due to COVID 19, we inevitably decided to postpone it to minimize the safety and damage of the audience, artists and performance officials, and to cooperate in the government’s practice of refraining from collective events and social distance.”