K-pop festival Waterbomb splashes into new markets
Touring K-pop festival series Waterbomb Festival is expanding to several global markets this year, with new editions set for the US, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan, the UAE, Singapore, and China.
Set to kick off this May in Xiamen, China, the international series will take water-soaked stars to Hong Kong in June before touring South Korea and Japan in July and more cities across both, plus Singapore, in August. A Bangkok edition has been set for September, with stints in Los Angeles, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei, and Dubai to be announced.
First held in 2015 in Seoul, South Korea, the festival series first expanded to new markets in 2023 with two editions in Japan and one in Bangkok. This year, the series will visit nine cities in South Korea, four in Japan, and one in Thailand, along with the new editions.
The event was launched by Hong Kong-based streaming platform Viu and Singapore-based Evergreen Group Holdings, with local promoters helping bring it to new territories.
The K-pop genre continues to soar to new hights and into new markets
As the name suggests, Waterbomb intertwines various water activities alongside local and international lineups of K-pop, hip-hop, and EDM performers. Though lineups vary by city, performers include K-pop supergroup TWICE’s Nayeon, American rapper Jay Park, and SHINEE’s Taemin, and South Korean singers Hwasa, Chung Ha, and Bibi, among a variety of others. Former performers include Blackpink, aespa, Simon Dominic, and Jessi.
The K-pop genre continues to soar to new heights and into new markets, with behemoth HYBE reporting its concert revenue skyrocketed by 40% in 2023, reaching KRW 359.1 billion (€253m) in the year. Last autumn, fellow agency SM Entertainment announced its Q3 revenue surged 40% year-on-year, partly attributed to their star’s expansive world tours.
KCON, the world’s biggest K-pop and culture convention, also expanded to a fifth region this year, adding Hong Kong to its 2024 lineup of Japan, Los Angeles, Saudia Arabia, and to-be-announced Europe.
The 2024 schedule is as follows:
May
18-18: Xiamen, China
June
1-2: Hong Kong
July
5-7: Seoul, South Korea
13: Jeju, South Korea
13: Fukuoka, Japan
20: Daegu, South Korea
27: Busan, South Korea
27-28: Tokyo, Japan
August
3: Incheon, South Korea
10: Daejeon, South Korea
10: Osaka, Japan
17: Sokcho, South Korea
17: Nagoya, Japan
24: Suwon, South Korea
24-25: Singapore, Singapore
31: Gwangju, South Korea
September
TBA: Bangkok
TBA
Los Angeles, United States
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Taipei, Taiwan
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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K-pop group TWICE continue to make history
K-pop stars TWICE will continue to make history with their upcoming concerts at Japan’s biggest stadium.
The South Korean group are due to play two nights at the 75,000-capacity Nissan Stadium in Yokohama in July, becoming the first K-pop girl group and the first foreign act to perform at the venue.
TWICE will also be the second-ever K-pop act to grace the stage at the international stadium, following legendary K-pop boy band TVXQ over a decade ago in 2013.
The Japan concerts are a continuation of the group’s fifth world tour, Ready to Be, which last year smashed records across the globe.
The group’s fifth world tour, Ready to Be, which last year smashed records across the globe
In the US, Twice became the first K-pop girl group to sell out and headline SoFi Stadium (cap. 70,000) in Los Angeles and MetLife Stadium (82,500) in New York.
Elsewhere, their performance at Marvel Stadium (53,359) in Victoria on 4 November 2023 was Australia’s first K-pop stadium concert and marked the first time a female group headlined a stadium Down Under.
In Indonesia, the girls became the first K-pop group to headline a concert at the Jakarta International Stadium (82,000) on 23 December 2023.
And recently, TWICE became the first K-pop girl group to sell out a stadium in São Paulo, subsequently adding a second date for the February 2024 visit.
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Live Nation partners with K-pop label JYP Entertainment
Live Nation has signed a multi-year global strategic partnership with K-pop label JYP Entertainment.
Under the deal, Live Nation will produce tours for established JYP artists including TWICE, Stray Kids, iTZY, Xdinary Heroes (XH) and NMIXX as well as emerging talent.
The new partnership formalises and advances the companies’ existing relationship while also expanding the global reach of JYP artists.
The new partnership formalises and advances the companies’ existing relationship
The firms have collaborated on tours for artists including TWICE, who became the first K-pop girl group to headline both NFL and MLB stadiums when they played Sofi Stadium in LA and MetLife Stadium in New York earlier this year, according to a press release.
The group is in the midst of its fifth and largest world tour to date, READY TO BE, on which they are slated to play 44 shows across 25 cities globally.
Elsewhere, the companies teamed up for Stray Kids’ second world tour, MANIAC, which included 42 shows in 18 cities in North America and Asia.
South Korea-based JYP says it is currently focused on broadening its global reach. In June, the label announced an expansion of its strategic worldwide partnership with Republic Records and Imperial to cover JYP’s entire roster. The partnership now includes global distribution of artists and catalogues, A&R, marketing and business development.
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K-pop girl group Twice sell out Japan shows
All 15 concert dates on the Japanese leg of K-pop band Twice’s current world tour have sold out, after over one million fans applied for tickets.
The nine-piece girl group have concert dates at the Makomanai Ice Arena in Hokkaido (10,000-cap.), Chiba’s Makuhari Event Hall (9,000-cap.), the Osaka Jo Hall (16,000-cap.), Miyagi’s Sekisui Heim Super Arena (7,000-cap.), Nagoya’s International Exhibition Hall (13,500-cap.), Marine Messe Fukuoka (13,000-cap.) and Shizuoka’s Ecopa Arena (10,000-cap.)
JYP Entertainment, the management company behind the band, announced two extra dates on Sunday (27 October) at the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome. Twice will be the first K-pop girl group to play two consecutive concerts at the dome. The shows will take place on 3 and 4 march 2020.
Twice will be the first K-pop girl group to play two consecutive concerts at the Tokyo Dome
The concerts are part of the Twicelights 2019 world tour, which has seen the band play in Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia and the United States.
According to IQ’s recent Japanese market report, Japan is the second largest music market in the world, behind the United States and ahead of Germany. The country’s live sector has reached unprecedented levels in recent years, generating ¥332 billion in 2017 (£2.4bn) and ¥345bn (£2.5bn) in 2018.
K-pop in particular has “made a big impression” in Japan, with Twice and other bands such as BTS and Blackpink recording and performing Japanese versions of their songs.
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Promoters push for end to Chinese K-pop ban
Amid the growing popularity of K-pop and other Korean music globally, concert promoters in China are reportedly pressuring authorities to lift restrictions on South Korean artists performing in the country.
The People’s Republic of China issued a nationwide ban on performances by Korean artists – as well as a prohibition on South Korean television programmes, and on Korean celebrities appearing on Chinese TV – in November 2016, during a diplomatic row over the presence of US missiles in South Korea.
No major Korean artist has played in China, a market of some 1.4bn people, since – even as the likes of Exo, Twice, Blackpink and, most famously, BTS (who yesterday announced a new world stadium tour), have gone on to huge touring success elsewhere.
According to Bloomberg, “people familiar with the matter” have revealed that China-based promoters are now seeking permission to bring in Korean bands, though it is not clear whether the Chinese culture ministry will be receptive to their requests for permits.
“People are getting ready”
“People are getting ready,” says Archie Hamilton, MD of promoter Split Works. “There is a lot of money there.”
“A lot of Korean artists would like to tour” in China, adds Modern Sky booker Jordan Corso. “It’s too big a market [not to].”
The news comes amid a limited thaw in relations between the two nations that has seen a select number of groups being allowed to tour and South Korean programming returning to Chinese TV.
Shares of YG Entertainment, which manages Blackpink, gained nearly 3% on the publication of the Bloomberg report. JYP Entertainment, which represents Twice, rose 1.4%, while SM Entertainment, whose roster includes Exo and Super Junior, was also up as much as 3%.
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