The global pandemic has been non-discriminatory- it has hit both elites, celebrities and normal people alike. The global crisis has sent ripples down every economic sector, including music and entertainment. COVD-19 has been a double-edged sword for most celebrities. Some have benefitted from increased demand for home-based entertainment because people had a lot of time at their hands when during a strict lockdown. However, at the same time, singers and K-pop stars have been affected adversely because they can not tour the world and perform at concerts.
Some of the K-pop industry's powerhouses had to meet South Korea's Culture Minister Park Yang-woo in June. The agenda of this meeting was to discuss the financial challenges that were being faced by these stellar entertainment companies amidst the COVID-19 crisis. During this meeting, the companies and the culture minister also exchanged thoughts to carve out a map to increase the Korean entertainment influence globally, in the post coronavirus period.
The meeting had a delegation of eight senior executives from K-pop entertainment companies including Starship Entertainment, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, Big Hit Entertainment, and FNC Entertainment. The representatives from the K-pop companies were sensitive to the plight of all businesses around the world.
They were of the view that only those companies that had significantly worked on their sourcing of remote employees were able to brave the storm. Since workers were not allowed to go to their offices, many entertainment businesses had to hire virtual assistants from India to ensure that their operations didn't come at a complete roadblock.
The representatives stressed on the financial difficulties that came as a direct consequence of concert cancellations. K-pop entertainment powerhouses had signed extensive deals with record holders and concert facilitators. Since no one could foresee the devastation brought about by the COVID-19 crisis, proceedings quickly took a u-turn and they started to endure extensive financial losses.
YG Entertainment was one of the companies that were hit the worst. During the meeting, their representative reaffirmed that they had to cancel a large number of concerts, which included Winner's three concerts in Singapore and South Korea in February, and also eight concerts in Korean cities. The trailblazing sibling singing duo AKMU had to perform at these concerts in February and March.
The YG Entertainment delegation told the ministry that all concerts were canceled in accordance with the COVID-19 social distancing measures from February onwards.
After listening to the distressing situation of K-pop entertainment companies, the ministry was quick to respond with relief measures. The ministry ensured that they will deploy specific guidelines for holding offline concerts if the situation doesn't get any better. They are also reviewing whether some measures could be adopted to allow companies to hold small concerts in four cities around the Seoul region.
Although the intention to help the K-pop companies survive the financial crunch was sincere, the ministry stated that it had to take the executives of Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on board before issuing the final guidelines. After this, the delegation also requested the Culture Ministry to generate a fund to support local businesses that are intimately connected to the K-pop entertainment industry.
