The K-Pop sector is dominated by the ‘big four’ companies: Hybe, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment.
However, the South Korean government wants more competition in the market, and its new fund aims to give smaller K-Pop firms a launchpad for growth.
The ‘Global Leap Forward Support’ fund will award up to KRW 300m a year ($198.1k at current exchange rates) to 10 independent K-Pop agencies for up to three years.
The Korea Times reported that the agencies will be able to use this funding for “international promotions, music videos and overseas tours” – thus firmly placing it in the lineage of government investment in music exports from South Korea.
The report notes that the big K-Pop firms spent an average of KRW 43.1bn on music production in 2023, dwarfing the average KRW 1.49bn spend from smaller companies.
“For K-pop to achieve sustainable growth, the smaller agencies that form the backbone of our industry must be able to thrive,” said Choi Sung-hee, director general of the content media industry bureau at South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
