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| ▲This photo, which is not relevant to the article is an image used to showcase K-pop concert, (Yonhap) |
SEOUL March 21 (Yonhap) -- As China starts to open the doors to South Korean contents such as games, dramas and more, the potential lift on restriction over South Korean contents by Chinese government is getting people excited.
Especially as the Chinese government is restarting their process of accepting applications for foreign concerts and events starting on March 20, future of K-pop stars and future whereabouts on their concerts are receiving a lot of interest and attention.
According to the music industry on Tuesday, IT dinosaurs Tencent’s music label Tencent Music Entertainment’s Vice President has recently visited South Korea to visit the major record labels .
Tencent Music Entertainment is the one in charge of China’s major music platforms such as “QQ Music,” “Kugou Music” and various other platforms.
On the surface level, Tencent’s visit to South Korea is to work things out with music distribution channel. Despite of the regulation on South Korean contents, K-pop stars and tracks by global sensation BTS, BLACKPINK and more has been a great success within China, therefore in preparation for future cultural influx of K-pop Tencent visited South Korea to network with South Korean entertainment companies and to open their channel for future discussion.
According to the official of South Korean music industry, “Tencent has shown interest in inviting South Korean artist and media personal to their upcoming programs.”
K-pop stars activities within China has been blocked due to South Korean government decision to install THAAD back in 2016.
Although South Korean artist Jessica from K-pop girl group Girls Generation successfully made a debut in China after participating in Chinese audition program, the reason for her being able to participate in such shows was because she is a US citizen. K-pop artist with the citizenship of South Korea has not been able to perform or participate in the production of Chinese tv program for years.
With the expectation of lifting the restrictions regarding South Korean contents, towards the end of 2022, China tried to host a concert featuring the South Korean artist, however, the plan to host the concert was dropped shortly after.
However, as Chinese government plans to receive applications for concerts and events from foreign nations, whether various K-pop concerts and events will take place in China attracts a lot of attention.
Within the K-pop industry, given the fact that BLACKPINK has managed to successfully finish their concert in Hong Kong in January 1, K-pop concerts might be able to kick off from Hong Kong, Macau and more and gradually flood in to the main land China.
According to the official from the music industry, “Although there aren’t any detailed and planned out movements being seen, the excitement of lift regarding the South Korean contents are directing us to work towards future where we can once again host various events in China,” adding “However, I am not certain in the situation given because the recent act of receiving applications seemed to be targeting foreign nations in general, therefore we are not certain whether K-pop artist will be able to perform in China.”
Some of the critics are addressing that despite of the uplift of restrictions regarding various South Korean contents China might not serve as the blue ocean for K-pop contents like in previous days.
Before the restriction and before 2010 major K-pop fans were proportioned in Japan, China and overall Asia, however, nowadays, BTS, BLACKPINK and more of the K-pop artists are attracting numerous fans within Europe, United States and more.
According to the record set regarding exportations of physical copies of K-pop artists, United States was stationed at 5th among other countries and China was set as second in line back in 2012, however given the recent trend China managed to hold its place as second while United States has managed to climb up the chart and rank 3rd on the list released in 2022.
Moreover, according to the official from the music industry, “The only actual restriction is the fact that K-pop artists are not able to host concert in China, other than hosting concerts K-pop artists are engaging in online fan greeting events, photo shoots and more in China,” adding “China used to be one of the only country K-pop artists would put a lot of effort into however, after the restrictions among Korean contents, K-pop entertainments will not focus on China only, instead they will focus on various nations of potential markets.”
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Joonha Yoo)
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