An annual global music fair will kick off next week in Seoul to help promote Korean pop music in overseas markets, organizers said Wednesday. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — An annual global music fair will kick off next week in Seoul to help promote Korean pop music in overseas markets, organizers said Wednesday.
K-pop, as it is known, is already becoming more popular among young people in other Asian countries, as well as in Europe and the Americas, with its influence generating interest in other facets of Korean culture.
Co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliate the Korea Creative Content Agency, MU:CON Seoul 2017 is expected to bring together industry professionals and musicians from various genres to the Sangam Digital Media Complex business district in western Seoul from Sept. 26-28.
The sixth edition consists of conferences, workshops, a showcase of K-pop artists, and a business-matching event with the theme “Seoul, Asia MusicCity.”
The K-pop showcase will be held at the MBC headquarters in the district over the three days, with 65 teams of musicians from South Korea and abroad.
A total of 21 prominent figures from the domestic and global musicscenes will discuss the future of the entertainment industry, ways to reboot hallyu — the Asianwide boom of Korean pop culture — and the growing reach of Asian musicians in the global market.
Speakers include Fernando Garibay, who produced records for Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and Shakira; Jamel Irief, better known by his stage name Masta Killa, a member of the American hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan; and Billy Koh, a producer-songwriter who is one of the most influential figures in the Chinese market.
Also part of this year’s program is MU:CON Collabo, in which overseas producers and Korean musicians collaborate to produce a song. Each of the three teams — Korean jazz vocalist Woongsan and American jazz pianist, composer and producer John Beasley; Wu-Tang Clan’s Masta Killa and Korean rap duo The Quiett & Dok2; and Korean singer Crush and Fernando Garibay — will perform their new song on stage during the fair.
On Saturday, a free concert of 16 K-pop idol groups, including Mamamoo, GFriend, Lovelyz, B.A.P, DAY6 and EXID, will be held at the MBC Open Hall as a prelude to the three-day fair.
(Yonhap)
