Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association
The Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association (hereinafter ‘Eumgonghyeop’) held its 4th Annual General Meeting for 2026 on February 25 at XSCALA (Xscala).
Of the 44 full member companies, 34 participated in the vote either by attending or by written resolution, and the main agenda proceeded in the following order: ▲ 2025 business and settlement report ▲ approval of the 2026 business plan and budget (draft) ▲ election of the 3rd executive board. All items on the agenda were passed as originally proposed with the active participation and consent of the member companies.
The Association also announced 12 key projects to be pursued this year, detailing a concrete future development strategy for the performance industry. The main initiatives include ▲ an anti-scalping campaign and concert hosting/operations (opening of a mobile scalping reporting center) ▲ institutional improvements to infrastructure for popular music performance facilities ▲ establishment and operation of standard contracts for venues nationwide ▲ promotion of overseas popular culture projects and revitalization of exchanges ▲ holding forums and seminars for the development of the popular music performance industry ▲ establishment of a popular music performance workforce training program
and operations, among others. Based on these projects, the Association plans to strengthen the foundation of the popular music performance industry and secure sustainable growth drivers.
The election of the 3rd executive board, for which a total of nine candidates ran, was conducted through an offline vote, and six executives were finalized. The 3rd executive board comprises: ▲ President Ko Gi-ho (Executive Director at Innexttrend) ▲ Vice President Hwang Jae-ho (CEO of Type Communication), along with ▲ Kim Ji-hong, Head of MPMG ▲ Na Sung-sik, CEO of Rockstar Music & Live ▲ Lee Hyun-myung, Director at Inspire Entertainment Resort ▲ Choi Yoon-soon, Director of Business Development at Live Nation Korea, who were elected as the third-term executives; and for auditor, ▲ Gye Myeong-guk, CEO of the Jarasum Youth Jazz Center, was appointed by acclamation.
Elected by ballot as the 3rd president, Director Ko Gi-ho is a founding member of Innexttrend Co., Ltd. and an expert who has worked in various capacities on the popular music live scene for over 20 years. He said, “The popular music performance industry is a core cultural industry that is growing rapidly alongside the spread of K-content,” adding, “We will strengthen the Association’s role to build a healthy performance ecosystem in cooperation with member companies and to ensure that voices from the field are reflected in policy.” He continued, “To achieve the projects planned for 2026, we will make our utmost efforts together with our executives and staff.”
Eumgonghyeop is an organization of concert promoters representing the domestic popular music performance industry, including concerts, festivals, world tours, and overseas acts’ shows in Korea, and it has been actively working to resolve pressing issues in the fieldsuch as the persistent scalping problem and a lack of venue infrastructureand to advance the industry.
Currently, through the Korea Creative Content Agency’s subsidized project titled ‘Music Chart Manipulation·Ticket Scalping Monitoring and Campaign’, Eumgonghyeop is promoting the monitoring of scalping transactions on domestic secondhand trading platforms and overseas ticket resale sites (including social media) while also carrying out various campaigns to improve public awareness, taking the lead in creating a sound distribution environment for performances.
