The excessive number of awards ceremonies and regulations holding back local companies threaten Korea's status as the home of K-pop, experts said during a public debate held Wednesday at the National Assembly.

There are currently around 20 pop music awards ceremonies in Korea as of 2024, many of which hold their events outside of Korea for higher ticket prices and ask fans to participate in paid voting services for popularity awards, leading to both artists being swamped with schedules and fan fatigue building up, according to the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA).

“We feel that the excessive number of awards ceremonies is harming the sustainability of the industry as a whole,” said Kwon Il-woon, PR planning team leader at HYBE, at the debate co-organized by the KMCA and Rep. Kim Seung-su of the United Future Party.

“Awards ceremonies are supposed to be a place to honor achievements and share joy, but many awards ceremonies seem to be focused on making ends meet with artists’ performances,” Kwon said. “It’s becoming strenuous work for both the artists and fans.”

Many ceremonies are organized by newspapers or television networks who cast idol groups as main performers then charge high prices to fans by using the artists’ reputation, according to culture reporter Suh Byung-kee at the Herald Business.

“Some agencies even ask if they can refuse the award because it means they have to go and perform,” Suh said. “There was a time local awards ceremonies meant something, but the flood of similar events has diminished their value and authority. This will only result in more artists preferring overseas ceremonies over domestic ones.”

The best solution would be for all ceremonies to consolidate and create the ultimate K-pop ceremony, but a more realistic approach would be for awards shows to at least differentiate themselves by expanding their scope to the larger music genre, according to pop culture critic Jeong Deok-hyun.

“Standard contracts will also help alleviate the situation by fixing the cost for organizers, which would in turn make them realize that awards ceremonies don’t make money but that they cost money,” he said.

“Billboard has a separate section for K-pop and that’s gaining authority in K-pop. The industry at large needs to come together to form a coalition so that other countries don’t take over K-pop, not just with the award ceremonies.”

Another obstacle that needs to be tackled in the K-pop power dynamic with the Western world is easing regulations for domestic players, according to the KMCA.

Korean creators are currently led to prioritize overseas video platforms when releasing their music videos, namely YouTube and TikTok, because local regulations only bind Korean companies and not those based in other countries, according to the association.

Music videos need to be rated by the Korea Media Rating Board (KMRB) before they can be distributed on Korean platforms, which makes the decision based on the Music Industry Promotion Act, the Promotion of the Motion Pictures and Video Productions Act, the Broadcasting Act and the Youth Protection Act.

“We were bombarded by BTS’s fan club ARMY when his music video got a zero score on local music programs, but that was also because of local laws for music videos,” said Steve Choi, secretary general at the KMCA, on Wednesday.

Choi was referring to Jungkook’s 2022 solo track “Dreamers” for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, which was produced by a studio in Qatar that was not aware that music videos need to be officially rated before they can be released in Korea. The producer did not file for a rating at the KMRB, which meant that the video wasn’t officially approved for viewing in Korea.

“K-pop videos are viewed all around the world but local platforms are struggling to catch up with YouTube because regulations only apply to domestic services,” Choi said.

Lack of financial support also leads the creators to play it safe with their work, instead of the experiments that drive innovation in an industry, according to Park Yun-seok, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Intellectual Property.

“Financial support doesn’t have to be direct funding or immediate tax cuts,” Park said. “Our law currently recognizes video production R&D as eligible for tax cuts, but not music. Other countries support music creators by categorizing their work as R&D, which would greatly boost the music industry.”

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is looking into all three issues, an official said at the debate.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]