K-pop's four dominant entertainment conglomerates — HYBE, JYP Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and YG Entertainment — are joining forces to launch a global music festival through a newly formed joint venture.

According to an exclusive report by South Korean outlet Business Post, published Thursday (April 16), the companies — collectively known as K-pop's 'Big Four' — recently submitted a business combination report to South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC), a required step in the JV formation process.

The filing is triggered by regulatory thresholds: HYBE qualifies as a large corporate group with assets exceeding KRW 5 trillion (approximately $3.4 billion), while SM Entertainment operates as an affiliate of the Kakao conglomerate.

An FTC official told Business Post that the regulator could not confirm individual filings, but noted that review timelines vary depending on the specifics of each case.

The venture arrives as live music becomes an increasingly critical revenue driver for K-pop's biggest players.

HYBE posted record concert revenues of KRW 763.9 billion ($537.5 million) in FY 2025 — a 69.4% year-on-year increase — after sending 12 artists on the road across 279 shows in 53 cities.

That live business is poised to grow further in 2026 with the ongoing BTS World Tour ARIRANG, which spans 82 shows across 34 cities in 23 countries, making it the largest stadium world tour in K-pop history.

SM Entertainment also saw concert revenues surge 53.6% year-on-year to KRW 34.5 billion ($23.8 million) in Q4 2025, driven by expanded global touring from acts including NCT DREAM, aespa, and RIIZE — helping propel the label to record quarterly revenues.

The JV is expected to be structured with equal equity stakes from all four companies, though leadership and governance details — including the CEO and board composition — have yet to be finalized. The entity is likely to carry the name Fanomenon, a portmanteau of 'fan' and 'phenomenon.'

The venture will focus on concert production, with plans to stage a large-scale music festival in South Korea in 2027 featuring artists from all four agencies.

JYP Entertainment confirmed the initiative in a statement to Maeil Business Newspaper, saying: "It is true that we are discussing a public-private cooperation model with the government's Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange to promote the global expansion of the K-culture industry."

The company added that the four labels comprising the committee's music division are working toward establishing a joint entity to advance the Fanomenon event.

JYP described the initiative as a collaborative model being explored to extend K-culture's global reach, while cautioning that the project remains at an early stage. "No specific business details or operating methods have been finalized," the company said. "We plan to make careful decisions by comprehensively considering market conditions and a wide range of opinions."

JYP further noted that the scale of the project demands industry-wide cooperation rather than individual company action, and that the four firms are reviewing inter-company structures while completing the necessary regulatory procedures.

The Fanomenon concept was first introduced by JYP Entertainment founder J.Y. Park — who also serves as co-chair of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange — at the committee's launch ceremony at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in October last year.

Park outlined a timeline in which the festival would debut in Korea in December 2027, following roughly two years of preparation, before evolving into a global touring event across major cities from May 2028.

Park also expressed ambitions to build a festival capable of eclipsing Coachella in scale and cultural impact, and indicated that the lineup would feature major international artists alongside K-pop acts.

The announcement arrives in the context of broader live music consolidation across Asia. Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group recently launched their own live music joint venture in Tokyo.

That company, Nine By Nine Inc., was incorporated on April 1 with a base in Shibuya. It will focus on producing music festivals across the region, with a particular emphasis on supporting the international expansion of Japanese artists. Its first event is planned for 2027.Music Business Worldwide