YG at 30: What Has It Contributed to the K-pop Concert Industry?
[스포츠경향=이선명 기자] YG ENTERTAINMENT, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, has released an overview of the achievements it has accumulated in the concert sector.
YG ENTERTAINMENT cited SE7EN’s activities in Japan during the 2000s as the starting point for its artists’ expansion overseas. SE7EN held solo concerts at venues across Japan, including Yoyogi National Stadium First Gymnasium in Tokyo.
BIGBANG and 2NE1 subsequently expanded the scope of YG artists’ tours. BIGBANG’s first tour, ALIVE GALAXY, comprised 48 shows across Asia, China, North America, and Europe, while 2NE1’s first tour, NEW EVOLUTION, included concerts in Newark and Los Angeles in the United States.
WINNER, iKON, EPIK HIGH, and BLACKPINK followed, while TREASURE and BABYMONSTER are currently continuing YG’s overseas concert activities. TREASURE attracted 300,000 attendees through its Japan tour, while BABYMONSTER embarked on a world tour relatively soon after their debut.
YG artists also continued to make appearances at international music festivals. In 2016, EPIK HIGH performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the United States, followed by BLACKPINK in 2019. BLACKPINK later performed as a headliner at Coachella and Hyde Park in the United Kingdom in 2023.
There have also been numerous attendance records. BIGBANG attracted 1.5 million attendees on a single tour and 250,000 across 13 cities in China. iKON performed at Nippon Budokan just one month after their Japanese debut and drew 470,000 attendees over the course of a year. BLACKPINK attracted approximately 470,000 people on their first world tour and around 1.8 million on their second, before taking the stage at SoFi Stadium in the United States and Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom during their third tour.
TREASURE’s cumulative attendance at solo concerts in Japan is approaching 1.5 million. BABYMONSTER drew approximately 440,000 attendees through their first world tour and fan concerts last year.
YG has also maintained ongoing collaborations with overseas production companies. BIGBANG’s first world tour was conducted in partnership with concert promoter Live Nation, which YG ENTERTAINMENT described as the first instance in which Live Nation jointly invested in and participated in the production of a concert by an Asian artist. In 2021, YG entered into a live-streaming concert agreement with YouTube Music and presented BLACKPINK’s online concert THE SHOW.
YG ENTERTAINMENT explained, “Our principle in collaborating with global partners has always been mutual growth,” adding, “Both parties have experienced the results firsthand, and our long-term partnerships continue to generate sustained synergy.”
The company also revealed how it prepares for concerts. For large-scale tours, more than six months are devoted solely to pre-production, with potential variables related to indoor and outdoor venues and venue capacity examined in advance. Planning for BIGBANG’s 20th anniversary world tour, which begins next month, also commenced early this year.
In terms of sound, YG cited BLACKPINK’s Goyang concert for the world tour DEADLINE, held last year, as an example. To minimize the deterioration in sound quality that can occur at outdoor concerts, the company introduced the Cohesion CO-12 line array system.
YG ENTERTAINMENT also stated that it was an early adopter of a system that transmits live band performances together with prerecorded audio sources. The company said, “The live connection shared between artists and fans is just as important as stage production,” adding, “Live-centered planning and a vivid sense of being on-site are the essence that YG concerts seek to preserve.”
BIGBANG’s 20th anniversary world tour will begin at Goyang Stadium on August 21. A total of 31 concerts are scheduled across 18 cities, and the tour will conclude with a performance in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on February 28, 2027.
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