Since last year, South кσяєα's four leading entertainment companies—HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment—have been working toward creating a global music festival in кσяєα similar to Coachella. Fans have dubbed the project “Coachella of K-pop” or “KPOPCHELLA.” The initiative was planned by Park Jin-young, Chairman of the Popular Culture Exchange Committee, with the ambition of surpαѕѕing Coachella, widely regarded as the world's largest music festival.

In April this year, the four companies submitted a consolidated business report to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to establish a joint venture (JV) focused on concert and event organization. The company is expected to be formed through equal capital contributions from all four agencies. Its proposed name is “Fanomenon,” combining “Fan” and “Phenomenon” to represent a phenomenon created by fans.

Following its establishment, the project will enter a two-year preparation phase, with plans to launch an annual festival in South кσяєα starting in December 2027. This will be followed by an expansion into a global touring festival across major cities beginning in May 2028.

Notably, seven months after the initial filing, кσяєαn media reported on the 10th of this month that Fanomenon Co., Ltd.—the legal entity jointly funded by HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment—had completed its incorporation registration on the 26th of last month. The joint venture will take full responsibility for planning, production, and operations of the Phenomenon event, which is scheduled to take place in December next year.

The CEO position at the joint venture will be held by Park Yun-seo, who has previous work experience at both HYBE and JYP Entertainment. Its board of directors will include representatives from each of the Big 4 companies. With the operating entity and brand ownership structure now in place, preparations for Phenomenon are expected to accelerate. However, details regarding the performing lineup, venue, and overall scale of the event have yet to be announced.

Experts believe the project aligns with President Lee Jae-myung's administration's vision of promoting performance-driven intellectual property (IP) that can represent the nation on a global stage. Fanomenon is expected to generate value comparable to major international festivals such as Coachella and Lollapalooza in the US, Glastonbury in the UK, and Fuji Rock in נαραи. It is also seen as a potential turning point in expanding K-pop's revenue model—from individual concerts to a global touring festival built around fan communities.

However, fandoms, including ARMY, do not seem particularly enthusiastic about this alliance between the industry's major players. A heated discussion erupted shortly after the news broke, with reactions including the following:

- This the same bullsнιт that jyp has all the copyrights of? And the trademarks of? They need to leave BTS the fck out of it so it flops on its own. I'm tired of this fck *ss company using them to prop up all their groups and then actually give us fcking nothing in return

- They can't even treat their artists well, and now they're going to create this. Don't drag BTS into this

- Hybe about to get scammed again, while all their artist gets 10x more hate. Like f*ck this company. Not once do they say no we are not interested. Like you have Weverse festival. Hello ?? Why do you even need this?

- To me, it’s like when kids invent a game just to eat the lunch of the clαѕѕmate who brings the best food. And yk, BTS is 7 kings, they don't need to play with these kids

- ARMY didn't ask for this. BTS built their success through years of hard work, and I don't want to see their achievements being used to benefit a joint project between these companies

- Coachella became what it is because of its identity and musical diversity. You can't just bring four entertainment companies together and expect to recreate that success

- Please keep BTS out of this. They have nothing to do with this joint venture, and we don't want their name being dragged into another business project.

- ARMY has absolutely no reason to support this. We support BTS, not every business decision made by HYBE or its partnerships with other companies