- Start by establishing a strategy for entering Japan, the world’s third largest market.
- We must compete with content rather than casting idol stars.
- There is an urgent need to develop global professional manpower and systems.
Musicals are a music-centered genre that originated from European opera and developed into a comprehensive popular art after the Industrial Revolution. The Korean musical industry has its roots in the 1960s through the activities of the Yegreen Orchestra, a large-scale commercial arts group. In just 50 years, it has grown rapidly into a market that the world is paying attention to, showing an average economic growth rate of 20% in recent years, compared to other cultural industries. It is considered to be the fastest growing industry. Recently, the government selected Korea’s top five killer contents with global competitiveness. In particular, since 2010, the advancement of Korean creative musicals into Asia, especially in Japan and China, and the influx of cultural tourists to watch musicals have become prominent, so it is a time when professional, systematic, and strategic overseas expansion plans must be explored in earnest. In addition, in the domestic market growth of the Korean musical industry, there are many tasks to be solved, such as overcoming the license-centered market, nurturing creative experts, developing creative content for overseas expansion, and expanding infrastructure such as dedicated performance halls.
A notable recent trend in Korean musicals is the increase in government-level programs to support the development of creative musicals. As a result, content development by new creators is being activated, and the number of cases of creative musicals entering the Asian region is also increasing. And Chinese musicals, which were formed after 1987, are currently growing into a market worth about 40 billion won. It is a special market depending on its scarcity value as on-site art and the distribution of dedicated performance venues.
The Korean Wave of Korean musicals was accidentally formed in 2010 by Asian fans who visited Korea to see popular star Sia Junsu (Kim Junsu), who appeared in the musical “Mozart!”, and the appeal of Korean musicals and Korean musical actors quickly spread across Asia. It caused an effect that spread throughout the region. Since then, over the past five years, 46 Korean musicals have advanced to Japan and 16 to China, providing content to Japan, where creative capabilities are low, and technology transfer and professional manpower to China, where the musical industry is emerging. However, short-term planning relying on idol stars is still the norm, so there is an urgent need for ways to develop overseas markets to overcome the domestic market, which is the long-awaited goal of Korean creative musicals.
The Korean musical industry’s overseas expansion methods can be divided into self-production, collaboration, and invitation, but each market has different characteristics, possibilities, and threats. Therefore, overseas expansion strategies must be established according to the characteristics of the market.
In order to realize overseas expansion, which is the future market for the Korean musical industry, a localization strategy for overseas expansion is first needed to overcome Japan, currently the world’s third largest market. Currently, the Japanese musical market has a high preference for Korean original musicals, so there is a possibility for the Korean musical industry to become one of the world’s top three markets. In addition, we must overcome planning methods that rely on idol star casting or marketing and compete with content. Additionally, measures to foster global professional manpower and systems (at the government level) for overseas business are urgently needed. We must actively utilize the continuous attraction and management of musical tourists visiting Korea from Asia, which has recently increased by more than five times on average every year, as a driving force for overseas expansion.
If this understanding of the current status of the Korean musical industry and overseas expansion plans are implemented as practical future strategies, we can expect to realize K-MUSICAL, the next generation Korean Wave killer content, into one of the world’s top three musical powerhouses.
Source | IFS Post
Trans/Shared by | Musical in Life
Musical in Life 