Econ 101: in a perfectly competitive environment, profits go to zero.

Case in point: Korean music.

After years of people saying Korea could not support summer music festivals, the country now has five major music festivals in a three-week span:

  • Ansan Valley Rock – July 26-28 – Ansan, Gyeonggi Province – 260,000 won (The Cure, Skrillex, NIN)
  • Pentaport – Aug. 2-4 – Songdo,  Incheon – 165,000 won (Fall Out Boy, Suede, Testament)
  • Jisan World Rock – Aug. 2-4 – Jisan – 250,000 (Weezer, Jamiroquai, Nas)
  • Supersonic – Aug 14-15 – Olympic Park, Seoul – 176,000 won (Pet Shop Boys)
  • City Break, Jamsil, Seoul, Aug. 17-18 – W250,000 (Muse, Metallica)

And those are in addition to these July festivals:

  • Asia Metal Festival – July 1-2 – Seoul – 73,000 won/day
  • Rainbow Island – July 7-9 – Nami Island, Gangwon Province – 99,000 won
  • Ultra Korea – July 14-15 – Olympic Stadium, Seoul – 160,000 won (DJs and EDM, but also Japan’s Perfume)

It’s the sort of pattern one sees over and over again in Korea, where everyone tells you something can’t be done, until someone does it, then everyone does the same thing, too, and floods the market, be it microbrew beer, mixed martial arts, or whathaveyou.

But I guess too much music is a problem you want to have. It’s great to see how far the scene has come since the first aborted attempt that was Triport in 1999.