With the outbreak of COVID-19 came an onslaught of changes around the world. It has affected virtually every community and organization on the planet, with business ceasing their operations, no gatherings of more than a few people, and employees being forced to work from home.
So what happens if your work is in entertainment?
Because I am largely a part of the K-pop community, K-pop is where I first started seeing the effects of the Coronavirus. There isn't much information about how the artists and entertainment companies themselves are being affected in terms of money or business, but these changes are definitely a strange occurrence for the K-pop fandom as a whole.
Canceling and postponing of concerts
On January 19th, I attended a concert in Los Angeles for the K-pop group SEVENTEEN. Two weeks later, the group announced that the rest of their remaining tour dates would be canceled due to COVID-19.
At the time I thought that was crazy; but now it's the reality that any concert, festival, or large event in the near future is either canceled or postponed. So many people have had to be refunded or are keeping their fingers crossed that whatever new date the concert is rescheduled for will still work them them....myself included.
Every year thousands of people look forward to KCON, a giant K-pop convention in both New York and Los Angeles. The New York dates that were to take place in June have been canceled. So far there hasn't been any word about whether LA will still happen in August or not, but the Los Angeles Convention Center where it usually takes place is currently being used as a field hospital for COVID-19 victims.
No audiences on broadcast TV shows or showcases
When a K-pop group releases a new song or album, they perform it live on broadcast TV shows that air on different days of the week. These shows have always brought a live audience into the studio....until now.
The last week of January, shows such as Music Bank and Inkigayo announced they would not be bringing in a live audience for the show that week. They haven't had a live audience since. While groups are still performing and the shows are still being aired, the studio is empty.
It's not just broadcast TV shows with no audiences. K-pop groups are also doing showcases to an empty room.
Showcases are different from concerts. A showcase is an event where the group talks about their new album and performs some of the songs in front of an audience for the first time. These are always streamed online anyway, but right now that's the most they can do.
K-pop group UNVS had their debut showcase where they should have performed in front of their fans for the first time....but instead all of the seats were empty.
No fan engagements
K-pop groups often hold events called a fansign, where the members sit at a table and fans sit across from them, talking to each member for a while. Of course, those aren't happening right now. Instead, some K-pop groups are starting to do video call events with their fans.
MCND is another new group who has yet to meet their fans in person, but they kept a positive attitude during their first "Meet & Call" where they talked to fans through the phone as if it were a fansign.
On their Instagram afterward they said, "It was sad to not see you guys in person, but it was a different experience and memory."
The in-person aspect of K-pop have taken a large hit, no doubt causing money loss for the companies and definite sadness for both the artists and us fans. In the end, however, minimizing the amount of human interaction and people gathered in one place is the best way to make sure we all get through this pandemic in the safest way.
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