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Korea Music Data Summit set for Feb. 6 at Coex

Published: 29 Jan. 2026, 10:57 Updated: 30 Jan. 2026, 08:45

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

A poster for ″2026 Korea Music Data Summit” [KREATORSNETWORK]

The 2026 Korea Music Data Summit will take place on Feb. 6 at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, bringing together Korean music companies and international experts to discuss data-driven strategies for Korean artists and companies entering the Japanese music market.

Global music data analytics firm Luminate and its exclusive Korean partner, Kreatorsnetwork, will jointly host the event, with the summit focusing on how Korean companies can use data to develop realistic market-entry strategies amid rapid changes in the global music industry.

The program will feature four core sessions linking market data with practical business execution.

Luminate will present analyses of global and Japanese music market trends, followed by discussions with Japan-based speakers on local market structure and consumer behavior. Kreatorsnetwork will also share Japan-focused localization and execution strategies.

The event comes as Japan continues to emerge as a key market for K-pop.

Luminate’s 2025 Year-End Music Report showed that Korean artists ranked fourth globally in streaming exports, with Japan cited as a strategically important market alongside the United States and Europe, particularly due to Japan's strong physical album sales and premium streaming usage.

Luminate data also showed that Japanese heavy music consumers listen to foreign music at rates about 36 percent higher than the general population, suggesting potential demand for K-pop.

About 50 Korean entertainment companies, including SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, Cube Entertainment and others, plan to attend. Many will send executives responsible for global music business operations as they review expansion opportunities in Japan.

A key session on Japan’s music market will feature Rupinder Singh, senior director of strategy and insights at music company Warner Music Japan. Singh will address market structure, fan consumption patterns and data-driven approaches to artist growth in Japan.

“Japan remains the most practical testing ground for K-pop’s global expansion and the market where the importance of data-driven strategy appears most clearly,” the organizers said. “This summit will redefine Japan not as a vaguely ‘difficult market’ but as a market that companies can analyze and enter strategically through data."

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]