JUNG HUN LEE Speaks About His Journey To Becoming A Curator, The Industry, And The Mission Of The GloMMnet
Dear music lovers,
How’ve you been? In our 2022 Review Enews, we announced the World Music Festival @ Taiwan became a new member at the GloMMnet, through this opportunity, we interviewed the president, Jung Hun Lee, who is also the founder and director of the Seoul Music Week and the Ulsan Jazz Festival.
Picture of the GloMMnet president - Jung Hun Lee
The global live music event industry is a huge market, according to Allied Market Research, the global music event industry generated USD 152.2 billion in 2021 and is expected to generate USD 481.4 billion by 2031, witnessing a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 9.7% from 2022 to 2031. The data shows the global live music event industry is connected with artists, curators, and audiences. It reflects on how the industry can create a better platform for us. As time goes on curators not just curated festivals but also focus on connecting with other music events (networking), and the GloMMnet is the result of this flourishing music industry.
Jung Hun Lee moved back to Ulsan, South Korea in 2000; Ulsan is the home city of Hyundai, which makes it become an industrial city. There was no music-related event when Lee moved back home and he wished to introduce jazz music to the public, therefore, he founded the Ulsan Jazz Music Festival. As K-pop started trending over time, the South Korean government began to focus more on the music industry. Meanwhile, South Korea has all kinds of music festivals but there was no world music festival, so Lee invested his time in programming the Ulsan World Music Festival and the ACC World Music Festival, which led him to move his career to Seoul.
Lee's recent fav music: Carla Bruni - The Winner Takes It All
In 2016, he launched the Seoul Music Week, which aims to create a significant platform for the international music market in South Korea. Each year, it programs over 50 music groups from Korea and international music scenes, including industry professionals from 30 different countries. The SMW creates a phenomenal platform for showcases, conferences, and networking, which has been seen as the iconic international music event in Asia. During Lee’s time working as a curator, he gradually noticed the need for networking in the global music event industry, which is why he initiated the GloMMnet. Lee is giving back to the community by teaching Art Management at YeungNam University, Daegu, and indeed he spares no effort to promote the music industry.
Picture of the Seoul Music Week
For Lee, programming a successful music festival must include a few elements: 1. the festival must have killer content; 2. the new collaborations between artists; 3. finding new audiences; 4. local’s high engagement. A few years ago, Lee attended the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, and he was amazed when he learned there were 30,000 volunteers at the eight days event, and he even met a Korean volunteer, who applied to participate in the festival as a volunteer during his vacation. He says, “In Asia, music festival organizers are very strict on volunteers' applications but it seems like Europe is more open.” He also explained that Europe has all kinds of festivals for different music genres, and most Asian countries (except Japan) are oblivious to “World Music”, he realized the audience market must be vigorously developed.
Lee spoke at the 2019 World Music Festival @ Taiwan
According to the Statista Research Department, the value of music industry exports from South Korea increased to USD 69.37 million from 2007 to 2010. In 2007, Lee founded the Ulsan Jazz Music Festival, the same year that he attended the first edition of WOMEX. Furthermore, Hallyu, also known as the K-wave, increased dramatically after 2010. Lee told Wind Music that at the time, the South Korean government saw growth in the music industry, which gave them the need to support it, and the Hallyu has been blooming since. However, networking at a music festival was a new concept but Lee’s accurate perception and experiences saw the demand for international networking. The GloMMnet was initiated with the vision to create a better network between music festivals.
The first general meeting at WOMEX 2016
GloMMnet is an abbreviation for Global Music Market Network, it focuses on promoting cultural expressions, spreading information, and helping to communicate through global music market events. GloMMnet first started with 27 members in 2016, it has built a strong network between members, not only in networking but also was able to explore different countries' music markets, which gives festivals more opportunities to have various performers, bring new content, and attract more audience.
Wind Music team first met Lee at an international music event, when Wind Music attended the WOMEX for the first time in 2018, Lee gave his full support by introducing GloMMnet members. The 2019 World Music Festival @ Taiwan had the honor to invite him to attend the festival as a delegate, through the GloMMnet’s network, the WMF@TW’s program director-Peiti Huang attended the 2022 Seoul Music Week. Wind Music and the WMF@TW experienced strong connections in the GloMMnet. It has successfully exchanged artists in different festivals, for example, Tarwa N-Tiniri (Morocco) performed at the SMW in 2022 and The Tune (South Korea) performed at Visa For Music (Morocco) in 2019, and much more. This not only creates new content but also brings diversity, which satisfies artists, curators, and audience needs at a festival.
Lee told Wind Music, he is very excited about Wind Music joining the organization and expects Wind Music and the WMF@TW to build more global connections within the GloMMnet.
Wind Music and the WMF@TW are delighted to join the GloMMnet and look forward to meeting all the members. GloMMnet is an organization full of passion and authenticity curators, it has a great vision and purpose, which will bring lots of positive energy and creativity. As a new member, we hope to link with more music festivals and bring diverse artists to Taiwan. Furthermore, to give back to the community and build a better music ecosystem, not only as music industry professionals but also as global citizens, we wish to create a world to prove music has no borders.
Lee has been appointed as artistic director of the 2023 Buskers World Cup, more detail will be released on the official website in March.