The South Korean government has announced plans to pour US$90 million into the failing Korean music industry, which it claims is slumping due to the “rapid growth of digital music market and emergence of diverse high-tech music-listening devices.”
As part of the initiative, the government will expand its definition of the “music industry” to include not only record labels and live musical performances, but also “virtually every area regarding music, such as music education, production of musical instruments, performances by underground music bands, music management, online and offline circulation of music and ‘noraebang,’ rooms hired for karaoke singing.”