The Korea Popular Music Industry Association (hereinafter KOMIA, chairman WOO SEUNG HYUN) will hold the annual “2026 MWM Conference” on Friday, September 4 at the Cube Convention Center in Sangam.
Under the slogan “Moving the World with Music”, the “MWM Conference” is South Korea’s flagship music industry conference, bringing together major players from the domestic and international music industry to share sector trends and discuss sustainable development means.
Starting this year, “MWM” has strengthened its sessions dealing in depth and from various angles with major challenges and institutional questions in the sector, in order to offer practical perspectives and solutions to music industry professionals, thus improving the conference’s expertise and quality.
Following 2024, the conference will once again be held in connection with the international music market “MU:CON 2026” (2026 Global Music Fair) organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Choi Hwi Young) and the Korea Creative Content Agency (President Kim Yun Ji), thus expanding its global network. This edition of “MWM 2026”, held under the theme “The AX (AI Transformation) Era: The Music Industry’s New Value Chain”, will offer a program composed of ▲ Keynote ▲ Open sessions ▲ Panel discussions by experts, to examine the music industry’s value chain reorganized by AI technology, observe possibilities for new business models and the industrial ecosystem, and seek a sustainable future.
During the keynote, CHOI SUN, Head of Chairman Creative Staff Office at HYBE, will open the conference by exploring changes in the music industry in the era of transition toward AI as well as new creative and commercial possibilities. During the open sessions, Dora Jin, business head of global music platform Tencent Music, will address the transition toward AI of music platforms and the global music business, while Tony Li, co-founder of ACRCloud, a company providing music recognition and AI music detection technologies to global music and AI companies such as Deezer and Suno, will share information on AI-generated music detection and rights protection. Next, GO YOUN HWA, researcher at the Center for Hallyu Studies at Seoul National University’s Institute for Asian Studies and cultural industry sociologist, will examine K-pop’s new formula rewritten by AI, and LEE SEUNG JUN, founder of the VR concert content company AMAZE, will present how to create a solid fandom through technology.
Panel discussion 1 will have as its theme the “Music Fund”, with the participation of ▲ WOO SEUNG HYUN (chairman of the Korea Popular Music Industry Association), ▲ KIM JIN WOO (CEO of RBW), ▲ KIM HAK YOUN (CEO of Gaia Venture Partners), and ▲ PARK IL GYU (head of the fund management team at Korea Venture Investment), who will highlight investment success stories in the music industry and the role of music funds. Panel discussion 2 will bring together ▲ KIM HYUN SOOK (director of the Digital Policy Industry Research Institute), ▲ LEE YOO GYUM (representative of the IP & Distribution division at Mound Media), and ▲ KIM IN HO (head of the music industry division at YG PLUS), who will discuss major AI-related challenges in the music industry, strategic orientations, and future challenges.
Details concerning the “2026 MWM Conference” will be revealed on the official website and social networks.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: MWM 2026
