Wine & Wisdom Series: K-Pop Chronicles 101

November 13, 2023 — The latest installment of Asia Society Korea's fall season special "Wine and Wisdom Series" took place at LOTTE Hotel Seoul’s Pierre's Bar. President of DFSB Kollective Bernie Cho helmed an insightful Q&A, demystifying the K-Pop music industry and its evolving business model. From the genre's global evolution to its future as a dynamically engaged music business, the discussion deepened our comprehension of the Korean music industry and its technological ties. Bernie Cho also shared unique insights on recent K-Pop successes, including Lisa of BLACKPINK, PSY, and BTS, exploring their cultural impact and industry paradigm shifts. The evening also brought together Asia Society Korea's esteemed Honorary Ambassador Members with ASK-Y cohorts, fostering a stimulating exchange of perspectives across diverse backgrounds and generations.

Bernie Cho

Bernie Cho is the President of DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based Artist & Label Services agency that specializes in providing digital media, marketing, and distribution solutions to 600+ Korean Pop music artists. As more K-Pop acts aspire to go independent and international, DFSB Kollective collaborates with artists and their management companies to devise customized strategies that directly connect them to their local and global fans.

Since 2009, the agency has successfully produced numerous K-Pop concerts and showcases in North America, Asia, and Europe as well as secured #1 Apple iTunes Music chart debuts for various K-Pop albums in the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, Greater China, Southeast Asia, Australasia, and Europe. In order to raise the recognition of Korean music internationally, DFSB Kollective is a member of Merlin Network (global digital music rights agency for world's leading independent labels) and an official Korean content provider for Apple iTunes Music, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube Music, Deezer, Pandora, iHeart Radio, Facebook, TikTok, Tencent Music Entertainment, NetEase Cloud Music, KKBox, AWA, JioSaavn, Boomplay, Anghami, and Yandex. As one of the first and foremost K-Pop music exporters, DFSB Kollective and its artists have been featured speakers/performers at top international music industry events (CMJ, CMW, SXSW, Coachella, The Great Escape, Glastonbury, Summer Sonic, Music Matters, MusicBiz, MIDEM) and profiled in leading international media outlets (BBC, Billboard, Bloomberg, CNN, Discovery, E!, Forbes, Monocle, MTV, Musically, Newsweek, New York Times, NPR, Pitchfork, Spin, Time, YouTube Originals, Wall Street Journal).

Prior to founding DFSB Kollective, Bernie served as the Head of MTV Korea’s Digital Media Production and worked for nearly 2 decades in the Korean music TV industry as a Creative Planner, Program Producer, and Show Host. He has earned a BA from Dartmouth College in Government/Asian Studies and has graduated from the UCLA Anderson School of Management (Executive Entertainment & Media Program) and the Vancouver Film School (Foundation Film Program).

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