hankyoreh

By Surh Jung-min, Music Correspondent　

A string of festivals organized by and containing the will of musicians themselves is taking place. ‘U-Day Festival,’ the aim of which is to discover the rights of musicians, will take place from 6 p.m. on June 18, simultaneously at 13 live clubs in the Hongdae area. 110 groups will take part voluntarily, including Galaxy Express, Black Syndrome, Seoul Electric Band, Jang Jae-in, Chung Won Young Band, Ninano Nanda and Gajame Boyscout.

This festival has its origins in the “Seoul World DJ Festival (WDF) incident” of April this year. At the time, the WDF’s organizers belatedly informed the 35 participating bands, selected by way of a competitive process, that it would not be possible to pay them performance fees, provoking strong protests from the musicians concerned. This current spread throughout the indie scene in the Hongdae area, leading to a sense of awareness of “finding the rights of musicians.”

Musicians have attached the slogan, “Dreaming of fair play in the music industry” to this festival, which they have planned themselves. They have set out to directly involve themselves in improving a situation that involves unfair practices such as not only lack of performance fees, but also failure to distribute income from digital sound, and to pay royalties. “We will not stop at this one festival, but continue to make ourselves heard through music festivals and other methods,” they have stated.

One 15,000 won ($13.83) ticket grants access to all the concerts at the festival, while information can be found at its website (cafe.naver.com/udayfest).

“Daehak-ro Chunnyun Jazz Festival,” organized by jazz musicians, will also take place from June 18-26 at Chunnyung Dongando live jazz club in Seoul’s Daehak-ro area. This festival was planned jointly by the Korean Jazz Association and Chyunnyun Donganddo and aims to widen the base of Korean jazz, which is becoming increasingly neglected. The Korean Jazz Association is a corporation managed by jazz musicians, chaired by pianist Shin Kwan-woong and with Lee Kyung-woo, formerly a pop singer before becoming a jazz vocalist, as secretary-general.

The jazz festival will feature performances by various jazz bands, including Shin Kwan-woong Big Band, Lee Jong-seok Big Band, Jeong Seong-jo Big Band, Han Sang-won Fusion Band and Ryu Bok-seong Latin Band, as well as vocalists including Kim Jun, Lee Dong-won, Lee Gyeong-u, Nam Ye-ji and Nana. Pianists taking the stage will include Lee Yeong-gyeong, Min Gyeong-in, Kwak Yun-chan, Kim Ga-on, Song Jun-seo, Im Mi-jeong, Lee U-chang, Lee Ji-yeong, and Bi An. Special performances combining Korean traditional music, pop songs and classical music will also take place. There will be three performances each on Saturday and Sunday, and two on weekdays. Tel. (02) 743-5555.

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