Impact NextGen: Aram Hahn

The K-pop supernova and its artists produce a devotion of white-hot intensity that any artist in any genre would be envious of. At the center of this high-gravity orbit is HYBE, whose artists include BTS, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, SEVENTEEN and ENHYPEN. Aram Hahn – a former journalist at The Korea Daily who then worked at Live Nation Korea as a backstage manager and production coordinator before joining HYBE’s predecessor Big Hit Entertainment – helps develop the touring strategy for these live juggernauts. Hahn counts BTS’s worldwide 2019 stadium tour and post-pandemic U.S. stadium tour as career highlights, of course, but it was two shows by non-K-pop artists that provided “treasurable experience” to make those tours happen.

“I take immense pride in my involvement during the preparations for Paul McCartney’s 2015 and Coldplay’s 2016 one-and-only tours in South Korea,” she says. “These events were highly anticipated by Korean music fans. We started planning out the details years in advance, almost as if it was a covert operation. Stadium concerts for artists were relatively rare in Korea at that time, so organizing them brought about eye-opening experiences in terms of the show’s quality and the logistical intricacies of stadium tours. While preparing, we promised amongst ourselves ‘no surprises,’ meaning that we would leave no room for error while having an open mind in dealing with unexpected complications on-site.”

Hahn says her generation bridges the gap between the traditional and the cutting edge, drawing from both.

“One of the strengths of my generation lies in our ability to understand new technologies and find ways to apply them to modern stages. The integration of new technology into performances has been a natural progression over the years, but the current fusion of cutting-edge technology and art is particularly awe-inspiring. Personally, I find it advantageous to bridge the perspectives of both older and younger colleagues, comprehending established structures and adapting to new technologies.”