How To Go To K-Pop Music Shows (The Main 4)

I’m going to explain in detail how to get to each of the 4 main music shows (M!Net’s M!Countdown, KBS’s Music Bank, MBC’s Music Core and SBS’s Inkigayo). This does not account for ‘special’ episodes (sometimes the location or amount of fanseats changes) or explain specifically what you need for each group.

Biggest point to all of this: Get on the group you want to see’s fancafe, level up and get your more specific information there.

This guide can help you get to the location, but any information on times, actual locations for certain groups, rules that are specific to each group and so on will be on the fan cafe.

* Note: Some of the maps got cut a bit on my Tumblr layout. Please right click and “view image in a new tab” for the complete maps.

~ General Information / What To Do ~

When you get to a music show for fan seats you need to find the list of the group you want to get in with (or the sign that will help you get onto the list). Do not, and I mean really DO NOT EVER line up/sign up with two different groups in one day. That is one of the biggest taboos you can make as a fan EVER. Lots of foreign fans have done that just to see more than one group in one day or to have a better chance of getting into the line and it has given the Korean fans an overall bad impression of foreign fans in general.

If the person with the name list is right there: Lucky you! Tell them your name (이름 ireum) and usually either birthday (생일 saengil, in yymmdd (ex. 921107) form) or last 4 digits of your phone number (휴대폰뒷자리 hyudaepon dwitjari).

If you can’t find a person but you found a sign, usually it will say where they are in Korean and you need to go find them, or it will have a phone number that you need to text (and usually send a picture of the sign with your face/hand/etc., it says on the sign) to get on the list. This is why having a Korean phone that is image-sending capable is important, or at least being able to understand Korean. If you are missing either of these or can’t understand the Korean to find the person, if there are any Korean fans around looking at the same time ask them for help or wait for some to show up. My phone can’t send pictures so I usually end up having to call the person, but a lot of times they won’t pick up so I have to get other fans to take a picture for me and send it.

Most groups who have official fanclub members write the official (공식 gongshik) and unofficial (비공식 bigongshik) separately. Make sure you get on the right list.

* NOTE: BAP doesn’t make a list. They start lining up at at 6am and have to stay in line until the fanstaff come. I don’t know of any other groups that do this. Babies seem to be nice and you can leave your bag and run off to grab snacks/coffee/go to the bathroom no problem but it is best to have a friend with you to watch stuff/hold the spot in line.

Once you get on the list usually they will do a name check (출석체크/출첵) to line up right before fanstaff comes, or sometimes even do several checks between writing the list and when fanstaff comes to make sure people don’t leave and go other places. DO NOT MISS THESE. If you miss one or are late they cross you off the list and there is no getting your spot back. Make sure you ask a time when you get yourself on the list if they don’t tell you automatically and make sure you have the right time.

When the fanstaff come (time listed on the fancafe) they will check if you have the things you need to get in with the group. Once they’ve checked/gotten the people who have priority in the right order they will write a number on your wrist and that will be your entry number with the group. The higher your number/the lower your ranking is the less likely you are to get in.

Most guides say you just need the group’s most recent CD. The fact that you need the CD is correct, but it is literally the bare minimum. All groups give priority to registered/paid official fanclub members, and most groups require other items such as proof you’ve leveled up on the fancafe (ex. Tasty, NU'EST), require you to sign up on the cafe beforehand for priority (ex. BAP, B1A4), have printed off proof-of-purchase of the songs (음원구매내역서) on an official Korean site (Melon, M!Net, Soribada, etc…) (ex. almost all groups!), ringtone/callback tone (ex. DBSK, NU'EST during FACE), printed off fanchant from the fancafe (ex. Infinite), or require you to buy official goods (ex. Infinite’s slogan). Those are just examples that I know of, and to know more specifically you NEED to check each group’s fancafe. Most stuff translates easily in Google Translate if you do it sentence/word at a time, the one that doesn’t I wrote up there in Korean.

If you are missing any of the things you need, you will be pushed to the back of the line and be less likely to get in. If you don’t have the CD you can’t even line up except for rare cases (VIXX let’s people with just proof-of-purchase online get in behind people with the CDs). No excuses work. (My friend saw a girl telling BAP fanstaff she hadn’t brought her CD because it was raining that day and she didn’t want to get it wet. This DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.)

Not all groups have prerecordings. Make sure you know if there will be or not and your chances of getting in at each show before going.

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1. M!Net’s M!Countdown (Thursday)

Closest Train Station: Digital Media City (디지털미디어시티역) Exit 2

Digital Media City station is on Line 6, the Airport Railway and the Gyeonggi Line. Exit 2 (which is near where it says “GS25” on top of the train station) is still a good 15~20 minute walk away from M!Net depending on your walking pace, though. The easiest way to get there is by bus, since there is a bus stop directly in front of the building named 상암DMC홍보관 (Sangam DMC Information Center).

There are buses that go to it from most major parts of the city, there are especially a lot going from the Yonsei and Hongdae areas. (Bus Numbers :: 171, 271, 470, 710, 771, 6715, 7013A~B, 7711, 7715, 7730, 9711)

If buses are too confusing, to get there from Digital Media City station you walk out of Exit 2 and head straight down that road, following the curve. Once you get to a crossroad turn left and go one block to the main road. At the main road cross the street to your right and walk straight for a long time. You only have to cross one major road, and then you will see the 상암DMC홍보관 bus stop and the M!Net (C&J Media Center) building on your right. Walk into the small park/open area there with the giant statue of two heads.

Fan Seats: The area with the giant statue of two heads is where fans will meet/line up. If you go up to the wall that’s straight ahead (not the building wall) there will be papers taped to it. Try to find your group’s paper or find a fan in the area with the list.

Recently in prerecordings they’ve been using only a very small back standing section that only fits 100 people (if you’re lucky.) Sometimes they don’t, but that seems to be the trend recently. It’s hard to get in.

In the live (still all standing) they fit a total of around 300 people. 70 of those go to 'general admissions’ seats (explained later), the rest are fan seats. Depending on which groups and how many groups are there that day larger groups get 20~50 fanseats and smaller will get 5~15.

General Admission:This is completely unique to M!Countdown. Instead of holding applications for tickets online they just have general admissions seats, which line up against the wall to the left of the wall the fans post their signs on. There is not allowed to be a list and you must wait (some fans will make a list anyway. If this is found out they take away the general admissions seats for several weeks.)

At 8 (supposedly… <<;; sometimes they come out as late as 9 or 9:30) one of the M!Net security staff will come out and make a name list of the people who were there. They then ask you to come back and line up again later on in the day. It only is the first 70, but they are the first to be let into the standing area other than any special event seats.

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2. KBS’s Music Bank (Friday)

Closest Train Station: National Assembly (국회의사당역) Exit 4

National Assembly is on Line 9 and isnotone of the stops on the express train.

Once you head out of Exit 4 head straight until the end of the sidewalk on the little island and cross over to the main sidewalk on the right. Walk straight down that road and you’ll be able to see the main entrance of the KBS complex at the end of the road. Head inside and walk through the parking lot on the right until you get to where there’s a big set of stairs on your left and go up those. Then you’re in the area where fans will meet and line up.

* Note: You’re not allowed into the complex earlier than 6am.

Fan Seats: Usually the signs will be taped to the large brick pillars in the middle of the area. Fans line up in front of or to the side of the doors. Usually people with the list will be inside the building on the left (if you just came up the stairs) sitting in the cafe, but make sure to look for a sign to figure out for sure.

Approximately 300~400 people can fit into the studio. There usually are NO FANSEATS for the live, and even if there are any it usually isn’t more than 10.

Tickets: You can apply through KBS’s Music Bank website, but you need to have a KBS account which requires a Korean Social Security Number or an Alien/Foreigner Registration Number which you get if you apply for a Alien Registration Card if you’re living in Korea for an extended period of time (90 days+). It still sometimes can be hard for foreigners to apply because it doesn’t accept the alien registration number.

It’s random who gets tickets out of the people who apply for the show, and if you get tickets you can’t apply again for a month.

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3. MBC’s Music Core (Saturday)

Closest Train Station: Jeongbalsan (정발산역) Exit 1

Though the train station isn’t that much farther than the bus stops, it is very near the end of Line 3 and takes a while to get to. Going out of Exit 1 you head straight down the road two blocks. At the first big road you turn right and walk straight along that road. When you get to the diagonal cross walk cross diagonally and keep walking the same direction.

The closest bus stop is Ilsan Donggucheong (일산동구청) which has lots of buses that come from Seoul in about 30~45 minutes, especially from the Yonsei/Gwanghwamun area. The Seoul City buses that go up there are 706, 707, 7727, 9701, 9707, 9711 and 9714. The Gyeonggi Buses that go there from Seoul are 770, 1000, 1100, 1500, 200, 2000, 3300, 8880, 9700 and M7412. From the bus stop you cross the road to the left and head straight following the same directions as above after “at the first big road you turn right”.

The MBC Dream Center will be on your left. Walk all the way down that side of the building and turn left at the corner, and that is where fans will meet and line up before the Dream Center courtyard/lobby open at 9am.

Fan Seats: You should look for the group signs taped on the trees by the road once you turn left, or look for the person with the list in the little sitting areas opposite of those trees.

If they fill all of the seats in the Dream Center’s big studio it fits 600 people, and if they decide to fill the stairs and standing as well it can hold upwards of 1000.

In the live approximately 200 seats go to tickets (online application and city tickets) and the rest are fan seats. It is not uncommon for larger groups to get in 100~150 people. Sometimes due to lack of security staff they let in less people, though.

* Note: Sometimes they film in the small back studio which fits 260 people all standing.

Tickets: You can apply for tickets on the MBC Music Core website. As far as I know there is no way for foreigners to apply, with or without the ARC.

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4. SBS’s Inkigayo (Sunday)

Closest Train Station: Gayang (가양역) Exit 10

Gayang is a stop of both the express trains and regular trains on Line 9. After you go up the escalators and out of Exit 10 turn left immediately and keep walking straight down that road and you’ll get to SBS’s Public Hall. Fans meet and line up in front of the building or in front of the shopping center before you get to SBS.

Fan Seats: Once you get in front of the SBS building you will want to check on the trees in the middle of the sidewalk or on the ground right in front of the fence/gates to the building for the signs or people with the list. Sometimes it can be hard to find your sign because of people sitting/standing around the wall, but keep trying.

The studio at the SBS Public Hall can hold around 500 people when they fill up all the stairs, which they usually do. Around 150 tickets go to people who applied online. Sometimes large fandoms/groups from large companies (especially YG groups) will get up to 100 tickets, but usually it’s more like 25~50 for large groups. 5~20 for small groups.

Tickets: Inkigayo you can also apply for tickets online much like Music Bank. But you still need a Korean Social Security Number or a ARC/Alien Registration Number to get an account. The only one time per month once you get tickets also applies. But it’s much more foreigner friendly since it accepts the ARC number no matter what.

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If I get any more asks about these after this you’re all just getting linked to this post. (Unless there happens to be something I left out… <<)