'Put your phone down': BBC spotlights K-pop's new concert debate

"Put your phone down!"

That single shout from a K-pop idol to the crowd has caught the attention of international media. As recording concerts through a smartphone screen has become second nature, analysts say K-pop artists' calls for direct, unmediated connection with their audiences are emerging as a new kind of performance culture.

The BBC recently highlighted the shift in a piece titled "Should fans put their phones away at concerts?" centering on a performance by K-pop boy group Cortis as an example of changing concert norms.

Cortis is currently on a global tour that kicked off in Incheon last month, with stops in New York, Los Angeles and Seoul. The tour is named "Put Your Phone Down."

During the show, members repeatedly called out to the audience to put their phones away, urging fans to watch the stage directly and share in the moment rather than experience it through a screen.

The crowd, however, was not easily swayed. Thousands of smartphones stayed trained on the stage throughout the performance as fans cheered and captured the show.

The BBC said the scene went beyond a simple performance choice and illustrated a new debate over how K-pop concerts should be experienced.

Fan reactions were divided. Park Ji-yeon, 22, told the BBC she had wanted to record the show so badly that she borrowed a newer smartphone just for the occasion. "I was in the front row, and it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime moment — I couldn't put my phone down," she said.

"The moment you walk out of the venue, the memories start to fade," she said. "If you film it, you can hold onto that moment for a long time."

Others, however, said putting the phone away was precisely what made the concert come alive.

Kim Ga-eun, 25, said she was struck by the sight of everyone in the standing section at the back dancing and singing together. "When I focused on the stage instead of a screen, I felt like I was really living the concert," she said.

The BBC noted that the debate is not unique to K-pop.

Billie Eilish has asked fans during concerts to put their phones down and look at her, while Phoebe Bridgers and Alicia Keys have required audiences to store their devices in locked pouches. Brett Anderson, vocalist of British rock band Suede, made headlines when he stepped off the stage mid-show and took a phone directly from a fan's hands.

BTS has sent a similar message. Member Jungkook told fans at a concert to look at him rather than at their phone screens, emphasizing direct connection with the audience.

What sets K-pop apart from other music scenes, however, is that filming performances — known as "fan cams" — has taken root as a distinct fandom tradition.

Fans share close-up footage of individual members' expressions and choreography online, and those clips often draw in new fans. Concert filming has evolved beyond personal record-keeping into a significant content stream within the K-pop ecosystem.

That context has made some fans bristle at the requests. "I spent more than 1 million won ($705) just to attend two nights, and being told over and over to put my phone down felt uncomfortable," one fan said after the show. The debate spilled onto social media almost immediately after the concert ended.

The BBC observed that even in an era when smartphones have become part of concert culture, artists still want to lock eyes with their fans and share the moment in real time. Fans, meanwhile, feel that having paid steep ticket prices, they have every right to preserve the memory. Foreign media have framed the "phone debate" playing out at K-pop venues as a new landscape reflecting shifting attitudes toward how live performances are consumed — and what fandom itself means.