“Put your phone down.” It's a line from BTS' RM on their latest album, ARIRANG, and increasingly, it's a sentiment being echoed across the live music industry. In many ways, K-pop built its international reach through the smartphone. Fan-filmed fancams, viral concert clips, and choreography videos shared across social media carried Korean music to audiences that had no other access to it. Now, as a growing number of Western artists push back against phones at live shows, the question is whether K-pop can, or should, follow.

The past few years have seen artists request phones be put away for specific songs or moments – Coldplay have done so during "A Sky Full of Stars" for years, citing a desire for audiences to be fully present. Björk has long advocated for phone-free shows, framing the presence of screens as a barrier between artist and audience. In 2026, the impulse has expanded into something larger: Harry Styles' exclusive 'One Night Only' performances in April and the entirety of Phoebe Bridgers' 'The Lost Tour' both operate under full no-phone policies.

This no-phone trend comes after seemingly endless complaints from artists over the sheer amount of phones held up. They force artists to compete for the attention of an audience physically in front of them, navigating a sea of raised screens just to hold eye contact. Social media is flooded with perfectly framed, unmoving footage of entire concerts, which suggest the prioritising of a picture-perfect reel over experiencing live music: dancing, singing, and overall enjoyment. Both can be true at once – capturing and sharing memories, and enjoying a concert in your own way – but when artists themselves are discouraged and fans are increasingly reporting having their views blocked by outstretched phones, something has to give.

No-phone concerts are an attempt to reduce these issues, and an outright ban would address them directly. They also have the additional benefit of forming a more intimate, exclusive space, which provides fans with a more personal, once-in-a-lifetime experience and can be used as a marketing tactic for promoters.

Shows with these rules are receiving high ticket sales, with Harry Styles’ ‘One Night Only’ series quickly selling out earlier this year, proving that the move is being accepted by a large number of fans. However, approaches and responses vary. Beyond even phones and cameras, Phoebe Bridgers’ press release explains how “all phones, smartwatches, and related accessories [are] secured in pouches” and only to be opened after the show, removing all distractions – and also means of communication. Some comments online debate accessibility concerns, with requests for these devices now required and adding an additional step to already complex accessibility systems for those who need constant mobile tracking of conditions or outside contacts. At the same time, even preventing only the use of cameras drives frustration over the intended intimacy and exclusivity of these events for fans unable to attend now cut off from the experience without videos and photos to watch. There are even complaints being made on a financial basis, with the argument that rising ticket prices warrant being able to film concerts in order to collate memories and watch the event over and over as they wish.

Where does K-pop stand? CORTIS have announced their <PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN TOUR> for August 2026, clearly playing into the trend. Intimacy and exclusivity are being prioritised; not only does the tour’s name include an imperative demand to remove mobile phones from the concert experience, but the majority of venues chosen are small theatres with a maximum capacity of between 3,000 and 6,000 attendees. Each date has sold out during pre-sales, with some virtual Ticketmaster queues breaching 400,000.

CORTIS are not the first K-pop act to gesture toward the idea. The “Body to Body” lyric from RM opens "Body to Body" is a small but telling sign that the sentiment is filtering through the genre's biggest names.

It raises a pointed question: is <PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN> a genuine gesture toward the no-phone movement, or is the phone ban in the name only – a marketing hook that borrows the sentiment without committing to it? In a recent Genius interview, CORTIS confirmed they want audiences to keep their phones down at shows – suggesting the name is intentional rather than decorative. For now, there are no explicit restrictions on device use at any of the shows, and despite the tour's name, it is difficult to picture phone-free concerts taking hold in the K-pop space.

K-pop has become notorious for pioneering fancams, both from fans and from within the industry via professional filming set-ups at various music shows. Singular concert clips and individual member fancams have long impacted charts, sales, and the overall popularity of artists: a recent example being the virality of ITZY’s “THAT’S A NO NO” following an explosive response to snippets of a live performance of the song during their concert in Seoul in February 2026. Six years after the song’s release – and as a B-side – its sudden popularity saw the group perform the song on MCountdown for the first time amongst other artists’ brand-new title tracks. The rise of K-pop internationally can largely be credited to similar situations, spreading Korean music beyond the country itself before the genre had the metrical backing to host world tours.

At the same time, K-pop fans have become notorious for filming interactions with idols – even when it breaks rules set by organisers. Whether it be during a soundcheck, a concert, a fansign, a hi-touch, a traditional meet and greet, or a post-show send-off, thousands of videos from those sharing their experiences flood social media after every event. Fans hold signs asking for idols to pose for their cameras, to take selfies with their phones, to mimic certain viral memes. Send-off videos in particular are often engineered towards social media, with some groups allowing fans to film reels and TikTok videos with idols and a large number using their limited time to do so. These, too, can act as marketing for groups, demonstrating their charisma on and off-stage. But the choice of fans to use their time to film rather than personally engage without digital mediation – and especially going so far as to break rules to do so – highlights the prominence of phones in the K-pop space, and the unlikelihood of a positive response to a phone ban – even if it provides some with a better view during the show.

A widespread phone ban across K-pop seems unlikely – the disruption to organic digital marketing alone would make most companies think twice, and phone footage is too embedded in how fans experience and share live performances to be easily removed. However, that does not prevent its use for certain special events or an occasional, more intimate feel – the one CORTIS’ <PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN> tour title gestures towards. As live concert films and online viewing packages multiply – BTS, SEVENTEEN, Stray Kids and ATEEZ among those who have released them recently – there is a case to be made that companies could leverage exclusivity as a commercial tool, drawing in fans who can no longer rely on fan-filmed content to follow along.

K-pop's international rise was built from the phone. Whether the industry is willing to put it down, even selectively, remains the open question.