Who will be the first Asian musical act to conquer the West? The answer to that perennial question may well be provided at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 23.

That’s when several acts from leading South Korean production company S.M. Entertainment's stable of stars are set to perform at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The SMTown Live show will feature sets by Kangta, BoA, TVXQ!, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, Shinee and f(x).

"As Madison Square Garden is the Mecca of American pop culture, the global brand power of the popularity of SM's musicians hitting the heart of the New York City will be reconfirmed in the concert,” the Seoul-based company said in a statement.

TVXQ, Beast, SHINee, 4Minute and G.NA will also be performing Nov. 25 at the 2011 Billboard K-Pop Masters show at the Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The New York concert is the final show in the SMTown Live '10 World Tour, which kicked off in Seoul on Aug. 21, 2010, followed by dates in Los Angeles, Shanghai, Tokyo and Paris.

It’s hard for South Korean acts and their management companies to make a decent buck in their home market because of the stranglehold local telecoms have on the digital-music revenue stream. That’s why they’re so focused on making it big outside South Korea, unlike their Japanese counterparts, who can still make a comfortable living in the very different Japanese music-biz ecosystem. 

The big question is whether South Korean acts, which have achieved huge success in Asian territories such as Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines, can win over Western audiences with their blend of polished idol looks, infectious pop tunes and slick choreography. While media such as Britain’s Guardian are showing growing interest in K-pop, North American and European pop fans have never really gone for Asian idol pop in a big way. But if any Asian act can make it in the West, odds are it will be from South Korea. 

Apologies, by the way, for the long interval since the last edition of McClure's Asia Music News. I've been having multiple problems with the website, server, etc. I'm working on a new, ultra-cool version of the website which will be launched soon -- stay tuned!