K-pop is often associated with being ahead of its time, and the South Korean entertainment business’ commitment to innovation is pushing things forward thanks to increased interest in connecting K-pop to current trends such as NFTs, metaverses, and cryptocurrency.
Whether it’s A. C. E.’s and BTS’ creation of NFT lines, or SM Entertainment’ s push to integrate its content into a metaverse, or news reports of K-pop-themed cryptocurrencies, these are some of the most significant developments in K-pop for 2021.
Metaverses is without a doubt the most talked-about. Last month, Facebook announced that it will be renaming itself “Meta.” With this, the concept of fusing real and virtual environments in a digital setting has never been more popular.
A metaverse is an application that allows users to create, view, and interact with three-dimensional digital spaces that mimic the real world. It may also use augmented reality technology.
Businesses and parts of the South Korean government are developing metaverses; this summer, banks in South Korea invested in metaverse asset funds, and the Ministry of Science and ICT set aside trillions of dollars to support technological businesses including metaverses.In the world of metaverses, millions of South Koreans put their money into digital acquisitions. The Seoul municipal government made similar announcements in early November.
During the epidemic, augmented and virtual reality and artificial intelligence have exploded in popularity, with several new K-pop business opportunities, particularly online concerts and virtual fan engagement events.
The development of virtual performances and performers has long been a mainstay of K-pop’s metaverse efforts, which may appear to be a novel concept but dates back almost 20 years: in 1998, a cyber musician known as Adam was created and released the album No Love Like This.
There have been numerous other digital performers to emerge in recent years, including the popular League of Legends tie-in girl group K/DA, who is voiced by a number of pop musicians including K-pop stars, as well as this year’s virtual female vocal act Eternity.
In March, Blackpink’s virtual avatars hosted a fan event in the avatar-based social networking site, and according to reports, 46 million people tuned in to collect digital autographs from the group.
In April, SK Telecom debuted its K-pop Metaverse Project on its augmented reality app Jump AR, allowing users to make their own music videos based on Weeekly’s songs and dance choreographies. In May, the group organized a virtual “face-to-face” gathering.
The goal of SM Entertainment, the company that created top K-pop acts like NCT, Exo, Red Velvets, and WayV, has been to establish a metaverse on a huge scale. Aespa girl group and artist-to-fan interaction are at its centre.
SM launched Aespa at the end of 2020, which included four members who each have their own virtual counterpart and serve as a group member as well. These virtual “members,” known as “ae,” appear in Aespa’s music videos and performances frequently, and are part of SM’s attempt to build a cross-media creative universe known as the SMCU, which will play a role in its metaverse.
The cross-platform metaverse engagement is particularly concerned with Semiconductor Manufacturing’s subsidiary Dear U software firm’s financial stability, which Korean media estimated received around US$14.5 billion in deposits during its IPO this week.
Many K-pop artists employ Bubble, a prominent celebrity-to-fan software, to communicate with their followers. Fans have to pay for access to the conversations of individual celebrities, which has shown to be profitable. It currently has over 1.2 million subscribers. Other K-pop entertainment companies, including JYP Entertainment, have substantial positions in Dear U., as of August.
In addition, Netmarble has teamed up with South Korean tech company LG’s U+Dive and Idol Live applications to produce NCT Metaverse events, including a likely augmented reality concert and an online exhibition.
Although SM is the most significant firm to have ventured into creating its own metaverse, it is by no means the only K-pop company pursuing this goal. Weverse, the company behind BTS, Tomorrow X Together, and other K-pop groups, has also established a popular platform for fans and celebrities to interact with one another.
Weverse also has functions as a shop and a magazine in addition to its communication function.
Is Hybe thinking about a metaverse? Nothing has been announced yet, but one of the company’s investors, Netmarble, is creating a virtual girl group called Mave through its Metaverse Entertainment subsidiary.
Mave will be built with help from Kakao Entertainment, a branch of the multinational communications corporation Kakao Group and owner of Melon, South Korea’s most popular music streaming service..
On November 12, another virtual star, Yuna, will be introduced. Through her own NFT sale, fans can purchase 10,000 limited edition and unique NFT artworks of the singer, who is said to be “the metaverse’s first ever virtual K-pop artist,” but it is uncertain how Humap distinguishes Yuna from other virtual idols who have been introduced through similar means.
These early NFTs, according to the project Yuna is a part of, will generate royalties from Yuna’s future albums, performances, and sponsorships. NFT owners will also have access to private shows and even have input into Yuna’s compositions.
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