The provincial government is projecting that the sound industry will be a new growth opportunity in Korea, and is planning to take the lead in the new industry. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 1 (Korea Bizwire) – The Jeollabuk-do Provincial Government is set to develop a sound industry cluster where sound production, speech recognition and musicology research can have a solid ground.
As the Korean music industry imports virtually all of its sound producing techniques and related software, even though K-Pop is growing popular worldwide, the provincial government is projecting that the sound industry will be a new growth opportunity in Korea, and is planning to take the lead in the new industry. Current sound production and voice recognition technologies in Korea are limited to the gaming industry.
The government already placed a request with the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) in January to conduct research on the competitive environment, trends and prospects for the sound industry in Korea. Jeollabuk-do will file a plan with the Korean government in June to request financial support and subsidies for its project.
The provincial government estimates that 270 billion won (US$ 241 million) will be needed over the five years of the plan, to develop sound production technologies, sound content and related institutions.
Jeollabuk-do officials said that the global voice recognition market grew by 16.2 percent per year over the last 5 years, and a transition from touch-centric to voice recognition technologies for smart gadgets and wearables is expected.
By J. W. Choi (summerchoi@koreabizwire.com)
