This photo, provided by Big Hit Entertainment, shows BTS during its online concert on Oct. 10, 2020.
SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – The importance of online platforms is on the rise as K-pop fandom continues to grow worldwide, with businesses targeting fans with contact-free content instead of offline performances.
Since last year, a paradigm shift is taking place among large entertainment agencies and IT businesses focusing on online platforms.
The K-pop industry is willing to expand thanks to the business potential that fandoms carry.
While offline performances have been shut off due to the pandemic, derivative content such as avatars, games, documentaries created with the intellectual property of Korean celebrities and idols are flowing into the market.
“Ironically, the coronavirus brought the future closer towards us by enabling progress in content and technology essential to next-generation K-pop,” said Yoo Soon-ho, departmental head at FNC Entertainment.
K-pop has attracted members of Generation Z from across the globe, with large potential for consumption growth in the future.
Naturally, online platforms have become a new ground for competition among distributors seeking to share K-pop content with the world.
As intellectual property of celebrities is gaining importance, the profit structure of the K-pop industry is also changing. Long story short, everything about the artist can be packed into a content and sold to fans.
Large entertainment agencies with technological capacity are introducing paid communication services for fans.
SM Entertainment plans to introduce Bubble, a one-on-one messenger service between the artist and a fan, through Lysn, a fan community application.
On Bubble, fans can receive private messages from their favorite singers and artists which they can reply to.
Universe, a new K-pop fan community platform by NCSOFT Corp., also introduced a private message service in which fans can receive private messages from idols.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
