Invitation from SM Entertainment to the World of the Metaverse

Connecting Girl Group aespa's Avatars with Videos and Animation in Music Video
CEO Lee Sung-soo's Keynote at KOCCA Forum: "Metaverse as the Core Driver of SM Culture Universe"
Creating a New World of Content and IP Expansion... Communication Channels with Fans like DearU Bubble

aespa

"I'm a Killa, I’ll wake you ae/still hiding and spreading hallucinations (…) steam is rising/steam is rising/MA ae SYNK don’t disturb/Go away Savage." These are the lyrics of aespa’s new song "Savage," released on the 5th. Without prior knowledge, it’s hard to understand. 'ae' is aespa’s avatar. It is read as 'ai.' 'SYNK' refers to the connected state between aespa and their avatars.

In "Next Level," released last May, aespa sang about a journey into the wilderness to confront Black Mamba, who disrupts the SYNK. This time, with the help of their ally Navis, they fight Black Mamba. aespa gains strong power by meeting their ae. The stage is a metaverse, something seen only in sci-fi movies?a three-dimensional virtual world where various activities take place as if in reality.

Including the metaverse, the domestic immersive content market size last year was about 3 trillion won. The global immersive content market is expected to generate added value worth 520 trillion won by 2025. Jo Hyun-rae, president of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), met with related industry and affiliated organization officials on the 6th to effectively respond to these changes. They reviewed industry trends and discussed development plans such as workforce training, research and development (R&D) investment, and infrastructure acquisition. The main topic was the metaverse. KOCCA already formed a 'Metaverse Strategy Team' in August and plans to hold a 'Metaverse Forum' composed of external field experts to establish mid- to long-term strategies.

aespa 'Savage' Animation in the Music Video

The '2021 STARTUP:CON' held by KOCCA on the 7th was a place to glimpse that vision. Lee Sung-soo, CEO of SM Entertainment, to which aespa belongs, appeared as the keynote speaker and reviewed the future of intellectual property (IP) expansion content. He cited the metaverse-based SM Culture Universe (SMCU) as the core driving force. It is a large-scale virtual world that SM Entertainment has been preparing for a long time.

"aespa is the beginning of SMCU. Music videos and other videos incorporate cartoons, animations, webtoons, motion graphics, avatars, novels, and more. The combination of various genres and techniques provides a new content experience. That world transcends time and space to connect cultures as future entertainment. It connects the worldviews of all artists and expands killer content and IP accumulated over decades to create another world of content."

Since the late 1990s, SM has envisioned the future world by inserting animations into music videos. Representative examples include S.E.S’s "Dreams come true," BoA’s "ID; Peace B," and H.O.T.’s "Our Pledge." EXO, with a superpower concept, and NCT, connected by dreams, have also built differentiated identities through unique storytelling. SM Entertainment bundles these artists into an archive for IP expansion and explores new challenges such as films, animations, games, and webtoons.

Lee Sung-soo, CEO of SM Entertainment

Ongoing projects include the "SM Remastering Project" and "SM Classics." The former improves the video quality of past artists’ music videos to 4K and remasters the audio. CEO Lee explained, "We recently polished and released the music video for H.O.T.’s 'To Fly Freely,' released in 1997. It features Kangta, NCT’s Sungchan, and aespa’s Winter as part of SMCU." He added, "The reborn music video evolves into new IP, connecting the past, present, and future, fostering empathy across generations."

The latter project produces orchestral music that combines SM Entertainment’s K-pop with classical music. So far, arranged songs include Red Velvet’s "Red Flavor," Jonghyun’s "End of a Day," and NCT U’s "MAKE A WISH." It narrows the gap between the public and classical music while expanding K-pop’s base. They plan to build more repertoire and develop it into K-pop orchestra performances.

The purpose of IP expansion is not merely content sales. It aims to create a culture enjoyed with fans through new communication channels. CEO Lee stated, "We apply and improve various businesses such as content distribution according to the nature and function of platforms." He added, "We focus on creating our own channels to make SM Entertainment content easily accessible on any platform. Here, a channel is not just a simple content delivery path but an expanded meaning of branding."

Navis revealed in aespa's 'Savage' music video

A recently notable platform is DearU Bubble. It is a messenger service between artists and fans, launched last year and subscribed to by about 1.2 million users. Twenty-one domestic entertainment companies, including SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and FNC Entertainment, participate. Revenue and operating profit in the first half were 18.4 billion won and 6.6 billion won, respectively, with 70% of revenue generated overseas.

DearU plans to nurture DearU Bubble into a metaverse platform by securing large-scale funds through an initial public offering (IPO). The interaction space beyond chatting aligns with the future world SM Entertainment envisions. Fans can expect games where they directly control avatars and defeat Black Mamba alongside ae. CEO Lee said, "We realize our dreams by strengthening cooperation with IT companies through collaboration, investment, and corporate acquisitions." He added, "We always watch startups proposing innovative business models with new technologies carefully. We will communicate and collaborate more to unfold an SMCU beyond imagination."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.