K-pop's web3 future

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Lorraine Ye on K-pop’s embrace of (and resistance towards) new technologies.

To the average K-pop fan, the thought of web3 is imbued with a bundle of stigma. Environmental concerns, greed, and fungibility are always at the forefront of discussion, but this hasn’t stopped major K-pop companies like HYBE Labels (BTS, NewJeans), SM Entertainment(NCT, Girls’ Generation), Cube Entertainment (G-IDLE, PENTAGON), and more from creating emerging tech like NFTs, AI idols, virtual and metaverse experiences to its core fanbases.

Between fandoms being outwardly vocal against the use of NFTs and BTS’ leader, RM, having allegedly shown his own powerpoint to HYBE Label executives railing against the company policy regarding NFTs, the disdain for emerging technology at large is still rather pick-and-choose. BTS still went on to utilize syndication of their covid-friendly and audience-free live concert to nearly 1,000,000 fans globally, equating to nearly 40 stops on their last stadium tour—and the VMAs, among others, rushed to follow the business model. Despite having some of the most resistance to emerging tech, these companies still opt to innovate and set precedents for the global music industry to follow.

So how is the average K-pop fan primed to be this emerging tech’s target audience?

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