Korea’s record label giants SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment are betting big on hologram technologies to better satisfy their global fans’ needs and create new cash cows.

They are hoping virtual reality technology can be a substitute for K-pop stars, who are not able to cater to all the needs of fans globally.

The nation’s largest record label, SM Entertainment, took the lead in going virtual. The firm launched a hologram concert of its high-profile group Girls’ Generation in January of 2013 for the first time in K-pop. 

In January 2015, SM opened its hologram theater in SM Town in Seoul, with an investment of 25 billion won ($20 million). The theater runs hologram musicals starring the label’s musicians -- TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, SHINee and EXO.

The entertainment colossus also expanded its business into Japan by opening the hologram theater in Huis Ten Bosch -- a theme park located in Nagasaki in April.

With the growing popularity of its musicians overseas, the firm plans to further make use of the virtual technology for the new cash flow.

“We are planning to expand the business utilizing hologram technologies into other Asian regions including China,” SM Entertainment’s spokesperson Jung Sang-hee told The Korea Herald.

YG Entertainment, which belatedly jumped into the industry, is also ramping up its efforts to exploit the holographic technology by working closely with virtual tech pioneer D’strict.

In January, 2014, the record label opened its hologram concert hall “Klive” at a shopping center in Dongdaemun, Seoul, to offer hologram concerts of its top musicians Psy, Big Bang and 2NE1.

In June last year, YG opened Play K-Pop, a digital theme park in Jejudo Island, by creating joint venture called NIK together with D’strict and telecom carrier KT to offer hologram concerts of its musicians. It draws around 700 visitors a day.

Most recently, Psy and 2NE1’s hologram concerts were unveiled at the Korean Night of Davos Forum on Jan. 21 to surprise and entertain the forum audiences.

Industry experts said the hologram technologies could be the next big thing in the K-pop scene, although more technological improvement is needed for that to happen.

“Hologram technology can provide diverse business opportunities for the K-pop industry with the merits of not being constrained by time and space. Still, the technology should be more developed to provide more realistic images to viewers,” said Seo Sung-min, a researcher at state-run National IT Industry Promotion Agency’s smart content team.

“The industry will expand rapidly if the technology is advanced enough to enable a concert to go live in different countries,” Seo said. 

D’strict caters to K-pop fans visiting Korea

Chief financial officer of virtual tech firm D’strict said hologram technologies could provide more fun and better experiences for K-pop fans visiting South Korea. 

D’strict, a hologram pioneer in Korea, used to work with SM Entertainment for its first hologram concerts and is now mainly partnering with YG Entertainment.

Lee said hologram concerts could cater to the needs of global fans visiting Korea who are not able to come in time for concerts or miss out on the chance to buy tickets as they sell out almost instantly. 

“K-pop fans visit Korea in the hope of feeling better about their stars here but many of them just end up roaming around the stars’ agency buildings fruitlessly,” he said, adding, “Hologram concerts such as Play K-pop can meet their needs.”

At the digital theme park Play K-pop, visitors can anytime enjoy realistic images of top musicians like G-Dragon singing, rapping and dancing. 

“We started out with YG’s musicians like Psy, Big Bang and 2NE1 and now the celebrity lineup is expanding into other musicians -- FNC Entertainment‘s AOA, CNBLUE and FT Island and DSP Media’s Rainbow,” said CFO Lee, who is also serving as the chief of Play K-Pop.  

The hologram concerts draw around 21,000 visitors a month on average.
The firm opened the digital theme park in China’s Quzhou in May of last year and is also scheduled to set up another one in Hainan later this year, said the director, adding, “The demand on the hologram concerts of K-pop musicians is still high in China.”

D’strict is also planning to expand the use of its virtual reality technologies into films and dramas other than concerts. The filming site for upcoming movie “Real,” starring top actor Kim Soo-hyun, will be its next project.

“By 2017, we are scheduled to make the filming site as a venue where visitors can experience the movie and the actor through hologram technologies,” he said, adding, “This will be another attraction to please Kim’s global fans who visit Korea.”

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)