The companies announced on Tuesday that Universal Music Group (UMG) and K-pop giant YG Entertainment are investing an unknown amount in an emerging global digital live platform set up by BTS supporter Big Hit Entertainment and cloud video technology firm Kiswe .
Leading K-pop firm and YG rival Big Hit first debuted with Kiswe in a MOU in New Jersey in May. In September, they set up a joint venture called KBYK Live and launched a live-stream content platform called VenewLive within the month.
Now, together with a stock investment of unknown size, YG and UMG have tried to work with the pair to further expand the platform’s reach, enhance the application of its unique multi-view technology and showcase their own artists set. The move builds on the success of Big Hit’s virtual concerts via Kiswe’s technology in 2020, and will help agencies find new ways to attract paying viewers as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches, preventing personal performances prevent.
“The past year has shown that the need for reliable and innovative live streaming has never been greater,” said Boyd Muir, UMG’s executive vice president, chief financial officer and president of operations. “We are delighted to join Big Hit, YG and Kiswe as partners in KBYK, as we want to further develop the opportunities and live streaming experiences for UMG artists and their fans today and in the future.”
Sung Jun Choi, chief operating officer of YG Entertainment, said he was “excited about this investment … [which] has ensured a high quality platform with leading technologies for the artists of the company. The move will help YG in its quest to “provide more interactive experiences and new services to global fans,” he added.
The KBYK Live platform is distinguished by the use of Kiswe’s technology, which allows fans to choose between multiple views of an ongoing live event, previously used by the firm in the vicinity of live sports. For music performances, the technology allows fans to customize their viewing of full stage productions with a variety of possible camera positions and angles available to switch between in real time. It also offers premium features that can increase the price of virtual tickets, such as 4K resolution, live chat features and apps that simulate the synchronized movement of fan sticks within the K-pop stadium show experience.
“VenewLive offers some of the most creative and memorable opportunities for contemporary artists to globalize their art and performances, tailored to enhance the community and fans,” Muir explained.
These possibilities were shown by the record concerts last year with Kiswe’s technology presented by Big Hit’s biggest bread-winning supergroup, the sensational BTS, with seven members. In June’s “BANG BANG CON: The Live”, a Guinness World Record was set for ‘most viewers for a live stream of a music concert’ by gathering approximately 756,000 paying viewers from 107 countries. In October, the band broke its own record with its two-day online concert “Map of the Soul ON: E” (pictured above) which brought in 993,000 viewers from 191 countries and territories.
“Last year, VenewLive streamed several large-scale performances live and delivered unique immersive fan concert experiences that can be presented through our latest technologies, including hexagonal multiple views, 4K resolution and various interactive features,” explains KBYK Live CEO John Lee . “Our technology will be the basis for enabling fans to feel closer to artists and help artists express their energy on a digital stage.”
The willingness of UMG and YG to engage the platform is a confidence booster for Big Hit’s technological approach to entertainment.
“Big Hit’s efforts to maximize the fan experience are not only entertaining, but also [extend to the implementation] of different technologies, ”said the company’s global CEO, Lenzo Yoon, adding that VenewLive is part of the effort. “Our dream and goal is to offer the most advanced technology currently available, so that fans can experience the artist’s content in the best way in any way.”
He added: “We will continue to study how new technologies can have a positive impact on strengthening and actively promoting our fan experience.”
Late last month, Big Hit announced that it would invest approximately $ 63 million in the YG PLUS subsidiary YG PLUS and improve its online support community platform WeVerse by joining South Korea’s Google equivalent, the search engine Naver. The latter is investing $ 320 million in Big Hit subsidiary beNX, which has developed its own WeVerse app.
The cloud-based video firm Kiswe has offices in New York, London, Hasselt, Seoul and Singapore. It was founded by its current chairman Jeong Kim – a Samsung board director, co-owner of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, and former president of Bell Labs – and its chief architect Wim Sweldens, the former president of French telecommunications Alcatel-Lucent Wireless a founder. of Alcatel-Lucent Ventures. Kiswe’s current CEO and president Mike Schabel also hails from Alcatel-Lucent, where he was previously general manager of the Small Cells business.
“We have been developing video streaming and fan technology since 2013 and are excited to use it [it] on [help artists] extends beyond the boundaries of a stadium [and] perform for their worldwide fans, and for the fans to feel that they are part of the concert, ”said Schabel.