Aespa, other SM artists to join BTS' K-pop fan platform

SM Entertainment Co.'s artists such as aespa and NCT are set to join HYBE Co.'s fan engagement service., boosting the competitiveness of the platform run by the label behind K-pop sensation BTS.

Weverse, South Korea's leading fandom platform, said on Monday that 12 SM artists plan to open official communities by September on the service where HYBE's global stars such as BTS and Seventeen operate virtual spaces for their supporters.

Those artists will move to the platform owned by HYBE from SM’s existing fan community service to communicate with global fans and sell goods.

The move comes as HYBE last month decided to give up its bid for control of the K-pop pioneer SM against Kakao Corp. but cooperate with the country’s mobile giant on their platform business.

BETTER COMPETITIVENESS

SM artists’ participation in Weverse is expected to bolster its competitive edge against its local rival bubble operated by DearU Co., which is backed by SM and another K-pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment Inc.

NCSOFT Corp., South Korea’s major game developer, operated a similar platform but sold it to DearU in January.

Weverse’s operator reported an operating loss of 1.5 billion won ($1.1 million) in 2022, swinging from an 8.4 billion won profit in the previous year, although its sales grew 28.5% to 30.7 billion won.

Artists including Blackpink from other K-pop labels such as YG Entertainment Inc., as well as foreign stars like Alexander 23, are operating fandom communities on the platform with more than 65 million users from 200 countries.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.