Virtual pleasures

Metaverse music

AI is useful when it comes to customizing one's listening experience. It can help broaden the scope of K-pop and consequently widen its fan base.

"As AI technologies evolve, we can anticipate their growing influence on the K-pop landscape, paving the way for exciting developments and opportunities for both artists and their fans," says Roger Proeis, co-founder and president of the Hong Kong-based extended reality studio and production facility Votion Studios.

Such developments include the chance to experience K-pop in the metaverse - a virtual-reality space where users can have their digital avatars interact with each other in a computer-generated environment. Hong Kong's gaming, blockchain and AI-related service provider Animoca Brands and South Korean music production company Cube Entertainment have joined forces to create music meant to be enjoyed in the metaverse.

"The goal of the joint venture is to usher the entire K-pop industry into this new paradigm of digital property rights," says Animoca co-founder and Executive Chairman Yat Siu.

The music metaverse gaming platform Pixelynx, a subsidiary of Animoca, is developing a personal AI music bot that users - be they professional musicians or hobbyists - can employ to play, remix and create music.

"I am certain that the impact of machine-driven and machine-assisted creativity and innovation will be incredibly significant, especially for those artists that begin leveraging it early," Siu says.