”My idol never causes an accident”...MZ generation obsessed with virtual idols

"Honestly, I don't have any accidents and I just do music. It's good for me to do my idol activities without any worries."
Ms. Lee, a female office worker in her 30s, has recently become obsessed with the virtual idol group "PLAVE."
Until just two months ago, I was a fan of a male idol group that has been around for over seven years, but recently one of the members had a social incident, so I finally quit being an otaku.
The artist he found was "PLAVE." First of all, he loves their music, and on top of that, he said he doesn't get discouraged by issues in his personal life, showing his love and trust for "PLAVE."
Virtual idols have emerged as the new mainstream of K-POP. They are now ranked number one on music charts and music shows, and are becoming more and more popular than "real (human)" idols.
Some people may remember Adam, a cyber singer who debuted in 1998. With the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can freely change the faces and movements of people,
According to market research firm Global Information, the global virtual artist market is expected to reach $1.639 billion (approximately 1.2 billion US dollars) by 2021.
It is expected to reach $17.4 billion (approximately 2.3 trillion yen) in 2028 from the current level of $2.2 billion in 2019, making it a new blue ocean in the entertainment industry.
A cultural critic said, "The advantage of virtual idols is that they are free to deal with private issues such as incidents, accidents, love affairs, and marriage," and added, "The generation that is accustomed to the virtual world and online world is the main idol fan base."
"As the trend has become more widespread, the demand for virtual idols will rapidly increase in the future," he predicts. [Virtual Syndrome: No. 1 on charts, 8,000-seat venue sold out]
The leading virtual idol group is PLAVE. PLAVE is a virtual IP (intellectual property) startup that was spun off from MBC.
The team was launched in March last year by the content company Blest. Its unique feature is that its members are real people, not AI-based virtual humans.
The five members, Noah, Bambi, Uno, and Hamin, were depicted in virtual images using the graphic game development tool Onreal Engine and real-time motion capture technology.
They are showing off their idol looks, and their strength is that they are able to differentiate themselves by showcasing their webtoon-style visuals, and even perform dynamic K-pop dance moves.
The results are also brilliant. "PLAVE" released their new song "Pump Up The
Volume!' ranked first on Korea's largest music platform MelOn's HOT100 and TOP100 charts.
Through this record, PLAVE became the first male idol group and virtual idol to top the Melon TOP100 this year.
On the music show MBC's "Show! Music Core," they took first place, beating out NMIXX and TAEMIN.
"PLAVE" is also popular offline. On October 5-6, Seoul
Tickets for the fan concert to be held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul were sold out within 10 minutes of opening. Sales are also soaring. Brest is aiming for 1.19 billion yen in 2022 alone.
Last year, the company recorded an operating loss of 1.8 billion won (approximately 120 million yen), but it managed to turn a profit by recording an operating profit of 1.86 billion won (approximately 180 million yen).
Operating profits are expected to rise as profit-making activities have become more widespread. [HYBE's "SYNDI8", SM's "naevis"...Large agencies are also launching]
Large entertainment agencies have also started producing virtual idols. SM Entertainment's Virtual IP Center's "Naevis"
On the 10th, they released their first single "Done" and made their official debut. "Naevis" appears as a collaborator who helps the four members in the world story of the group "Aespa".
Following her appearance on aespa's third mini album "Welcome to my world," she will be appearing in aespa's second solo concert.
They made a strong impression with their performance of "Parallel Line". "Naevis" boasts high quality that makes you mistake them for real people. Hyper-realistic visual characteristics
In addition to the appearance created and embodied by VFX technology, it is flexible and changes according to the characteristics of each platform through various forms such as tune style and casual 3D.
HYBE launched the AI virtual girl group "SYNDI8" in June ahead of SM Entertainment. "SYNDI8" is a HYBE
The virtual girl group was produced by Supertone, an AI audio technology company acquired by , and released their first single album, "MVP."
"If virtual idols were just a secondary concept, now they have become main artists who can directly promote their names and do activities," he said. "As long as they can build a solid fan base, they can do it regardless of time or place.
"It will become a new revenue model for entertainment companies in that it will allow artists to work regardless of their gender."