Is This K-Pop Girl Band for Real?
2023-03-27
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Less than two months ago the new South Korean girl group MAVE: released its first music video.
2It now has nearly 20 million views on YouTube.
3At first look, MAVE: looks like any other K-pop band. But it only exists virtually.
4Its four members - SIU, ZENA, TYRA and MARTY - live in the digital world, also called the metaverse.
5The group's songs, dances, talks and even their hair are created by web designers and artificial intelligence.
6"When I first saw MAVE, it was a little confusing to tell whether they were humans or virtual characters," said Han Su-min, a 19-year-old in Seoul.
7"Because I use metaverse platforms with my friends often, I feel like I could become their fan."
8MAVE:'s almost human-like characters provide an early look at how the metaverse is likely to look in the coming years.
9It also represents a push by the technology company Kakao Corporation to become a strong force in entertainment.
10Apart from creating MAVE:, Kakao made a $960 million offer recently to buy SM Entertainment.
11SM has a record company that is home to several popular K-pop groups.
12Kakao has said earlier that it has invested more than $9 million in Metaverse Entertainment, a group it formed with gaming group Netmarble, to create MAVE:.
13The idea of a virtual band is not new in South Korea.
14In 1998, the virtual singer Adam was created. Twenty years later, there was the K-pop girl group K/DA, based on characters from the video game League of Legends. Neither was popular.
15But South Korean technology has made progress since then in creating virtual characters.
16MAVE: is more natural-looking thanks to new tools and artificial intelligence.
17Developers are able to create facial expressions and small details in things like hair, viewers say.
18With the aid of an AI voice creator, its members can speak four languages - Korean, English, French and Bahasa.
19But they cannot speak to answer any questions.
20They must use words prepared by humans.
21The group's voices in its first song "Pandora" and the dance in the music video were created by human performers.
22Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic aided the growth of such virtual characters.
23Many K-pop companies moved online during lockdowns to keep fans happy.
24Lee Jong-im is a pop culture critic who teaches at Seoul National University.
25He said fans got used to online performances and have become more accepting of the idea that there can be both virtual and real K-pop singers.
26Virtual groups like MAVE: are making news for being new and different.
27But questions remain over whether they can be just as popular as regular bands with their large numbers of fans.
28Lee Gyu-tag is an associate professor of cultural studies at George Mason University Korea.
29He said that unless virtual groups have "unpredictability, they will become something close to video technology, not K-pop."
30Yet, MAVE:'s creators and entertainment industry officials are hopeful.
31"With so many comments received from all over the world, I've realized that viewers do want something new and that they are rather open-minded," said Roh Shi-yong.
32He is the head producer of a weekly music show that showed MAVE:'s performance twice.
33"The metaverse era is coming."
34I'm Dan Novak.
1Less than two months ago the new South Korean girl group MAVE: released its first music video. It now has nearly 20 million views on YouTube. 2At first look, MAVE: looks like any other K-pop band. But it only exists virtually. Its four members - SIU, ZENA, TYRA and MARTY - live in the digital world, also called the metaverse. The group's songs, dances, talks and even their hair are created by web designers and artificial intelligence. 3"When I first saw MAVE, it was a little confusing to tell whether they were humans or virtual characters," said Han Su-min, a 19-year-old in Seoul. "Because I use metaverse platforms with my friends often, I feel like I could become their fan." 4MAVE:'s almost human-like characters provide an early look at how the metaverse is likely to look in the coming years. 5It also represents a push by the technology company Kakao Corporation to become a strong force in entertainment. Apart from creating MAVE:, Kakao made a $960 million offer recently to buy SM Entertainment. SM has a record company that is home to several popular K-pop groups. 6Kakao has said earlier that it has invested more than $9 million in Metaverse Entertainment, a group it formed with gaming group Netmarble, to create MAVE:. 7Four languages 8The idea of a virtual band is not new in South Korea. In 1998, the virtual singer Adam was created. Twenty years later, there was the K-pop girl group K/DA, based on characters from the video game League of Legends. Neither was popular. 9But South Korean technology has made progress since then in creating virtual characters. MAVE: is more natural-looking thanks to new tools and artificial intelligence. Developers are able to create facial expressions and small details in things like hair, viewers say. 10With the aid of an AI voice creator, its members can speak four languages - Korean, English, French and Bahasa. But they cannot speak to answer any questions. They must use words prepared by humans. 11The group's voices in its first song "Pandora" and the dance in the music video were created by human performers. 12Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic aided the growth of such virtual characters. Many K-pop companies moved online during lockdowns to keep fans happy. 13Lee Jong-im is a pop culture critic who teaches at Seoul National University. He said fans got used to online performances and have become more accepting of the idea that there can be both virtual and real K-pop singers. 14Virtual groups like MAVE: are making news for being new and different. But questions remain over whether they can be just as popular as regular bands with their large numbers of fans. 15Lee Gyu-tag is an associate professor of cultural studies at George Mason University Korea. He said that unless virtual groups have "unpredictability, they will become something close to video technology, not K-pop." 16Yet, MAVE:'s creators and entertainment industry officials are hopeful. 17"With so many comments received from all over the world, I've realized that viewers do want something new and that they are rather open-minded," said Roh Shi-yong. He is the head producer of a weekly music show that showed MAVE:'s performance twice. 18"The metaverse era is coming." 19I'm Dan Novak. 20Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by Reuters. 21_____________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23virtual - adj. existing or occurring on computers or on the Internet 24character - n. a person who appears in a story, book, play, movie, or television show 25platform - n. a flat surface that is raised higher than the floor or ground and that people stand on when performing or speaking 26viewer - n. a person who sees or looks at something 27lockdown - n. an emergency measure or condition in which people are temporarily prevented from entering or leaving a restricted area or building (such as a school) during a threat of danger 28era - n. a period of time that is associated with a particular quality, event, person, etc.