Leveraging K-pop IP for Various Content Productions
Movies and Competition Programs to be Introduced
New Groups Debuting on the Global Stage One by One
The theme song “Golden” from the Netflix animated film “K-Pop Demon Hunters” (abbreviated as Ke-De-Heon) has swept pop charts in the U.S. and U.K., leading to a Ke-De-Heon syndrome internationally and a favorable wave in the domestic entertainment industry. Entertainment companies, riding the Ke-De-Heon wave, are using K-pop related intellectual property (IP) to present diverse content, aiming to enhance global recognition.
As of the 13th, according to industry insiders, domestic companies are expanding their content centered around K-pop. HYBE’s U.S. subsidiary, HYBE America, has partnered with the large Hollywood film studio “Paramount Pictures” to produce a film centered on K-pop. The movie tells the story of a Korean-American girl participating in an audition TV program to become the next generation K-pop girl group, despite her family’s opposition, with the release targeted for February 2027. Filming will begin mid-September this year, entirely on location in South Korea. The movie stars Yoo Ji-young as the youngest member “Joy” from Ke-De-Heon and singer Eric Nam. This film will be the first major Hollywood production to shoot entirely in South Korea.
HYBE’s Korean-American joint venture girl group, “Cat’s Eye,” is also seeing results with their localization strategy in the U.S. Songs released by Cat’s Eye surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, the world’s largest music streaming platform. Their second EP “Beautiful Chaos,” released on the first of last month, included a track “Gabriella” that entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 94, making it their second song to chart following “Nally,” released in April. Debuting in June last year, Cat’s Eye has achieved these milestones in just over a year.
Cat’s Eye also ranked 12th in Bloomberg’s “Pop Star Power Ranking,” which is calculated monthly based on live performance revenue, ticket sales, album sales, digital streaming, and increases in followers on Instagram and TikTok, as well as YouTube views. HYBE posted an operating profit of 65.9 billion won and sales of 705.7 billion won in the second quarter, a 29.5% and 10.2% increase respectively from the same period last year. With a multitude of artist tours planned for the latter half, the performance sector is expected to remain strong. Ji-Won Hwang, a researcher at iM Investment & Securities, stated, “The rapid monetization of Cat’s Eye is significant in that it enhances the visibility of successful localization of groups in North and Latin America. It’s expected that the upcoming North American tour will kickstart a substantial contribution to earnings.”
CJ ENM will launch a music competition series “K-Pop’d” on Apple TV+ from the 29th. The series, spearheaded by CJ ENM, will feature K-pop artists and foreign artists teaming up to reinterpret each other’s hit songs. Miky Lee, vice chairman of CJ Group, is one of the executive producers, along with others involved in developing K-pop variety shows and music channels like Mnet at CJ ENM. Considering that Ke-De-Heon’s leading characters are Korean Americans, CJ ENM also recently established “First Light Story House” to support content development by Asian creators. The company plans to participate as an investor and producer in the early stages of content development, aiming to introduce Asian creators’ stories to the world.
SHINee’s Key, from SM Entertainment, was used as a reference for creating a character for Ke-De-Heon, and he recently made a comeback with a regular album titled “Hunter.” “Titan Content,” an agency composed of former SM Entertainment executives, announced the debut of a multinational seven-member girl group “Atheart” alongside the production of a reality audition program “K-Pop Dreams.”
An insider from the domestic entertainment industry commented, “With K-pop and K-dramas already achieving substantial popularity and success in global markets, continuous successes in other areas are expected to have a positive effect on the overall K-content landscape.”
Domestic music platforms are also benefiting as the OST of K-Pop Demon Hunters enjoys popularity. As of the 12th, “Golden” occupies the top position on the real-time charts of major domestic music streaming platforms like Melon, Genie Music, and YouTube Music. A representative from the domestic music industry assessed, “While it is favorable for platforms that user numbers increase with popular content like ‘Golden,’ it is regrettable that both the producer and distributor of K-Pop Demon Hunters’ OST are foreign companies, leading to a situation where profits are taken by foreign firms using K-pop as content.”