SM artists to join Hybe’s fan community platform

SM Entertainment’s artists will join Weverse, a fan community platform created by Hybe as part of the two K-pop companies’ cooperation plan announced last month, the platform service and SM said Monday.

They said 12 teams of K-pop artists who belong to SM will move from Kwangya Club, its current fan community platform, to Weverse where they will open their fan communities and shops for selling their albums and official merchandise by September.

Neither company disclosed which SM artists will join the service. Seen from the current situation of the artists, however, almost all of them, ranging from the first-generation artists, such as Kangta and BoA, to EXO, NCT and aespa are expected to be in.

The move comes as a part of the platform partnership between Hybe and Kakao Corp. and its entertainment unit Kakao Entertainment that Hybe announced in March as it abandoned its efforts to acquire SM Entertainment. Kakao later became the largest shareholder of SM.

SM said its private messenger fandom platform, Bubble, will continue to be in service even after its artists join Weverse.

With the SM artists’ joining, Weverse has now come to have artists under three of the four big K-pop companies — Hybe, SM and YG Entertainment, except for JYP Entertainment.

The platform is also reportedly considering adding a new function where fans can have one-on-one private chats with their favorite artists.

Industry insiders expect the joining will help Weverse quickly increase its subscribers and solidify its status as the No. 1 platform in the fan community category.

Weverse currently has 65 million subscribers in 245 territories around the world.

“The global fandom of aespa and NCT, as well as that of TVXQ and Super Junior, which still have a strong fandom in Japan, could flow into Weverse,” an industry official said, asking not to be named. “Given the nature of platform businesses, where increased user activity translates into higher payments for paid services, the move is expected to significantly enhance Weverse’s growth.”

Meanwhile, Kakao said it is stepping up discussions to make concrete plans for its business synergy with SM, following the acquisition.

“Kakao Corp., Kakao Entertainment and SM will combine forces to open new possibilities for K-pop and K-entertainment and enhance continued growth of the Korean culture and its global status with synergy coming from combining their business competitiveness,” the company said in a statement.