Music Technology
If you’ve ever attended a K-pop concert, holding an artist’s official “light stick” is a crucial aspect of the viewing experience. At the Paris 2024 Olympics Games, Team Korea will embrace this special aspect of K-pop super fandom with its own light sticks, an official cheer song, and more in partnership with industry leader HYBE.
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Usually a handheld device with a plastic tubing and a glowing top, light sticks aren’t one-time-use glowsticks but are personalized for each act with specific colors, markers, and designs that become a way for fans and artists to enjoy the live experience together. BTS has an “ARMY BOMB” light stick with a black stand and clear globe atop that can represent said “bomb” and glow a spectrum of colors in rhythm to the group’s music thanks to Bluetooth technology. An artist revealing an official light stick is considered an important career step and signals upcoming concerts.
While HYBE just unveiled the light stick for one of its newest boy bands, BOYNEXTDOOR, less than six months ago, the company’s business unit, HYBE IPX, has been simultaneously in conversation with the Olympic Games to bring its technology to inspire similar fandom to Paris. The company will provide specially designed “Team Korea Light Sticks” to support South Korea’s national team competing in the games. Designed with inspiration from the Olympic torch and stadium, the light sticks utilize the same tech and expertise at HYBE artists’ concerts to change colors and glow in sync with chants.
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“Centralized control is the most outstanding technology that differentiates us from others,” explains Seung Suk Rhee, President of HYBE IPX, in an exclusive interview with Billboard. “Simply put, we can easily control light sticks dispersed in a large space from a centralized console box. We can make variations according to the occasion, starting from K-pop concerts to theme park rides.”
The newly unveiled light stick for Team Korea coordinates with this year’s official cheer anthem, “Fighting,” by SEVENTEEN’s BSS and Lee Young-Ji, which comes with its own accompanying challenge.
“It’s going to be incredibly moving to see the large crowd coming together with one spirit, singing our song in unison to cheer for the athletes,” BSS tells Billboard in a statement. “We’re very proud and honored that ‘Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, could contribute to the excitement for Team Korea athletes at such a historic sports festival.This is all thanks to [our fans] CARATs, who have shown so much love for the song since last year, and we’re once again filled with gratitude for our fans. Through the song’s energetic beat and fun lyrics boosting the passion and enthusiasm for cheering, we hope to pass on BSS’ positivity and energy to Team Korea athletes. We’re rooting for them all the way to enjoy their moment and achieve their goals with all our hearts.”
Speaking more about how the K-pop light stick made its way to the Olympics and where it can go next, read on for more with HYBE IPX President Seung Suk Rhee.
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When did the opportunity to create light sticks for Team Korea come about?
Starting early summer last year, with the Olympic Games Paris 2024 generating significant global momentum, we explored ways to integrate this event into HYBE. We decided that introducing light sticks would be ideal, as they represent the concept of “cheer” and “support” which is equally crucial for both music fans and sports enthusiasts. We approached the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee with this idea and found a mutual understanding to lead the cheering culture, setting sail on the light stick project.
The most crucial factor was the design. We couldn’t just create any light stick but had to come up with a design that symbolizes our country as the national flag, Taegeukgi, does. To maintain the unique shape of a light stick while making it instantly recognizable as a national flag, we incorporated motifs of a torch and a stadium into the final design.
The design is centered on a simple white aesthetic with a shape that echoes a torch or a flame. The light rays, which change colors or flash with each button press, are inspired by the Olympic symbols — including the five circles of blue, red, yellow, green, and black. Since black cannot be produced with light, we replaced it with white, the background color of the Olympic flag, and added a touch of gold, inspired by the logo of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Considering a design that reflects the identity of the Olympics, we also ensured that it blends in with Team Korea’s official uniforms.
What should fans and viewers look out for when the light sticks are televised Opening Ceremony?
Personally, what makes it even more exciting, is that it will be the first time that HYBE’s light stick will be showcased in front of a worldwide audience of each and every nationality. Since Team Korea athletes will make an entrance to the Opening Ceremony holding Team Korea Official Digital Flag, we hope to contribute to spreading out the Olympic spirit, even if it is in the slightest way possible.
The light stick carried by Team Korea athletes features the Korean flag attached to the Team Korea Official Light Stick, standard version provided to the Korean audience. Firstly, we wanted to strengthen the connection between the athletes and their fans. Secondly, we aimed for it to represent the Taegeukgi in a new form rather than just being a light stick. That’s why we also named it the Team Korea Official Digital Flag.
What was the most challenging part of creating this opportunity?
All members part of my team have been working on this project with great gravity. Of course we’ve experienced pressure coming from the magnitude of the event, even with concerts hosted by HYBE artists in arenas. However, this is the first time that we will be putting out our light sticks in front of the world to see. Even more so, this will be the first time that Team Korea athletes will be holding a light stick instead of an ordinary national flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. We hope that our light sticks can contribute to igniting the Olympic spirit amongst Team Korea.
How did discussions to bring SEVENTEEN’s BSS and their song “Fighting” as the official cheer song for Team Korea come together?
BSS’ “Fighting,” featuring Lee Young-Ji, emits the most fitting message and the mood for a festive event, especially when the athletes need all the support that they can get. We wanted to keep the excitement going throughout the Olympic Games Paris 2024 for Team Korea, and make it a song that the fans will remember for years to come. We will be playing “Fighting” as one of the cheering anthems at Korea House in Paris, where the cheering event for Team Korea will take place.
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What does an opportunity like this say about K-pop and K-pop fandom?
At HYBE, we don’t see K-pop fans and sports fans as different. We believe that fandoms, whether they’re for sports, games, movies, anime, or theme parks, share a common core “passion.” While they may look different on the outside, they are all driven by the same heartfelt desire to cheer for and support something or someone they love. Whether sports fans wear jerseys and chant slogans, or K-pop fans wave light sticks, they are sending the same message: “I support you.” From this perspective, we realized that we could create a new form of cheering culture by introducing HYBE’s light stick to the sports world. We believe that fans are constantly evolving by actively participating and sending their energy to artists and athletes in various ways.
HYBE IPX first extended this tech beyond music with the Korean esports team T1 for the League of Legends Champions tournament this summer. How did this idea come to be?
It’s been long since we have been preparing for an outbound project that could showcase our light stick technology to a wider audience, even beyond the music industry. With this in mind, we’ve been discussing new opportunities with partners in various fields. We’re currently discussing various collaborations for a long-term partnership, the first of which is the T1 OFFICIAL LIGHT BAND that was first showcased at T1’s “Home Ground” event in late June. HYBE’s production team helped direct the light bands throughout the event.
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Can you share more about HYBE IPX and your role in the company?
HYBE IPX is a business unit that focuses on creating boundless opportunities based on artist IP and delivering fresh experiences to fans. We develop official merchandise for events like tours and birthdays, offer licensed products that bring artist characters and IP into everyday use, and host global pop-up stores that provide fans with unique and immersive experiences. HYBE’s light sticks, now expanding into sports and esports beyond music, are designed, produced, and supplied by HYBE IPX, the mastermind behind the light stick technology.
In addition, HYBE IPX spearheads the planning and execution of collaborative IP projects with multiple labels and other business units within HYBE, including BTS 10th Anniversary FESTA in 2023 and “THE CITY” projects…SEVENTEEN ‘FOLLOW’ THE CITY BANGKOK in 2023, with another exciting edition coming soon in August at ENHYPEN World Tour “FATE PLUS” THE CITY JAKARTA. Brand ambassadorships, commercials, and various partnerships involving HYBE artists are also part of our business.
As the leader of the organization responsible for these various initiatives and projects, I’m fully committed to ensuring that fans have an exceptional experience with the artists they love, as well as creating opportunities for them to connect and enjoy memorable experiences together.
HYBE said, “With this original light stick system, HYBE aims to extend the K-pop-originated innovations to festivals and arenas worldwide.” Can you explain this more?
I’m sure you’ve been to concerts hosted by K-pop artists or labels. The moment you step foot in the arena, you’ll see fans waving light sticks to support their favorite artists. It is a special culture and technology nurtured within the K-pop industry. “Superfans,” which may be the most trending keyword in the music industry these days, are not limited to the music industry, but they also exist in other industries such as sports, esports, and animation. We’ve witnessed K-pop fans crying, laughing, cheering in happiness [while] raising their light sticks up high. We wish to extend this stirring moment to worldwide fans, no matter who their favorites are.
From the executives interested in this technology to the fans who buy and use light sticks, what else do you want readers to know at this time?
At HYBE, we believe that light sticks are more than just a tool for cheering. It is a way that fans use to show their support for their favorite artists, and athletes, and a medium to create a sense of fellowship with other fans and a “fan culture” that has ripened over time. It’s also a way for fans to take part in stage performances or events and interact with other fans as well as the artists who are on stage. Cherishing the value, we will continue to make efforts to further expand the K-pop originated light stick culture to various areas.
A little more than two years ago, HYBE invested millions into Supertone, an AI voice synthesis startup. Their relationship would allow for a collaboration with an existent artist that created a new kind of artist entirely — here’s how it happened.
An AI Alliance
HYBE’s relationship with Supertone begins in February 2021, when HYBE reportedly invests $3.6 million into it. By January 2023, their partnership expands when HYBE acquires Supertone entirely for a reported price of over $30 million. Little was then known about HYBE’s plans to integrate Supertone technology into its music empire (the company’s stable of K-pop supergroups includes BTS, Tomorrow x Together and ENHYPEN) other than that HYBE’s founder and chairman, Bang Si-Hyuk, told Billboard in his recent cover story that one of HYBE’s first integrations was referred to internally as “Project L” and scheduled for May 2023.
The Digital Debut
Right on schedule, HYBE starts to tease an upcoming single from MIDNATT, a new alter-ego of popular Korean singer Lee Hyun. Two weeks later, on May 15, he releases his first single, “Masquerade,” using Supertone technology to help him translate it into six languages: English, Korean, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese. Through Supertone, the singer improves his intonation and pronunciation of the languages to sound more like a native speaker. Shortly after its release, MIDNATT says that he was inspired by “talking about language barriers” with his team: “When I would listen to music in other languages, I couldn’t immerse into the music as well as in my native language, and we were talking about how we could overcome [that].”
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How It Works
Voice synthesis is best understood as a subset of generative AI that lets users manipulate their voice while talking or singing, allowing them to assume the timbre and tone of a particular celebrity, character or loved one. But some companies, like Supertone, also enable users to make other edits, like altering the language, age or gender of speech.
The Results
It’s a controversial use of AI, raising ethical questions about assuming someone else’s voice and making one’s own unrecognizable, but MIDNATT’s employment of voice-synthesis technology was largely well received. “After I experienced it myself, I think it really depends on how you utilize it,” he says of using the technology. “The sense of responsibility is what matters the most. So as far as it is used in the music, I think it is a great opportunity for me to make [my song] more accessible and more immersive to the fans worldwide.”
This story will appear in the Oct. 21, 2023, issue of Billboard.
Founded in 2017, Techstars Music was known as the premier music technology accelerator, providing funding and support to now-thriving companies like Endel, Splash, Hello Tickets, Community and Replica Studios. The company chose 10 startups each year and provided $120,000 to each, along with mentoring from its network of 316 music and entertainment executives from HYBE, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Concord, Quality Control and more.
Of the 70 startups that Techstars selected, the most successful 21 have gone on to raise over $263 million in follow-on funding since. Despite those successes, managing director Bob Moczydlowsky says that the company chose its final class this past summer — but his career as an investor is far from over.
Why is Techstars Music shutting down?
Even though the way we have been investing has been working, it has been held back by the constraints of an accelerator, which we feel is an outdated model. The amount of capital we can provide is limited. It is also held back by the constraints of labeling it “music.” We want to invest in companies solving problems for music, not music tech companies, but the reality is that founders see “Techstars Music” on the door and they bring us their startup to help kids learn to play a violin. We actually believe instruments will become irrelevant and software will mainly replace them. Our thesis now is we want to fund the future of entertainment, self-expression and live events. This changes almost nothing in how we have already been operating and evaluating companies, but we want this thesis publicly understood.
Why are accelerators outdated?
The accelerator is a great product. It was designed around the time of the financial crisis of 2008. Because angel and pre-seed investors largely disappeared, accelerators fit a need and had great returns. Plus, it helped new companies get the mentorship they needed. Now the cost of running a business — talent, travel, etc. — has grown. Smart founders can now find online most of the information accelerators provide on how to structure a company. The economic deal that accelerators offer to founders has not evolved in that time, so every year, the accelerator is providing the same amount of capital investment, buying the same amount of equity from founders, but that capital is buying fewer and fewer things … We need to make more investments and do it on a rolling, year-round basis. We need to provide more capital too so companies can better leverage the connections we can give them.
What does the future of your investing look like post-Techstars Music?
The goal is to be the best investor in this category. To do so we need to make more investments and do it on a rolling, year-round basis. We need to provide more capital too, so companies can leverage the connections we can give them better.
You’re not trying to invest in music companies but “invest in companies solving problems for music.” Can you explain what that means?
Music startups typically do not generate venture returns … You also have competitors like Apple, Amazon and Google that use music as a loss leader for other products. That makes investing in that sort of music startup very difficult, especially a pre-seed investor like us.
Because streaming has become the dominant way we are listening to music, it has altered a lot of other habits around it as a consequence … I want to invest in companies solving problems for music, like Community, a direct-messaging service. It’s not musical at all, but it is used by artists and enables them to connect to their fans directly better than ever.
Do you think it is helpful, given investors know how tough music businesses are to run, to define themselves as something besides primarily a music company?
Let me be clear: You cannot change how you define your company to make investors happy, or you will not raise capital, but you need to be savvy as a founder about how you present your business and find investors who are looking for you. One of the myths about raising venture capital is that founders persuade investors to invest in them. Investors are out there looking for companies to invest in all day long, every day. We are just trying to find companies that match our thesis.
We think about it like this: we see the problems the music business has. We see how music and entertainment are going to change over the years, so let’s invest in the things that solve the problems or get us closer to those new realities, not just saying “Hey, let’s see all the music tech startups.”
Do you think this is a particularly fruitful time for investors, given the rapid rise of AI, the maturation of streaming, etc.?
There is more opportunity and more radical change coming in the next five to 10 years than we’ve had in the last decade. The last 10 years were about maturing the streaming market and putting rights owners and artists on stable financial footing. The music business is now as big as it has ever been by revenue, but growth is slowing in the number of new subscribers. We’re at a point where music streaming 1.0 is perfected — what does streaming 2.0 look like? We’re shutting Techstars Music down so that we can come back with the right vehicle for the next 10 years.
In your crystal ball, what do you think Streaming 2.0 looks like?
If Streaming 1.0 was about making all the music play, Streaming 2.0 should be about being able to play with all the music.
Your thesis focuses not just on music now, but live events, self-expression and entertainment altogether. Do you see these sectors converging?
Absolutely. What is the difference between an athlete, a musician, a TV star at this point in terms of the media they deliver? They all have podcasts, documentaries, merchandise, fashion lines — of course, they all have their specialty, but I think it is evident that there will be even more convergence coming soon.
This story will appear in the Oct. 21, 2023, issue of Billboard.
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