Lee Soo-man, 74, the founder of SM Entertainment and now key producer at A2O Entertainment, returned to South Korea's K-pop market after about three years, unveiling the new boy group A2O SOUL and girl group A2O LITE.
At the debut showcase held on the 12th at KINTEX Hall 2 in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Lee said, "The question I have asked myself constantly whenever I create new cultural content is 'What is different?'" He added that he would pursue differentiation across music, performance and video.
After selling his stake in SM Entertainment to HYBE in February 2023, Lee agreed not to produce albums in South Korea for three years. He subsequently founded A2O and worked mainly in overseas markets, and had been preparing his domestic return since the non-compete agreement expired in February this year.
Lee emphasized content production technology designed for the artificial intelligence era. Introducing 4D Gaussian Splatting (4DGS), which films an artist's movements with multiple cameras and reproduces them in three-dimensional space, he explained that the technology can let audiences watch a performance from any angle they choose.
The technology originated in the matrix camera system used in past music videos for BoA, TVXQ, SHINee and Girls' Generation. New filming techniques were also applied to the music videos of the two new groups, and the company plans to present extended reality (XR) content as well. Lee added that the filming data can also be used for AI training and for teaching robots human behavior and spatial awareness.
The company is also expanding its fan communication business. A2O has launched the communication platform BloomingTalk, and plans to roll out a video talk service later this month along with an interactive live talk show where celebrities and fans interact in real time.
A2O SOUL is entering the autumn music scene with "SUPERSTAR," a pre-release track from its debut album, while A2O LITE is doing so with the digital single "NEON." Lee said, "As long as K-pop groups are called singers, the most important starting point is the song," adding, "Before looking for what is different, I hope people first feel that it is good."