SuperM met 75,000 K-pop fans at world’s first ‘exclusively online’ paid concert stream – BTS, NCT 127, TVXQ and Super Junior are next
BTS announced they will sell tickets to the online Bang Bang Con: The Live, on June 14 – a day before K-pop fans paid US$27 each to stream SuperM live into their homes, pioneering a new model for pop music and show business in the age of coronavirus … and beyond
Tens of thousands of fans from across the globe simultaneously cheered and applauded, in the safety of their own homes, when their favourite K-pop boy band SuperM appeared on the screen for an online concert.
Streamed live on the internet portal V Live, on April 26, the two-hour concert brought together the Billboard-topping K-pop band and its fans from across the world, without the hassles of cross-border trips or crowds, in the time of a pandemic.
According to the group's management agency, it was the first-ever “exclusively online” pop concert with a streaming fee, and drew about 75,000 fans.
The global show business sector, spanning from pop to classical music, has fast turned the virtual sphere, throwing live-streaming charity concerts or other one-time paid performances online as the pandemic brought on-site concerts to a complete halt.
Going technically beyond such online performances, the new breed of K-pop live-streaming concerts heralds the opening of a new chapter in show business, providing larger-than-life concert experiences online through high tech.
A mosaic of hundreds of thousands of moving images, showing the individual faces of the SuperM concert's spectators, flickered in the backdrop of the live show as Alison, one of the fans, posed a question about to band member Taemin about how he was filling time during coronavirus.
Taemin answered that he watches movies or YouTube while staying at home, causing his fans to instantly erupt in cheers.
As the band performed 18 songs during the two-hour event, moving 3D images of animals and stage settings appeared on the screen, while an accompanying chat room allowed fans to share comments among themselves and with the stars.
The simultaneous screams of roaring fans were also intermittently inserted into the show's background while the fans' light sticks were connected to the control centre to change colours in sync with the show's progress.