Big Hit and YG cooperate with 2 American companies to create a global live-streaming platform
Big Hit, YG, Universal Music Group and Kiswe have collaborated to create a brand new streaming platform, which promises to be the venue for online concerts of major artists.
On February 10, Big Hit Entertainment announced that it had entered into a joint venture with Kiswe, a US start-up company, to form KBYK Live. YG Entertainment and Universal Music Group (UMG) also invested in this project, thereby launching a streaming platform – Venewlive.
The name VenewLive is inspired by “venue” and “live”, which was used in BTS’s online concerts such as BANG BANG CON: The Live and MAP OF THE SOUL ON: E. VenewLive is KBYK Live’s first project, which plans to become a global live-streaming platform for musicians and artists.
In May 2020, Big Hit signed a memorandum of understanding with Kiswe and entered into a joint venture in September of the same year. Since then, the two companies have worked together to launch VenewLive. With the participation of YG and UMG, VenewLive is expected to attract more famous artists from around the world, while also expanding on its content provided by improving their technology, such as multi-view streaming.
VenewLive’s CEO John Lee commented on the strength of VenewLive, and what it can provide to fans in the future:
“VenewLive has already live-streamed several large-scale performances last year and provided unique and immersive fan concert experiences that can only be offered through our cutting-edge technology, such as 6-angle multi-view, 4K streaming, and various other interactive features.
Our technology will be the start for allowing fans to feel closer to their artists, and also help the artists show their energy on a digital stage.”
YG Entertainment’s COO (Chief Operating Officer) Choi Sung Jun commented on the company’s excitement for the platform:
“We are excited about this investment opportunity as our company, with many artists that are competitive on a global stage, has secured a high-quality platform with leading technology.
We will continue to do our best to provide more interactive experiences and new services to our global fans.”
UMG’s CFO also expressed his joy to become partners of Big Hit, YG and Kiswe. On the Big Hit side, CEO Yoon Seok Jun shared his thoughts about how the new technology will allow fans to experience their artists in more ways.
Yoon Seok Jun commented:
“Big Hit Entertainment’s attempts to maximize the fan experience are not just limited to entertainment, but also by implementing various new technologies. VenewLive is part of this.
Our dream and goal are to ensure that our fans can experience our artists’ content in the best way possible, regardless of the environment they are in, by providing the most advanced technology available. We will continue to study how new technology can have a positive impact in various fields, and actively introduce them when they can have a positive impact on the fan experience.”
In the past, VenewLive hosted all online concerts of artists under Big Hit Labels such as BTS, SEVENTEEN, GFRIEND, ENHYPEN as well as the joint concert 2021 NEW YEAR’S EVE LIVE. They also held Justin Bieber’s New Year concert and AJR’s Christmas concert.
With the participation of YG and UMG, many popular artists are expected to broadcast concerts online on this platform, such as BLACKPINK. This is also the second time that Big Hit and YG have cooperated after BTS’s company invested 70 billion KRW in YG Plus.
Sources: kenh14
