Yup, Virtual Idols Are Here to Stay and MAVE: are the Latest to Join the Digital Lineup
As K-pop evolves, it’s almost certain that its Fifth Generation will be shaped by digital stars
While there are a plethora of girl groups set for a 2023 debut–YG Entertainment’s fierce rookies Baby Monster, MODHAUS’ 23-member girl group tripleS, and 143 Entertainment’s unlimited members concept group Limelight are some of the biggest names under discussion– the first group to debut in 2023 is a wildcard.
A couple of days ago, Metaverse Entertainment announced that their new girl group will be debuting on January 25th. Named MAVE:, the band comprises four members: MARTY:, TYRA:, ZENA: and SIU:. The kicker? None of these members actually exist– well, not in the traditional sense of the word, anyway.
The K-pop industry’s thirst for innovation is endless and the lure of the growing metaverse is too powerful to ignore, so it’s no real shocker that putting those together has brought us right back to the topic of virtual idols. We discussed this in detail in 2022 after the debut of the virtual idol/human idol blended group Superkind, and revisiting that piece today simply highlights how inevitable the boom of digital K-pop stars was. In fact, think of this article as a part two in the saga of virtual Korean artists and how far we’ll see them go (at the current rate of progress, I predict a part three is in my near future.)
Metaverse Entertainment is a subsidiary of Korean media giant Kakao Entertainment and Netmarble, South Korea’s largest mobile-gaming company. The label was launched in 2021 to create and manage a roster of virtual artists and explore the various business and creative opportunities that come with these projects. MAVE: is the first group under the agency and rumors of their creation began floating around in 2021 after Korean news organizations uncovered plans surrounding the group’s debut.
The rumors seemed to lineup with what Kakao, Netmarble and Metaverse Entertainment were aiming to create with the lattermost stating soon after its launch, “Where two frontiers of reality meet, we craft a fusion from the cold touch of technology and warm breath of human sensibility to tell a story of humans beyond humans — Meta Idols.” The company finally made MAVE: official via an announcement earlier this week and followed it up with a first look photo of the group.
As of now the information around MAVE: is pretty vague. We know that the meaning behind their name derives from ‘make new wave’, we know the members’ individual names, and what they look like thanks to the one teaser image which dropped this week and… that’s it. Like Saejin of Superkind, MAVE:’s graphics are incredibly detailed and it’s nearly impossible to tell them apart from human idols. We have no idea if the members will be voiced by actual human artists behind the scenes–making them virtual idols like Saejin–or by artificial voices generated by a program–similar to Japan’s Vocaloid superstar Hatsune Miku who is a smidge closer to being a ‘true’ AI idol. There’s also no hints towards a storyline but, to be fair, it’s still pretty early on in the promotion schedule.
The group also dropped a logo teaser video and a clip revealing the album art of their debut single “Pandora’s Box.” Earlier today, MAVE: released individual video photo cards with QR codes leading to an interactive website where new content is ‘unlocked’ each day till the group’s debut. It’s campy, fun and reminiscent of cyberpunk worlds found within video games–an aesthetic that also plays into the members’ outfits and styling.
Fan reactions so far have ranged from amused to annoyed and fascinated. There have been accusations cropping up of the members of MAVE: bearing a striking resemblance to popular girl group aespa’s members Karina and Winter (aespa are also one of the leading names in metaverse idol lore with digital counterparts), while other criticism revolves around why we need virtual artists in the first place–an age old debate.
While there are still several doubts surrounding how MAVE: will perform live and interact with their fans, there’s no question that virtual artists are becoming more popular than ever. In fact, this isn’t even the first virtual idol project of 2023; Kakao Entertainment also launched a virtual reality K-pop survival show titled Girls’ Re:Verse on January 2nd. The show features 30 former and current female idols hidden behind virtual anime-inspired avatars, competing to win a spot in the final lineup of a virtual K-pop group. The contestants, like the audience, are unaware of each other’s identities and can interact with each other with VR gear in massive sets that live in cyberspace.
But coming back to MAVE:, a few questions around promotions and success can be answered thanks to their predecessors like Superkind and virtual soloist Apoki. Back in 2022, we did have doubts around how Superkind would release content featuring their virtual member Saejin and their human members, but their label Deep Studio surprised us with carefully crafted dance practice videos with Saejin rendered in, and appearances on popular series like 1thek’s Countdance. Apoki has also made appearances on various shows, including MCountdown and popular YouTube channel it’s Live. It takes a ton of graphic designers, animators and motion capture, but bridging the digital world with the physical is easier than it’s ever been.
However, the process behind creating an entire virtual group and all its bells and whistles is rather different from a single virtual member, a soloist, or avatars that only occasionally make appearances. MAVE: isn’t the first virtual K-pop girl group to appear on the scene– ETERN!TY debuted in 2021 and were created with a blend of deep fake software and artificial intelligence with… mixed results. The deep fake renders weren’t as crisp, realistic and detailed as Saejin and MAVE: and the uncanny valley just hits a little too hard. But it’s been quite a journey, and the leaps we’ve made in just two years is, at times, rather unbelievable.
For now, all we can do is wait and see what MAVE: has to offer. Their promotions on their website so far have been sleek and innovative (resemblances to certain human idols aside) and I’m curious to see what the concept entails. Superkind have won over audiences with their balanced and creative lore and set a standard even among virtual artists, so simply being a digital idol is no longer a guarantee for buzz and success. As K-pop evolves, audiences grow hungrier, and companies get more desperate to make their groups stand out among the hundreds of debuts each year, it’s almost certain that the Fifth Generation of K-pop will be shaped by digital stars–whether we like it or not.
