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Mnet Plus turns K-pop fans into stakeholders, 40 mil. users already on board
Kim Ji-won, Senior Vice President of Mnet Plus, speaks to the press during CJ ENM's Culture Talk session held at the company's headquarters in Seoul's Mapo District, Tuesday. Courtesy of CJ ENM
By Pyo Kyung-min
CJ ENM pursues all-in-one 'fanteractive' content platform
CJ ENM, one of Korea's leading entertainment and media powerhouses, announced Tuesday that its global K-pop content platform, Mnet Plus, has surpassed 40 million cumulative app users and more than 20 million monthly active users — both milestones achieved within just three years of its launch.
Mnet Plus is a mobile-based platform that blends streaming, fandom and commerce into one ecosystem. Mnet Plus allows global fans to watch CJ ENM's original variety programs, music shows from the company's music broadcaster Mnet' livestream major events such as KCON and the MAMA Awards, join fan votes and different in-app missions, and collect digital merchandise — all in a single, integrated experience. Comparable platforms in the same category include Weverse, DearU Bubble and Fromm.
"Mnet Plus is more than a streaming service. It's a space where global fans take the initiative to shape their own K-pop experience," said Kim Ji-won, senior vice president of Mnet Plus, during CJ ENM's Culture Talk session held Tuesday at the company's headquarters in Seoul's Mapo District.
Cha Woo-jin, left, culture critic and founder of K-Culture Lab, and Kim Ji-won, senior vice president of Mnet Plus, attend CJ ENM's Culture Talk session at the company's headquarters in Seoul's Mapo District, Tuesday. Courtesy of CJ ENM
Since its launch in 2022, Mnet Plus has rapidly gained traction particularly among younger audiences — Gen Z and Gen Alpha — with about 80 percent of traffic now coming from overseas markets, including the United States, China, Japan and Indonesia, according to Kim.
The platform's popularity has been driven by exclusive content featuring top K-pop acts and original variety programs such as horror survival reality "SUMBAKKOKJIL." Its streaming and on-demand services for Mnet's global music events have further cemented its position as a catalyst in K-pop's digital globalization.
Yet the true cornerstone of its success, Kim said, lies in its "fanteractive" model — a portmanteau of "fan" and "interactive" — an interactive fan ecosystem that extends beyond just passive viewing. Through in-app voting and missions, users can directly influence the outcomes of Mnet's music shows and survival programs, transforming fans from spectators into stakeholders in the K-pop landscape.
"Our goal for the app is to build an integrated 'fanteractive' platform that connects content, fandom and artists, redefining how global audiences engage with K-pop," Kim explained. "We aim to shift the K-pop experience from simple viewing to active participation."
CJ ENM's mobile-based Mnet Plus platform / Courtesy of CJ ENM
One of the platform's most notable examples of fan participation came during the live finale of "Boys II Planet," Mnet's latest global boy-band survival reality show, which drew more than 3.5 million votes in a single day, peaking at over 70,000 votes per second. The 2024 MAMA Awards also amassed more than 70 million votes, underscoring the platform's unusual level of fan engagement.
CJ ENM also gave a peek into upcoming updates for Mnet Plus slated for release next year, including four times more original and exclusive programming — while specific names are yet to be disclosed, enhanced global livestreaming capabilities and new integrated commerce and community features.
To further expand its reach, the company said it additionally plans to introduce an ad-supported free viewing model, while simultaneously broadening premium content options for paying users.
"Unlike fandom apps built solely around artists, platforms built around content can go as far as creating culture itself," Cha Woo-jin, culture critic and founder of K-Culture Lab, said during Tuesday's conference.
"Content-driven platforms aren't just expanding K-pop's reach. They're now becoming the engines that shape its future."
Cha Woo-jin, culture critic and founder of K-Culture Lab, speaks at CJ ENM's Culture Talk session at the company's headquarters in Seoul's Mapo District, Tuesday. Courtesy of CJ ENM