K-pop fandom apps draw the ire of fans for faulty service

UNIVERSE, a new fan community service launched by NCSOFT last month, provides private messaging and a call service for K-pop fans to connect with their favorite stars. / Courtesy of Klap

Two popular platforms meet rising customer dissatisfaction

By Park Han-sol

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has dealt a blow to the K-pop industry through a series of cancelled concert tours and meet-and-greet events, mobile apps serving as a giant hub for the global K-pop fan community have become a more important means than ever for supporters to connect with their favorite stars.

Such platforms allow fans to gain access to exclusive content, purchase merchandise and occasionally communicate with the idol members themselves. But recently, two major apps ― Weverse and UNIVERSE ― have drawn the ire of fans for their controversial, and even downright faulty, services.

Launched in 2019 by Big Hit Entertainment, Weverse hosts an official merchandise store called Weverse Shop that sells the products of 11 K-pop artists, including BTS, TXT and Seventeen. The shop, however, has lately been hit with a number of complaints over quality issues with its goods and services.

According to the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center (SECC), 137 consumer complaints concerning Weverse Shop were received by the organization from May of last year to last month. An official stressed that such a figure is “noticeably high” in comparison to other similar stores, the numbers of which come close to zero.

It was revealed that some fans were not able to receive the items they ordered for more than eight months, with no response from customer services, while others received defective products that the shop claimed did not qualify for refunds or exchanges.

The types of complaints ranged from faulty products (42.3 percent), refund and exchange issues (33.6 percent), and delayed shipping (13.8 percent). In response, the SECC has decided to conduct an investigation to determine whether Weverse Shop is in violation of the Consumer Protection Law in Electronic Commerce.

The other platform, UNIVERSE, is a newcomer to the K-pop fandom market, having been launched by the online game developer NCSOFT just last month. Even before the official release date, fans had eagerly awaited its unique technological features, as they could engage in “private calls” with their idols' AI-rendered voices, and create virtual music videos with motion capture of their stars. The app was scheduled to feature popular artists such as MONSTA X, Kang Daniel, (G)I-DLE and IZ*ONE.

But soon after the platform's launch in 134 countries, it weathered a torrent of harsh criticism from K-pop devotees over its unstable, lagging server, glitches, and the lack of subtitles for some of its original content.

What added fuel to the fire was the “private call” function. This paid service was designed to allow fans to feel like they are actually on the phone with the artists by incorporating the stars' AI-rendered voice. Users could choose their nickname, the idol's tone, the context of the call and even their relationship with the idol.

But some fans argued that such artificial voice technology was “unnecessary and creepy,” as it made the conversation sound dry and one-sided without carrying much emotion. Others stated that one of the options for the context of the call, “Being Flirty,” was inappropriate as it excessively commercializes the K-pop artists as objects of sexual desire.

Another problem was the AI rendering of artists' remarks itself. Users engaging in the conversation expressed discomfort with some of the phrases they perceived as threatening: “Where do you live?” “Why aren't you answering my call? I don't like that kind of behavior, so please be careful next time.” Several also showed concern that such technology could be subject to abuse, and result in deepfake audio products made without the artists' consent.