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| From left, Lee Sung-su, co-CEO of SM Entertainment, aespa's Karina, Giselle and Lee Seon-jeong, head of YouTube's Music Partnerships in Korea and greater China, pose during an online press event, Thursday. Courtesy of SM Entertainment |
By Dong Sun-hwa
K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment has rolled up its sleeves to capitalize on the accumulated archive of K-pop ― which has become popular globally in recent years ― through the "Remastering Project" that remasters old K-pop music videos and songs in collaboration with the global streaming platform, YouTube.
Lee Sung-su, co-CEO of SM Entertainment and Lee Seon-jeong, head of YouTube's Music Partnerships in Korea and China, took part in a press conference Thursday to introduce the new project. Karina and Giselle, the two members of SM's rookie girl group, aespa, also joined the event.
"Since our establishment in 1995, SM has produced some 300 music videos, which are our most valuable assets recounting the history of K-pop," Sung-su said. "In this era where K-pop is making a global splash, fans across the globe are not only interested in the latest K-pop songs, but also in the songs of the early days. Hence, we thought we could use this opportunity to introduce the legacy of the past and contribute to K-pop's further growth."
SM and YouTube unveiled their first remastered video Thursday morning. The "Warrior's Descendant" (1996) music video by SM's now-defunct boy group, H.O.T. ― which has a higher definition than the original version ― successfully signaled the beginning of the fresh project, garnering more than 85,000 views in five hours. SM and YouTube revealed that they will release their remastered videos at 10 a.m. every Thursday (KST).
Sung-su added that his company will also present new versions of old music videos as part of the project, with younger K-pop stars remaking them based on their own interpretation. In the case of aespa, the four-piece act is set to remake the "Dream Comes True" (1998) music video by now-disbanded girl group S.E.S. and release the new clip in December.
"We have tried to add our own colors to the original track," Giselle hinted.
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| Lee Sung-su, Karina, Giselle and Lee Seon-jeong during Thursday's online press event / Courtesy of SM Entertainment |
According to Seon-jeong, YouTube is also planning to recreate more captivating versions of music videos, as many old ones resembled the format of a TV drama.
"We will also remaster the videos of high-profile singers of the 1990s and 2000s, such as Koyote and Roo'Ra, who were not represented by SM," she added.
Asked why he decided to bring this project to life, Sung-su explained that he wanted to let more people know about K-pop's roots and origins.
"I think that only half of K-pop is known to people these days," he said. "2009 was a critical moment in K-pop history, with a string of hits, like Girls' Generation's Gee, sweeping the world off its feet. Since then, K-pop has been going global… But the content that was created before 2009 has not yet reached the audience worldwide despite its high quality."
He said technological limitations had been hampering SM from upgrading and bringing back this content to the public.
"But today, the emergence of the cutting-edge technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), has enabled us to carry out our long-coveted mission. Now, K-pop lovers can easily revisit the history of K-pop via channels like YouTube and we, the K-pop makers, can broaden our horizons. Although finding the original sources for the music videos and upgrading them is quite challenging, we are doing our best to showcase decent work."
Seon-jeong said that it might not have been possible to run this "meaningful project," were it not for the partner companies, including Ogam Entertainment and Genie Music.
"Over the years, the record labels and the distributors who own the rights of the music videos have changed a lot and we had a tough time catching up with them," she said. "But thanks to the help from our partners, we were able to handle the issue… In the future, YouTube will continue to join hands with the music industry to contribute to the growth of the Korean music business."
YouTube's Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen, said via a video call, "We are so excited to partner with SM and the Korean music industry. We hope global fans can now enjoy more diverse catalogues of K-pop and have a better understanding of this genre."
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