Joseph Hwang
* This article is based on the "2023 Music Industry White Paper" published by the Korea Creative Content Agency, part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.
1. What is "Virtual"?
The COVID-19 pandemic has awakened humanity to the value of indirect contact. In the marketplace, transactions, agreements, relationships, and trust building have always favored direct contact between humans. This is still true, but indirect contact has been neglected in human life and economic activities. However, the situation changed when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the prohibition of direct human contact.
In the past, there weren't many indirect contact methods to replace direct contact, still, with the development of networks and digital technology, we now have more efficient indirect contact methods than humanity has ever experienced before. Technology has proven that humans can communicate and transact without meeting in person. At some point, we started calling direct contact in three-dimensional space "real existence" and indirect contact online "virtual".
The Internet Oxford Languages defines "virtual" as "almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition" and treats it as a word that refers to something, that is realized primarily through a computer. In Korean, the National Institute of Korean Language under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism defines it as "to assume that something is true when it is not true or when it is unclear whether it is true. In English, it is mainly used for computer-related purposes, while in Korean it is a word for assuming something to be true when it is not.
In summary, we seem to recognize the virtual as something that does not physically exist in reality, but which our consciousness treats as if it does. But what are the criteria for what exists and what does not? The meaning of virtual as we use it is that if it exists as atoms in a physical three-dimensional space, it is real and if it exists as bits, a combination of electronic signals, it is considered virtual. According to the definition of the Korean word, this form of bits does not exist in the world, but in human consciousness. However, we do not deny its existence while using the software made of these bits. It would be contradictory to call something virtual that doesn't exist under the Korean definition, so we use virtual reality or virtual assets without feeling weird about it.
2. What is a "Virtual Artist"?
According to the definition of Virtual above, a Virtual Artist is an electronic artist programmed with bits and expressed on a computer. As bits, the virtual artist exists in reality but does not appear by the atom. Of course, a character that exists as bits can also exist in three-dimensional reality if represented by an atomic material such as a doll.
Virtual artists are divided into photorealistic and non-photorealistic characters, depending on the origin of the characters they represent. A photorealistic virtual artist is an artist's character, represented by a computer graphic that comes from a current existence in the real world, and a non-photorealistic virtual artist if the character originates from a virtual world. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.
With photorealistic characters, the original character already exists in reality, so the audience will naturally compare the virtual character with the original. If the feeling of strangeness or aversion caused by the difference is not overcome, the virtual artist will be rejected by fans, on the other hand, a good reflection or complement of the original character will be welcomed. In other words, it is important to overcome the uncanny valley.
Since there are no original characters to compare non-photorealistic characters to, the characters' origin stories are crucial. When a non-photorealistic virtual artist appears, the public first perceives and evaluates the attractiveness of the character's appearance, followed by questions about the character, personality, origin story, and relationship with other characters, and then the naturalness of the movement itself and the attractiveness of the content presented by the artist.
Before the advent of virtual artists, the metrics of real artists were not analyzed or dissected as above. But the moment the word "virtual" is attached, the message "someone created with intent" is naturally communicated to the public, and this communication itself places an enormous burden on the creator. This is true for all photorealistic and non-photorealistic art, just to a different degree. Most creators of virtual art have not been able to overcome this hurdle.
In particular, the importance of storytelling cannot be overstated. A personality does not exist by its appearance alone but must be allowed to exist with a story. In other words, the personality itself does not prove its existence. When a story exists, it is evidence that the personality that created it exists, and only when others accept its existence based on this evidence is it recognized as a personality. The story is the glue that holds existence together, and storytelling is the application of that glue to a timeline of existence. The result of that timeline is called a history.
The fact that a being has a story is decisive evidence that it exists in this world of coexistence with others. Every human's story begins the second he or she is born into this world. No human being exists without a story. Existence is not the manifestation of a person's will to be born into this world, but the result of the recognition that comes from others accepting the proof of birth when the story proves it. This is why the issue of the metaverse, the virtual world, has been emphasized during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the issue of the digital persona, which is a multiple personality, has come to the fore when we need to establish human relationships through non-face-to-face contact. Due to the lack of understanding of this implicit philosophy, many metaverse operators have indeed experienced great failure.
3. Background of the appearance of "Virtual Artist" in K-pop
Popular artists only have economic value when they are a hit with the public. As a living person, when an artist becomes popular, the artist gets a lot of demands from the public, and how the artist handles these demands and attitudes can put the artist under pressure and hurt the artist. This is one of the main reasons why an artist needs a manager. For this reason, the artist and the manager become all separate entities as impresarios. The same single hit simultaneously allows both parties to benefit financially.
The problem is that the artist is the cause of the hit, which creates an inalienability for the artist, and the manager enjoys the profits only as long as the one has an exclusive contract with the artist. This inalienability is always an obstacle for the manager. Also, regardless of the exclusive long period of the contract, the manager cannot force the artist to work. This limitation puts managers in a dilemma and the managers are looking for ways to overcome it. One solution is the virtual artist. The problem has been technology, but with the development of digital computing, the possibilities have been opened up.
Virtual artists don't incur human rights issues. Even if the virtual artist becomes famous, managers are not subject to the power of inalienability. As long as the manager has the technology and the environment to realize it, the manager can legally work on it for the whole day. Managers can create opportunities for the public to appreciate and enjoy non-photorealistic characters in ways that photorealistic characters cannot. Just like live-action movies exist, however, the appeal of animation is on a different level than live-action movies.
The K-pop industry has an unusually high number of artists in the type of idol groups, this phenomenon occurred largely due to overcoming the inalienability of artists. But this dream is also true in other industries. If a virtual model with undiminished energy and activity is attractive, advertising companies will consider casting it. Of course, even the superattractive virtual models have their limits, as the public can become bored with them if they are exposed to the public too often. However, AI technology has advanced to the point where this is no longer a concern.
4. K-pop Virtual Artist Business Model and its Implications
While technology is an important issue, we believe that the success of a virtual artist depends on world-building. It's not enough to have a character with a beautiful appearance, the producer must have a very detailed and specific environment with a personality, character, values, background, and story. The producer must also decide whether to have a single character in the world or to create a situation with a protagonist and a supporting cast. If it's a story with multiple characters, the producer must also decide who, when, how, and in what relationship. A virtual artist project involves the creation of a single artificial world.
Simply writing a song and releasing a music video with the characters singing it will quickly reach its limits. Even short films need to be released continuously and regularly, and producers need to be supported by the various elements that support the story, and the public will eventually respond. It's a very tedious and persistent process.
Once the producer has built a world and the public has responded, the primary revenue model will be content creation and sales, still, collaborations with other real artists will be possible, as will appearances in commercials and online games.
When working in photorealistic virtual art, a deceased artist can be resurrected to life using voice synthesis technology. Rather than building a world from scratch, this would save a lot of money because the public already recognizes the artist's characters. Legendary artists are immortalized in the cyber world.
The advantage of the virtual is that it is valuable and attractive. Satisfying fantasies or desires that are impossible in the real world through virtual artists will be the most successful and sustainable. If the essence of the entertainment industry is to fulfill fantasies, there is a sense that the market can be expanded through new technical expression.
* References and quotations:
https://welcon.kocca.kr/ko/info/trend/1953646
Comments