K-pop fans now meet their favorite artists in real time with just a smartphone, without going to concert venues or fan signings. They watch music shows, chat via video calls, and share the same moments through automatic translation even if their languages differ.
As fandom culture rapidly evolves around online and technology, global live streaming platform HelloLive (formerly Almond Company) is expanding its presence as a digital platform for the consolidation of K-pop and fans around the world.
Jeong Ju-hyeong, head of HelloLive, described the company as an "entertech corporations that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology to boost efficiency in the global entertainment industry." Jeong said the goal is "to build services that enable the consolidation of fans and artists worldwide without limits of region, language, or time."
Jeong founded the web agency corporations Emotions while studying industrial design at Seoul National University in 1996. At age 28, Jeong listed the company on KOSDAQ and drew attention as the youngest CEO of a KOSDAQ-listed company at the time.
Jeong founded Almond Company in 2017 and launched the HelloLive service in 2020. The company recently changed its corporate name to HelloLive.
Jeong cited the limits the entertainment industry faced during COVID-19 as the background for founding the company. "At the time, an artist at the Japan subsidiary could not depart, and all scheduled activities were halted," Jeong said, adding, "Because the entertainment industry had an offline-centered structure that required people to travel, we thought a global platform leveraging live broadcasting, automatic translation, and AI could innovate the industry."
Jeong pointed to in-house technology as HelloLive's competitive edge. "As AI and various solutions become commonplace, the importance of technological barriers has grown," Jeong said. "Our competitiveness lies in developing core technology ourselves without relying on outside tech."
Jeong added, "HelloLive files patents for innovation elements that arise in the service process and implements them with proprietary technology," explaining, "Our differentiator is solving problems that occur during the entertainment industry's digital transition one by one, lowering technology expense over the long term, and building competitiveness that rivals cannot easily follow."
The company is working to solve translation delays and illegal video distribution that occur during concert live streaming. In real-time translation, video and captions can fall out of sync, and unauthorized distribution of concert footage can cause significant economic losses. HelloLive has filed related technology patents and is conducting research and development for commercialization.
HelloLive is also applying its own technology to online fan signings. To reduce the inconvenience of messenger-based video call formats, it offers a service that allows artists and fans to participate within a single app using AI and digital technology.
The company has secured more than 1 million paying members, and more than half of its sales come from overseas users.
Partnerships have also expanded rapidly since the service launch. Since 2021, it has built cooperative ties with major domestic entertainment companies such as HYBE, SM, JYP, and YG.
The revenue structure centers on albums and concerts. However, the hallmark is combining online content with offline business to offer new fan experiences. "On HelloLive, we even run a service that provides album buyers with viewing rights to artists' music shows," Jeong said. "It's a structure made possible because we developed our own platform."
"As the entertainment industry undergoes digital transformation, barriers of language and payment methods will diminish, and content consumption will naturally globalize," Jeong said. "Since K-pop has already taken root as cultural content enjoyed by fans around the world, we aim to reach 10 million members and 100 billion won in annual sales."
Jeong also laid out a vision to grow HelloLive into a core platform for the global entertainment industry. "The goal is to become the infrastructure for the consolidation of Korean entertainment content and services worldwide," Jeong said.