![\"Lee](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/news-p.v1.20250921.1aad9441305044cf95d19cc539c4f7ec_P1.jpg\")
Lee Soo-man, founder of SM Entertainment and key producer at A20 Entertainment, speaks during the Global Media Conference held in Seoul on Friday. (A20 Entertainment) <\/p>\nLee Soo-man, key producer at A2O Entertainment, predicts a world where AI, Gen Z and Alpha fans shape K-pop\u2019s global future<\/p>\n
Lee Soo-man, founder of SM Entertainment and key producer at A20 Entertainment, speaks during the Global Media Conference held in Seoul on Friday. (A20 Entertainment) <\/p>\n
No one knows K-pop methodology better than Lee Soo-man, founder of SM Entertainment and currently visionary leader at US-based A2O Entertainment. He believes the future of K-pop will be shaped by artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and fan-driven content.<\/p>\n
Lee has long championed the concept of Culture Technology, a system encompassing casting, training, production and marketing. He produced some of K-pop\u2019s most iconic acts, from legendary groups like H.O.T., S.E.S., and BoA to TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls\u2019 Generation and more recent acts such as NCT and aespa \u2014 bringing the genre to audiences worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cCT evolves as we pass management processes to the next generation, adapting them to contemporary trends,\u201d he said Friday during the Global Media Conference held in Seoul.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the role of the modern producer, Lee said, \u201cBeyond making music, a producer is an architect of culture \u2014 someone who reads the times, blends technology with culture and designs content that can communicate with the world. In this sense, a producer can even be a creator of a new civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n
To illustrate, he cited music producers like J.Y. Park and Teddy, “Parasite” director Bong Joon-ho, “KPop Demon Hunters” director Maggie Kang, former Vietnamese national football team manager Park Hang-seo and Ejae \u2014 a composer and singer who trained under SM Entertainment \u2014 as Korean global cultural architects.<\/p>\n
\u201cKorea must become a global hub where producers can grow, collaborate and gain the skills to shape the future of worldwide music,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Lee introduced the concept of “Zalpha Pop,” music designed for Generations Z and Alpha.<\/p>\n
\u201cZalpha Pop represents music enjoyed and led by younger generations, and the future will be a world where AI and celebrities coexist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A2O Entertainment\u2019s upcoming projects reflect this vision.<\/p>\n
Lee announced that A2O Rookies, composed of Gen Z and Alpha trainees, will embark on global activities alongside fans. The company currently operates \u201cA2O Zone\u201d and \u201cA2O Channel,\u201d platforms that allow fans to create and share content.<\/p>\n
In collaboration with tech firm 4DV Intelligence, A2O also developed Infinite Studio, a revolutionary filming and editing system that recently won first place in computer graphics at the Siggraph 2025 conference in Vancouver.<\/p>\n
Lee described it as \u201ca technology that allows flexible camera work and post-shoot editing, enabling the creation of multiple versions of the same scene within an hour.\u201d He joked that even director Bong could achieve in one hour what previously required complex AI techniques.<\/p>\n
Further embracing AI, A2O launched Blooming Talk, a chatbot combining AI and one-on-one celebrity interactions. Lee said these technologies, combined with evolving fandoms, could create a generation of \u201cprosumers\u201d \u2014 fans who both consume and co-create content, gaining economic rewards and becoming platform stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Lee also unveiled plans for A2O School, a space for young people to discover and express their talents across diverse fields, nurturing future prosumers and producers.<\/p>\n
Recent A2O successes underscore Lee\u2019s influence. The girl group A2O May, composed entirely of Chinese members, made history as the first such group to enter the US Mediabase Top 40 for five consecutive weeks, while also setting records as Chinese female artists. Their debut EP \u201cPaparazzi Arrive\u201d is scheduled for October, following the August release of the single \u201cB.B.B (Bigger Badder Better) [feat. A2O LTG],\u201d which topped QQ Music\u2019s daily chart and reached No. 3 on China’s Hot Song chart.<\/p>\n
jaaykim@heraldcorp.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lee Soo-man, key producer at A2O Entertainment, predicts a world where AI, Gen Z and Alpha fans shape…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[264],"tags":[5402,18,117,19,17,5403,5399,5398,5404,337,5400,5401,5397,5406,5407,5405],"class_list":{"0":"post-77911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-asia-news","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-k-pop","14":"tag-koreaherald","15":"tag-korean-news","16":"tag-kpop","17":"tag-music","18":"tag-south-korea-news","19":"tag-south-korea-news-in-english","20":"tag-the-korea-herald","21":"tag-5406","22":"tag-5407","23":"tag-5405"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}