SM Entertainment artists to join HYBE’s Weverse platform

17 April, 2023

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SM Entertainment has revealed that its slate of artists will join the HYPE-owned fan community platform Weverse.

SM Entertainment confirmed today (April 17) in a press release that its artists – which include popular K-pop acts such as Girls’ Generation, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT and aespa – will be joining the Weverse platform sometime this year.

“SM Entertainment will achieve ‘SM 3.0’ through the co-existence of private messenger Bubble and fandom platform Weverse,” SM Entertainment said, per Korea JoongAng Daily. “SM will open SM artists’ Weverse official communities by the end of this year.”

SM Entertainment artists currently uses its self-owned fan community platform Kwangya Club. According to a statement from HYBE, 12 of the 13 SM Entertainment acts using Kwangya Club will shift to Weverse by September 2023.

“12 SM artists […] will move from Kwangya Club to Weverse, communicate with their fans and provide media content, provide Weverse Live on the Weverse platform and communicate with the global fandoms,” HYBE said in its statement. It is currently unclear which artist will not be migrating to Weverse.

The move comes after HYBE halted its bid to acquire SM Entertainment after a discussion with competitor Kakao. “The two companies agreed to cooperate on matters related to their platforms,” HYBE said last month.

Since that statement, HYBE has also announced that it would sell off its 15.8 per cent stake in SM Entertainment by accepting a tender offer by Kakao.

Meanwhile, Kakao was recently reportedly raided by South Korean authorities over allegations that it was involved in stock manipulation over its purchase of SM Entertainment shares.

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