After the successful debut of K-Pop super group Super M, formed jointly by leading South Korean company SM Entertainment and Capitol Records, Lee Soo-man, the founder and chief producer of the major K-Pop label, confirmed on 19 November a partnership with Global Citizen Festival, as he has signed a deal with Simon Moss, the co-founder of the project. Under the partnership, SM Entertainment will be responsible for the Asian leg of the music festival aimed at poverty reduction around the globe. The concert is scheduled to take place in Seoul on 26 September, 2020.
'Global Citizen' is the largest global charitable performance held by the Global Poverty Project and combines music and campaign movements to promote consensus and change awareness on issues such as hunger, inequality and environmental pollution. It is planned to be the largest music festival in the world, being simultaneously held on five continents, including North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, and will be broadcasted live around the world for 10 hours. Global Citizen has been supported by many prominent figures and politicians, including former United States First Lady Michelle Obama, Bill Gates, Swedish Queen Sylvia, world star Hugh Jackman and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Lee Soo-man, the founder of the biggest entertainment agency in South Korea, has been always seeking a fresh perspective on the music industry. Directed by his hand, SM Entertainment has been instrumental in bringing about the rise of K-Pop itself, helping to develop many of the most popular domestic and overseas groups, such as H.O.T and Shinhwa, Super Junior, Shinee, Girls Generation, EXO and NCT.
Still, Lee Soo-man is intent on staying ahead of the curve and his Korean-American Super M boys band project, announced in August 2019, is only gaining momentum. Consisting of members from existing groups like EXO, Shinee, NCT and WayV, the boy band has support not just from already existing fans of those groups, but is also attracting the attention of a new audience from all over the world with their synergy and charisma. They are called the “Avengers of K-pop” and in September, Lee Soo-man revealed at the World Knowledge Forum that SM entertainment, starting from the Super M project, will collaborate with Marvel and make a story involving Super M and the Marvel universe.
To achieve this, SM Entertainment has signed a contract with CAA(Creative Artist Agency). CAA is the largest entertainment and sports agency in the United States and has a strong influence in the global entertainment market as well. This will help to support NCT127 and Super M promotions, which will grow further in the global music market, starting with the US.
Not content to stop there, on 14 November SM Entertainment announced an upcoming collaboration with Intel on new immersive media content that combines massive volumetric capture technology, interactive content and augmented reality (AR) technology with K-POP storytelling.
Lee Soo Man will also lead the production of the first collaborative project - called ‘Immersive Media 360: NCT 127 - 'Superhuman'’. Intel Studios will use filmmaking techniques to give K-Pop fans a realistic and interactive storytelling media content experience with a new level of immersion from any angle and perspective.
The content that will appear through the collaboration between SM and Intel Studio will be presented at SMTOWN COEX Artium, SM's complex cultural space in Seoul.