SM Entertainment creator Lee Soo- male on K-pop future, running service

It’s been more than 3 years because Soo- male Lee established SM Entertainment, among South Korea’s music firms understood for bringing K-pop to the world.

The home entertainment business, initially established as SM Studio in 1989, turned into one of the very first to start the international Hallyu wave– much better called the Korean wave.

But Lee’s music was not constantly based off Korean popular song.

“I became a singer when I was 19. Although I was famous, I realized that the audience was really quiet when I sang because I sang folk songs,” he informed CNBC’s Chery Kang in an interview for The CNBC Conversation.

“But when foreign bands pertain to [South Korea to] carry out, they totally took control of the phase and fans went wild. When I went to have a look at the performance, it looked like the fans were more passionate than in mine,” stated Lee, who is establishing chairman of the business.

Lee stated that’s when he started to think of taking South Korea’s popular song to the world.

“As I studied in the U.S., I discovered a lot and believed it would be good to promote Korean tunes and vocalists overseas. That’s the start [of SM Entertainment].”

Over the years, the 70- year-old established a system he calls “culture technology”– through which he hired and supported skill in a methodical method of casting, training, producing, and management.

The system lags the tune production of SM Entertainment’s K-pop leading bands– such as Super Junior, Girls’ Generation and RedVelvet

“There is a written ‘culture technology’ manual somewhere in my office,” he stated, discussing that it integrates both culture and innovation in a “logically formulized” method.

“The manual will allow employees to learn and transfer ‘know-how’ out of it. Because I’m an engineer, it is to be understood by logic. It lays out formulas,” Lee stated, sharing that he has a Master’s degree in computer system engineering.

“So, I can say that I am an engineer rather than an artiste.”

Even as SM Entertainment’s music continues to go international, Lee states it is very important to continuously innovate and remain ahead of the competitors in the music market.

“We need to be at that world class level, and we are focusing on what’s missing and what kind of distinctions we can make” from other categories of music,” he informed CNBC.

Lee deals with manufacturers and songwriters from the U.K. and U.S. on accompaniments, track tunes, kick drum and bass, which he adjusts to South Korean and Asian culture.

As for the significance of China’s impact in the K-pop market, Lee confesses that cash will have a “effective impact,” but said he remains confident creativity that comes from producing will have ” limitless worth.”

The problem of psychological health is something that stays a focus for his business, Lee states.

“‘Be modest, be kind and be the love’ is what we teach our skills and individuals in SM … Things are a lot much better now and international management business are attempting to discover it.”

Lee likewise stated his business is “linking them to therapists and physicians so that they can get assist anytime. We might not have the very same economies of scale like CNBC, however we discovered these things are extremely crucial.”

As for the future of K-pop, “I believe the metaverse that everybody is discussing nowadays is the future,” Lee states.

SM Entertainment developed a metaverse world called SM Culture Universe, and introduced its very first metaverse woman band, Aespa in2020 The group is comprised of 4 real-life members– Karina, Winter, Ning Ning, and Giselle– and their matching virtual equivalents.

” SM Entertainment is constructing ‘Play -2-Create’ … individuals can find their innovative side and produce in the metaverse. They will recognize, ‘Oh, I can produce. I can make music. I can produce dance relocations. I can make clothing. I can design artists.'”

To recognize the idea of “Play -2-Create,” the business partnered with metaverse business like The Sandbox previously this year.

Players can produce NFTs and video games surrounding “K-content” in SMTOWN LAND, a virtual land in The Sandbox under SMEntertainment NFTs are non-fungible tokens which are special digital properties, like art work and sports trading cards, that are kept utilizing blockchain innovation.

Lee thinks that any nation can produce something as effective as K-pop, however the metaverse will be essential.

“You can not produce a category by copying K-pop. Everyone will see it as K-pop. Now, you require to reveal it in the metaverse.”

” I believe we simply require to let the fans end up being manufacturers and customers at the very same time. Let them produce … Young individuals will have the substantial fulfillment of development and will wind up producing huge quantities of copyright and material.”

For those desiring end up being K-pop artists some day, Lee has this piece of guidance: “Self- evaluation is extremely crucial.”

“Without taking a look at yourself in the mirror, you have no concept what you ‘d appear like when dancing, even if you danced truly tough … It is when you can see and feel what you do not succeed that you discover.”

Don’t miss out on: CEO of multimillion-dollar business Casetify shares hisNo 1 ‘super underrated’ service idea

Like this story? Subscribe to CNBC Make It on You Tube!