K-Content News

Trip to K-pop is a contactless (also referred to as untact) concert supervised by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) for three days from May 19 to 21. Its purpose was to give musicians struggling with the cancellation of concerts owing to the pandemic with opportunities to stand on the stage while the K-pop fans around the world with opportunities to enjoy K-pop online. Under the slogan of “We shall overcome”, reflecting the message of defeating the pandemic, the concert took place for three days at the CKL Stage located in Jung-gu, Seoul. Although it was an untact concert, its sense of realism was greater than ever, thanks to the live broadcast offered by U+ Idol Live app.

In general, 7 to 11 cameras are used to broadcast music concerts, but 11 more were at this concert to ensure that the performances are seen from every direction in addition to a fancam for each group member. Furthermore, the use of omniview technology—displaying the fancams and the performance at the same time—made the concert more pleasant. At the same time, specially made cameras that function while laid down were also used to let the fans enjoy a 16:9 ratio in high quality on mobile phones. The concert added more fun by enabling a real-time communication via U+ Idol Live. Such efforts were enough to dispel concern that untact concerts are less enjoying and have less sense of realism. Lee Seok-young, deputy head of SBS Medianet who was in charge of producing and directing the concert, said, “We are planning to support 4K videos in the future.”

The concert, emceed by Sandeul of B1A4, introduced such glamorous stage in the presence of many top-notch K-pop singers like iKON, OH MY GIRL, KARD and APRIL. At the same time, a small talk show was held to let the viewers and the artists communicate in real time; thereby making it possible for viewers to take part in the concert and not just merely watch it. There is another thing that made this concert unique from other music broadcasts; it focused on the mobile streaming via U+ Idol Live. The app made it possible for the fans to enjoy the concert, including the talk show, with more fun via mobile phones. Specifically, the fans made live comments during the performance of their artists; enabling a direct communication between the artists and the fans.

In fact, Sandeul got questions from his fans on the spot while emceeing the talk show. There was also a moment when the fans commented clapping hands emoji all together as Soran encouraged them to during her performance. Fans around the world commented the names of their favorite artists to support and cheer them up.

The most important element in untact concert is, without doubt, a smooth streaming. Although your content may be in good quality, the sense of realism won’t be delivered to viewers properly if the streaming is not smooth. That’s why this concert had to get everything in ready so that there was no hitch over the course of simultaneous streaming via various platforms, including YouTube, V LIVE app, SBS MTV and U+ Idol Live. The production crew first divided the content with TV broadcasts and internet streaming and classified them as “broadcasting zone” and “streaming zone,” respectively. This was intended to cope with the unexpected situation easily by broadcasting via multiple channels without letting one transmission equipment take charge of all streaming. This was made possible by enlarging the back stage by as much as the vacant auditorium and using the space as the broadcasting zone, capitalizing on the characteristic of an untact concert devoid of audiences. The increased space was not the back stage alone. Corridors through which audience pass, waiting places and ticket box were empty as well. The crew didn’t waste these spaces by using them as the streaming zone and the talk show studio. It was a better use of the empty spaces and this was possible because the concert was held in an untact way. Thanks to their utmost efforts, including specially made cameras, real-time communication, and separate installation of the streaming zone for smooth streaming, the concert drew connections from 30 countries around the world and 690,000 views over three days.

Lee Hye-eun, the music and fashion team leader of pop culture division in KOCCA, said, “I wish that the Trip to K-pop concert somehow comforted the hearts of viewers around the world amid COVID-19.” KOCCA plans to hold more variety of untact concerts that follows Trip to K-pop.