I. Project Background: New Technologies Revolutionizing the Idol Entertainment Industry

The global idol entertainment industry, as a vital part of the cultural and entertainment sector, has experienced rapid growth over the past few decades. Whether in Asia, Europe, America, or other regions, idol culture has become a cross-border, cross-language cultural phenomenon.

With the rise of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, Web3.0, and the Metaverse, the traditional idol entertainment industry faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities. It urgently needs profound, revolutionary changes to adapt to the evolving mindset and participation styles of people, especially the younger generation, in this new era.

1. The Idol Entertainment Industry as a Pillar Industry

Idol culture traces its roots to the mid-20th century, with pop music trends in Europe and America, such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles. These artists, through their charisma and image-building, became cultural icons for fans to follow. Around the same time, Japan began developing its own idol culture, where early "star performers" gradually evolved into a systematic, industrialized idol training model.

In the 1980s, Japan's idol industry entered its golden age, with its cultivation system gradually maturing. Idol groups like "Onyanko Club" swept the nation, and this systematic "idol manufacturing factory" model became a successful blueprint for other Asian countries. Starting in the 1990s, South Korea rose to prominence through the "Korean Wave" (Hallyu), establishing a talent agency system represented by companies such as SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. South Korea's trainee system, intensive idol training, global market strategy, and powerful social media operations propelled Korean idols into a global phenomenon.

The idol entertainment industry not only directly creates numerous job opportunities but also drives the development of related industries through synergistic effects. For instance, music production, film and TV production, fashion design, brand collaborations, and tourism all benefit from the prosperity of the idol industry.

According to data from global entertainment market research firm Statista, the global idol entertainment industry reached a market size of over $80 billion in 2023, covering music, film and TV, merchandise, virtual idols, live performances, and more. By 2030, this figure is expected to exceed $150 billion, with an average annual growth rate of over 8%.

Asia accounts for approximately 60% of the global idol entertainment market, making it the industry's core region. Japan and South Korea, in particular, lead in the globalization of idol culture.

• Japan: Japan's idol industry, represented by large groups like AKB48 and Nogizaka46, has successfully fostered deep interactions between idols and fans through operational models such as "handshake events" and "fan voting." In 2022, the Japanese idol industry's market size reached about ¥500 billion (approximately $4 billion), spanning music, performances, merchandise, and media licensing.

• South Korea: The influence of South Korea's idol industry continues to expand globally. Top groups like BTS and BLACKPINK not only dominate music charts but also amplify their impact through commercial collaborations, brand endorsements, and world tours. According to the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute, South Korea's idol entertainment exports exceeded $12 billion in 2022, making it a key driver of the country's soft power.

• China: China's market has grown rapidly in recent years, with the idol industry surpassing $20 billion in scale.

The success of the idol entertainment industry is inseparable from the driving force of fan economies. Through social media, live streaming platforms, and fan communities, interactions between idols and fans have become more direct and frequent. In Asia, fans support idols through activities like fan campaigns, chart competitions, and merchandise purchases, while in the West, fans place greater emphasis on idols' social influence, such as supporting their philanthropic efforts or political expressions. This deeply ingrained fan culture provides a steady revenue stream for the idol industry and fuels its innovative development.

2. Bottlenecks and Transformation of the Traditional Idol Entertainment Industry: Challenges in the AI, Web3.0, and Metaverse Era

The traditional idol entertainment industry, as a vital component of culture and the economy, has experienced rapid growth over the past few decades. However, as society, technology, and consumer behavior evolve, the industry has gradually revealed its limitations. Particularly with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), Web3.0, and Metaverse technologies, traditional models struggle to meet the entertainment and engagement demands of people, especially the younger generation. The industry urgently needs revolutionary changes to redefine the future direction of idol entertainment.

Bottlenecks in the Traditional Idol Entertainment Industry

• (i) Over-reliance on one-way communication models. Traditional idol entertainment primarily operates on a one-way dissemination model, where interactions between idols and fans remain largely passive—limited to concerts, films, TV shows, and brand endorsements. However, with the rise of social media and growing user demand for participation, this one-way model no longer satisfies fans. The younger generation wants to actively engage in their idols' growth, image-building, and even content creation—not just remain passive consumers.

• (ii) The business model has become rigid. The traditional idol industry's business model primarily revolves around music albums, concerts, merchandise, and brand endorsements. While these remain major revenue sources, market saturation and shifting consumer habits have limited their growth potential. For instance, global music album sales have steadily declined in recent years, while offline events have been severely impacted by factors like the pandemic, making traditional income streams increasingly unstable.

• (iii) Entertainment content suffers from homogenization. With the explosive growth of idol groups and intensifying market competition, content homogenization has become increasingly pronounced. Diverse idol personas and innovative content are growing scarce, as many groups adopt similar branding and expressions, making it difficult to cultivate unique cultural identities. This lack of differentiation not only weakens idols' market competitiveness but also dampens fan engagement.

• (iv) Limitations of the fan economy model. While traditional idol entertainment leverages fan economies through activities like fan support, chart competitions, and merchandise purchases, this model remains fundamentally one-sided—fans are primarily consumers rather than value creators. Over time, this limitation leads to fan fatigue, as supporters lack a genuine sense of belonging and participation.

The Impact of AI, Web3.0, and Metaverse Technologies

Emerging technologies like AI, along with the rise of Web3.0 and the Metaverse, are reshaping the idol entertainment industry. These innovations are not only transforming content production and distribution but also redefining the relationship between idols and fans.

3. Paradigm Shift in Content Production: AIUGC

AI technology is revolutionizing the way content is created and interacted with in the idol entertainment industry, introducing transformative changes such as:

The rise of virtual idols: AI-powered virtual idols like Hatsune Miku and Luo Tianyi have become formidable competitors to traditional idols. With their high customizability, 24/7 availability, and limitless creative potential, virtual idols can engage fans through personalized interactions, unimpeded by age, health, or other physical constraints.

Content generation and personalized recommendations: AI can generate highly tailored content—such as custom songs or virtual concerts—based on user preferences and behaviors. This data-driven approach exposes the inefficiencies and lag of traditional idol content production.

Real-time interactions: AI enables more immediate and dynamic engagement between idols and fans, such as through AI-driven chatbots or virtual avatars that deliver personalized conversations, deepening fan involvement.

With the adoption of AI, AIUGC (AI-powered User-Generated Content) has emerged as a groundbreaking production model. AIUGC leverages artificial intelligence to enhance users' creative tools, significantly improving efficiency and content quality. It merges human creative decision-making with AI's generative capabilities, opening new frontiers for content creation.

The core advantages of AIUGC lie in its efficiency, creativity, and collaborative potential.

AIUGC Significantly Enhances Creative Efficiency Generative AI technology can rapidly produce high-quality images, videos, audio, and text, dramatically shortening the creative cycle. This capability allows ordinary users to easily participate in content production without mastering complex professional skills. For example, AI can generate complete artworks or digital characters based on simple user inputs, significantly lowering the technical barriers to creation.

AIUGC Unleashes Greater Creative Possibilities While AI has surpassed humans in certain specialized tasks, creativity and top-level planning still rely on human ingenuity. AIUGC assists humans by generating inspiration and preliminary creative outputs, providing users with diverse creative options. This human-machine collaboration model not only enhances content diversity but also expands creators' expressive range, enabling the birth of more novel and imaginative works.

AIUGC Ushers in a New Era of Co-Creation AIUGC offers a global, open collaborative platform for creators worldwide. Users can generate content via AI, share it with others, or even trade it. This decentralized model not only increases creators' earnings but also fosters community building and cultural exchange. In the future, AIUGC will become the core driver of virtual idols, game development, and the creative ecosystem of the Metaverse. With human strategic planning and AI assistance, a new generation of virtual entertainment content will transcend the limitations of traditional creation, producing richer and more impactful marvels. The younger generation's approach to entertainment and participation will propel AIUGC development to unprecedented heights.

4. Web3 Transforms the Incentive Model of Idol Entertainment

The core of Web3.0 is decentralization, which fundamentally shifts the dominant role of agencies and platforms in the traditional idol industry, enabling direct relationships between fans and idols.

Value Sharing for Fans Through blockchain technology, fan contributions can be quantified and rewarded. For instance, using NFT (non-fungible token) technology, fans can purchase digital works from idols and trade them in secondary markets, thereby sharing in the economic benefits of the idol economy.

Community Governance and Participation Web3.0 grants fans greater agency. For example, through DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), fans can collectively decide on idol operations and development directions, transitioning from supporters to co-creators.

More importantly, Web3.0 further amplifies the advantages of user-generated content (UGC). Previously, UGC was largely driven by passion, with fans struggling to monetize their efforts. Now, Web3 enables "Create to Earn," allowing users to genuinely profit from their creations, becoming a significant driver of engagement. As UGC is fairly rewarded, even more vibrant cultures will emerge.

5. The Metaverse Breaks Spatiotemporal Limits in Entertainment

The Metaverse provides a new stage for the idol entertainment industry, blending virtual and real worlds. Through immersive technologies, interactions between idols and fans transcend physical limitations, creating unprecedented entertainment experiences. The technical framework and infrastructure of virtual worlds, serving as graphical and intelligent social hubs, make the emergence of consumer-facing social products a tangible reality.

• Virtual Concerts: Using VR/AR technology, fans can immerse themselves in idol performances. For example, virtual concerts by artists like BTS and Travis Scott on Metaverse platforms have attracted tens of millions of viewers, showcasing the Metaverse's limitless potential.

• Virtual Social Spaces: The Metaverse offers fans virtual environments to interact with idols and fellow fans, such as virtual fan meetings or idol-themed communities. These immersive social experiences foster a stronger sense of belonging.

Conclusion

The traditional idol entertainment industry stands at a critical historical inflection point.

Driven by AI, Web3.0, and Metaverse technologies, the industry must abandon rigid business models and mindsets, embracing change with openness and innovation. By deeply integrating technology and creativity, the idol entertainment industry will rejuvenate, offering younger generations more personalized, interactive, and immersive experiences while ushering in a new era of democratization and decentralization.

As AI, Web3.0, and Metaverse technologies mature, we will witness even more innovation and transformation. These technologies will make the entertainment industry more diverse, interactive, and personalized. No longer confined by physical limits, we will freely explore, create, and enjoy in virtual worlds. Moreover, we firmly believe that the future will bring forth a new generation of virtual idols, achieving far greater accomplishments than ever before. Let us draw inspiration from the world's top virtual characters and, empowered by AI, Web3.0, and the Metaverse, co-create the marvels of a new era.