LG U+ to expand its K-pop content business overseas

A screen capture of LG U+'s idolplus website [SCREEN CAPTURE]

LG U+ is expanding its K-pop content business overseas.

The telecom company said Wednesday that it rebranded U+ Idol Live, an online K-pop content web service, to “idolplus.” idolplus is now available in five languages — English, Chinese, Japanese, Bahasa Indonesian and Thai.

LG U+ hopes to expand its presence in North America and Asia. While U+ Idol Live was centered on the live streaming of K-pop concerts, the updated platform will cover a more diverse range of K-pop-related content.

The platform was introduced as a live streaming service for K-pop performances in 2018. Now about 35,000 videos are available on the service, and the number of its monthly active users stood at 2 million on average in the fourth quarter of last year, according to LG U+.

The updated website will offer video streaming services for original content, concerts, and award ceremonies for free, which include entertainment shows featuring NCT Dream, ITZY, Viviz and Kep1er.

“After working with overseas partners for content businesses over recent years, we found that there is a strong demand for K-pop content in the global market,“ said Choi Yoon-ho, vice president and head of the idolplus business at LG U+.

“We will deliver value that goes beyond idol content by providing a chance for Gen Zs to communicate with idols, and create a space where users can get together based on their shared interests in K-pop.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]