System to analyze K-pop artists' power is in the making

Boy band Seventeen performs for the 35th Golden Disc Awards in Goyang, Gyeonggi. [NEWS1]

Music data research company Space Oddity will join forces with Korea's largest science and tech university KAIST to develop a fair and quantitative standard to determine the power of K-pop artists.

Space Oddity and d.lab, a research team led by KAIST Professor Cho Dae-gon that focuses on information technology (IT) and its impact on market dynamics, signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to start a joint study on the K-pop industry and its fandoms, especially by analyzing the market.

Space Oddity will provide data from K-pop radar, its fandom tracker, and blip, an artist information provider. KAIST's d.lab will analyze the data using various techniques include machine learning.

They also plan to develop a service that analyzes the K-pop industry.

The team will work on creating a fair index that identifies the impact that a K-pop artist has within the K-pop industry, using data that includes not only the numbers of views, listens and followers but also the reactions of fans based on comments.

K-pop radar, which tracks the size and impact of an artist's fandom, will also update its “K-pop Data Product” service for industry insiders early next year through the collaboration.

The two parties will also study topics such as the activities of voluntary, unpaid content creators, by asking questions including what drives them into content making and what types of content allures fans.

“We hope to give helpful insights by analyzing the K-pop industry through the collaboration with Space Oddity,” Professor Cho said in a press release. “We hope that our research will help in the sustainable growth of the K-pop industry."

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]