Is AI a friend or foe? K-pop discusses its role at MWM 2025.

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Is AI a friend or foe? K-pop discusses its role at MWM 2025.

Published: 01 Jun. 2025, 18:01 Updated: 01 Jun. 2025, 19:57

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

ITZY performs during a K-pop concert for the 18th Busan Port Festival with MyK Festa, hosted by the Korea Music Content Association at Busan Port in the southeastern coastal city on May 30, which ran alongside the 2025 MWM Conference. [SHIN HA-NEE]

BUSAN — EXO stormed the K-pop scene in 2013 with its addictive bop “Growl,” a game changer that turned the alien-themed boy band into the nation’s first million-seller in 12 years.

Now, another dozen years later, the industry stands at a new crossroads — grappling with a serious question that would have seemed just as fantastical as the group’s superpowers back then: can AI ever create a banger like “Growl”?

“EXO’s ‘Growl,’ one of Korea’s best songs ever made in the 21st century in my opinion, is a modern interpretation of the West Coast hip-hop sound,” said Kim Seung-soo, a music producer and president of KSS Music, during a panel discussion at the 2025 Moving the World with Music (MWM) Conference.

Hosted by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), the third annual MWM Conference was held in Busan on Friday with some 150 attendees from across the entertainment, technology, legal and government sectors, and ran alongside the 18th Busan Port Festival with MyK Festa, which took place later that day.

The Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) hosts the 2025 MWM Conference at Busan Port in the southeastern coastal city on May 30, which ran alongside the 18th Busan Port Festival with MyK Festa. [KMCA]

The Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) hosts a K-pop concert for the 18th Busan Port Festival with MyK Festa held at Busan Port in the southeastern coastal city on May 30, which ran alongside the 2025 MWM Conference. [KMCA]

Known for hits like Twice’s “Signal” (2017) and IZ*ONE’s “Fiesta” (2020), Kim acknowledged that AI might replace certain roles in the field — but also remained doubtful about its potential to make truly creative decisions that require sharp acumen and instinct.

“AI can, of course, give us a 90s-style West Coast hip-hop beat, but will it ever be able to come up with something truly valuable when asked for ‘a groundbreaking 2025 interpretation of West Coast hip-hop’?”

Kim’s skepticism reflects a broader conversation that took center stage at this year’s MWM Conference, which derived not necessarily from what AI can do, but rather from what it cannot, amid the dramatic expansion of its capability in recent years.

Under the theme "Melting Your Moment in K — Touching the World with Music & Tech,” the conference explored AI and its implications for the music industry with increasingly contentious questions across legal, ethical and philosophical aspects.

Cha Woo-jin, music critic and CEO of K-pop Strategy Lab, delved into the question “Should we fight AI?” in his keynote speech, followed by Kim Kyung-suk, a Sangmyung University professor in the intellectual property department and president of the International Literary and Artistic Association Korea, who looked into ongoing legal issues surrounding copyrights of AI-generated music.

The Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) hosts the 2025 MWM Conference at the Busan Port in the southeastern coastal city on May 30, which ran alongside the 18th Busan Port Festival with MyK Festa. [KMCA]

Other speakers during the event included industry leaders including Lee Jong-pil, CEO of AI music generation startup Neutune; Kim Kwang-jib, CEO of AI content production company Studio Meta-K; Cho Eun-sun, CEO of sound content security company MuseBlossom; Lee Er-jin from Meta’s Music Label Partnerships team and Kim In-ho, head of the music business division at YG Plus.

“We’ve been exploring the theme of AI in this conference for three years in a row,” said Steve Choi, secretary general of the KMCA, who moderated the panel discussion, “And the atmosphere has been different each time.”

Two years ago, when the conference first kicked off, the industry had been talking mostly in future tenses, projecting what changes the technology could bring, according to Choi.

Now, the industry insiders and experts are actively debating what is unfolding in real-time, delving into increasingly contentious issues such as copyright risks, legal accountability, monetization and potential job losses.

While AI presented as much opportunity as risk during Friday’s event, some of the most controversial topics — including the legality of AI-generated music — took center stage, as the K-pop scene navigates uncharted waters along with much of the global music industry.

Amidst ongoing legal battles in the United States — including a high-profile copyright lawsuit against AI startup Suno — the Korea Music Copyright Association (Komca), which manages music rights and distributes copyright payments on behalf of the majority of Korean creators under government authorization, has tentatively suspended copyright recognition for AI-generated works.

But “this doesn’t mean that Komca is taking a hardline stance against all music involving AI,” stressed Park Mi-rae, head of the Copyright Policy Research Team at the association, during the panel discussion.

While copyright protection is not guaranteed for tracks fully generated by AI, it is impossible at this point to distinguish songs that are created with AI assistance. Therefore, Komca now demands applicants to check a box affirming that they did not use AI in the creation of their submitted tracks.

Still, the extent to which AI contributions might be eligible for copyright protection remains undecided, according to Park.

“The direction we are aiming for is to recognize human creative contribution in a song, even when AI has been used as a tool,” said Park. “The challenge we face now is how we will be able to verify the extent of the contribution at the application stage.”

On growing concerns that the influx of mass-produced AI-generated songs might erode the economic and sentimental value of music, veteran music journalist Suh Byung-kee of Herald Business suggested that there certainly remains an irreplaceably artistic aspect to music.

“For example, songs created for an advertisement could really benefit from AI,” noted Suh, but added, “I believe music can further evolve in ways that meet human needs and desire,” beyond what AI can replicate.

Despite the polarizing debate surrounding AI’s implications on the industry, the essence of music — its resonance with the crowd and communal power in a shared experience — remains unchanged, which was evident later that evening during the 18th Busan Port Festival, set on an outdoor stage against the backdrop of the southeastern port city’s night sea.

Super Junior-D&E, CNBlue, N.Flying and ITZY, along with solo acts like KyoungSeo, dori and Zozazz, performed for a crowd of some 10,000 people, before the night ended with a finale of grand fireworks.

Throughout the night, fans sang along K-pop rap rock band N.Flying’s 2019 hit “Rooftop,” danced along to ITZY's iconic “Wannabe” (2020) and “Not Shy” (2020) and rose to their feet the moment CNBlue began its hit “Alone” (2010).

AI can certainly make music production faster, cheaper and perhaps a lot easier — but at its core, the undeniable human aspect of music remains strong, as captured in N.Flying’s recent release “Everlasting,” which promises to “give true happiness” that is forever here to stay.

N.Flying performs during a K-pop concert for the 18th Busan Port Festival with MyK Festa, hosted by Korea Music Content Association at the Busan Port in the southeastern coastal city on May 30, which ran alongside the 2025 MWM Conference. [SHIN HA-NEE]

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]