SM Entertainment Artist Joins HYBE’s Weverse Fan Community

Girl group Red Velvet and aespa [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

As part of a new collaboration announced by the two companies last month, artists from SM Entertainment will join Weverse, a fan community and merchandise service and app developed by HYBE.

SM artists including EXO, NCT, Girls’ Generation, Red Velvet, and aespa will join the HYBE service by September 2023, open a dedicated Weverse community, and enter Weverse stores. Artists from SM Entertainment have been using Kwangya Club, a similar fan community service that SM Entertainment launched in June 2022.

“SM Entertainment will realize ‘SM 3.0’ through the coexistence of private messenger ‘Bubble’ and fan platform ‘Weverse’,” reads SM’s press release on Monday.

“SM will open the Weverse official community for SM artists by the end of this year.”

Fan club memberships and live streaming will also be available on Weverse.

“In the near future, the Weverse platform will offer all activities related to ‘SM Artists’ Official Fan Club,'” reads Kwangya Club’s announcement on Monday.

“12 SM Artists […] Will move from Guangya Club to Weverse to communicate with their fans and provide media content, provide Weverse Live on the Weverse platform and communicate with fans around the world,” HYBE said in a statement on Monday.

Whether HYBE artists will join Dear U bubble, a platform operated by a subsidiary of SM Entertainment, has not yet been announced.

“There is no discussion yet on whether HYBE artists will join bubble,” HYBE told South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.

The move is part of a platform partnership between SM Entertainment and HYBE announced in March, after HYBE dropped its bid to acquire SM Entertainment that same month.

Cao Yongjun [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]