Lee Soo-man Shares Vision for K-POP in the AI Era at ISMIR 2025

Lee Soo-man, the key producer and visionary leader of A2O Entertainment, shared his vision for K-POP in the AI era.

On the 22nd, Lee Soo-man delivered a keynote speech on 'Culture Technology in the AI Era' at the 26th International Society for Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR 2025) held at the KAIST campus in Daejeon.

'ISMIR' is the largest annual academic forum in the field of Music Information Retrieval (MIR), focusing on music-related data, where scholars, researchers, practitioners, and industry professionals participate. In his speech, Lee discussed the significance of the fusion of culture and technology in driving the global growth of K-POP and the future vision of the music and entertainment industry.

As a 'cultural pioneer' who first introduced the concept of 'Culture Technology (CT)' and laid the foundation for the global spread of 'K-Culture,' Lee Soo-man reflected on his innovative journey, stating, "I have systematized CT into four stages: casting, training, music production, and marketing. Based on this system, artists like H.O.T., BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT, and aespa were born."

Emphasizing the role of Korea as a 'nation of producers' capable of producing global producers, Lee mentioned key figures in 'K-Culture' such as EJAE, the composer of the 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' OST 'Golden,' as well as Park Jin-young, Teddy, Bong Joon-ho, and soccer coach Park Hang-seo.

Highlighting technology as a core driving force and partner in K-POP creation, Lee introduced achievements such as the first 3D music videos for Girls' Generation and Super Junior, hologram concert series, musicals like 'V Concert' and 'School of Oz,' AI speakers, and AR music videos, in collaboration with director James Cameron and Samsung Electronics.

Recently, Lee launched Blooming Talk, a chatbot combining human and AI conversations, and opened A2O Zone and A2O Channel, stating, "Fans can use these to receive economic rewards within the Play2Create model. The ultimate goal is to create an environment where young people can grow as creators using creative tools at A2O School."

Lee also introduced Infinite Studio, a filming and editing technology developed with 4DV Intelligence, showcasing performances by the global girl group A2O MAY. This innovative system, based on Gaussian Splatting technology, allows for multi-angle videos from a single performance shoot and won 'Best in Show' at the SIGGRAPH technology conference in Vancouver, Canada.

Discussing the essence of CT evolving with AI, Lee stated, "AI relies on human prompts, so as it develops, human creativity will shine even more. CT will amplify this creativity, moving global culture and touching people's hearts." He further predicted that "the music and entertainment industry should unite humanity and break down barriers through science and culture."

A2O MAY, born through Lee's producing, continues to thrive in global markets, including the US and China. The group has entered the US mainstream radio chart, Mediabase TOP 40, for five consecutive weeks, setting a record as the first group composed entirely of Chinese members and the highest for a Chinese female artist. They also topped China's largest music platform QQ Music's new song daily chart and are currently taking pre-orders for their first EP 'PAPARAZZI ARRIVE,' set to release in October.

By Ji-won Kim, Ten Asia Reporter one@tenasia.co.kr