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Kakao Entertainment, the major shareholder in one of South Korea’s largest entertainment businesses SM Entertainment, has reportedly shown interest in creating a superfan app that could rival HYBE’s Weverse platform.
Korea JoongAng Daily reported that the platform could be launched as early as this year. The article added that the company filed two new trademarks in December – ‘BERRIZ and BERRYUS’, which alluded to the possibility of a fan platform.
Kakao Entertainment incorporates a number of K-pop agencies including Starship Entertainment, EDAM Entertainment, Antenna and more. Alongside its parent company Kakao, it holds a combined 40.28% stake in SM Entertainment (Kakao at 20.97% and Kakao Entertainment at 19.31%).
Weverse is a superfan platform from K-pop giant HYBE which hosts multimedia content and the sale of merchandise. It is available via free and paid-for subscriptions, and allows for artist-to-fan communications.
In 2024, the platform achieved 150 million cumulative downloads. Additionally, 16 global artists joined Weverse in 2024, including Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion.
K-pop news platform Koreaboo reported last month that Kakao Entertainment had conducted an internal test on a fandom platform, Berriz. The platform will supposedly allow artists to share live broadcasts, performances, videos and more.
A statement given to TheTicketingBusiness said that the business was preparing for the launch of the platform, but the schedule and details have not been confirmed yet.
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