virtual K-pop group debuts with ‘Pandora’ music video; watch

A South Korean company specializing in metaverse-related business launched a virtual girl group on Wednesday. Images of four girls, digitally formatted, illustrate the music video for the single “Pandora”. The quartet, called MAVE:, released their single album “Pandora’s Box” on music streaming services, which also includes the track “Wonderland (IDYPIA)”.

According to Metaverse Entertainment, creator of the virtual influencer RINA in 2021, the group’s name comes from the expression “make new wave”, as the goal is to generate a “new wave” in K-pop.

The company, focused on creating and managing virtual artists, is a subsidiary of Korean media giant Kakao Entertainment and Netmarble, South Korea’s largest mobile gaming company.

The origin of the voices in the quartet’s two songs was not clarified. The recording may have taken place in a studio with anonymous singers, but there is also the possibility that the voices were generated by artificial intelligence programs. The company disclosed, however, the positions that the virtual idols occupy, as if it were a group made by human artists.

• SIU: is the leader and main vocalist
• ZENA: is lead vocalist
• MARTY: is a rapper and dancer
• TYRA: is the maknae (younger), main rapper and main dancer

According to Netmarble, the conceptual basis of the MAVE group: is the narrative that its members come from the future in search of freedom to express their emotions.

This isn’t the first time a South Korean company has created a K-pop group. There is already the female group Eternity, created through programs that use artificial intelligence and deep fake technology.