Virtual idols may be the future of K-pop groups

Virtual boy band Plave made history as the first virtual K-pop idol group to top a TV music program. The band's success and fan base illustrate a growing acceptance of virtual idols, with predictions that they may surpass human idols in the future.

Five-member virtual boy band Plave, which debuted on March 12, 2023, with single ″Asterum″ (2023) [VLAST]

It’s been suspected and predicted time and time again, but now it may be safe to say that it's actually true: Virtual idols are a thing, and they're becoming quite big, too.

Virtual boy band Plave won MBC’s weekly music show “Show! Music Core” on March 9 with its latest track “Way 4 Luv,” becoming the first ever virtual K-pop "idol," as the profession is referred to in Korea, to take the No. 1 place on one of Korea’s regular television music programs.

It might not be the Grammys or the Billboard Music Awards, but the fact that a nonhuman idol bested its real-life competitors Le Sserafim and Bibi may open the latest chapter in K-pop — in which the words “digital” and “virtual” truly come to life. Who, or what, is Plave? What's the hype? Click the banner below to read the full story

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]