YouTube and SM unveil old remastered K-pop music videos

K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment will bring back the spotlight on K-pop music videos from the 1990s and 2000s with its YouTube remaster project.

SM Entertainment CEO Lee Sung-soo and Lee Sun, YouTube’s music partnerships manager for Greater China and Korea, held an online press conference on Thursday, which was broadcast live on YouTube. Karina and Giselle, members of SM’s rookie girl group aespa, also joined the event.

According to the two companies, the “SMxYouTube Remastering Project” aims to present the history of K-pop in light of the explosive popularity of Korean music around the world.

“In partnership with YouTube, we will present some 300 music videos and tracks that have been digitally remastered, and we also plan to run various campaigns to present the roots and evolution of K-pop to music fans around the world and expand its reach (in the global music industry), ”he added.

Lee Sun, who is also executive director of Asia-Pacific artist relations for YouTube, said, “SM was the first to launch a YouTube channel among Korean entertainment labels. It’s an honor to lead our first such project with SM, who made K-pop history.

“We have joined the project with the goal of providing a wider range of music for our users, and we will also be recording K-pop history through it. What our users know about K-pop right now is only half of it all, and we look forward to showcasing the other half, expanding knowledge and interest in the genre.

Lyor Cohen, global head of music at YouTube, said in a video message, “Korean artists have looked incredibly well on YouTube. I call them platform doctors.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen the growth of K-pop explode around the world. What started out as ‘hallyu’ has grown into the global cultural trend called K-pop.

Expressing his expectations for the project, Cohen added, “We want fans to appreciate K-pop’s more diverse catalog and deepen their understanding of how he’s grown and how huge he has grown over the past few decades.”

To promote the project, rookie girl group aespa will remaster SM SES girl group’s 1998 hit song “Dreams Come True”. They will be releasing their versions of the song and an accompanying music video in December.

Karina said: “I grew up listening and singing the songs of SES and it is an honor for us to recreate the song in our style.”

“Since the song was such a big hit, we had concerns about how we would add our color to it. We will do our best to make sure the song can receive the same love with our new release, ”added Giselle.

“Music videos are a ubiquitous and everlasting form of content that can be seen as part of SM’s legacy – our invaluable asset that encompasses all of our values ​​and dreams – and possibly K-pop history. herself, ”the CEO added.

To kick off the project, SM released a remastered version of boy group HOT’s “Warriors’ Descendent” music video Thursday morning via his YouTube channel SMTOWN. Remastered clips will be unveiled weekly.

By Choi Ji-won ([email protected])