HYBE, K-pop’s biggest music label, to lift language barrier with AI? Here’s what we know

South Korea’s largest music label HYBE, which brought the world hit boy group BTS, is now using artificial intelligence to meld a Korean singer’s voice with those of native speakers in 5 other languages.

HYBE is set to release a track by singer MIDNATT in six languages – Korean, English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese in May 2024.

According to HYBE, some K-pop singers have released songs in English and Japanese in addition to their native Korean, but applying the new technology for a simultaneous six-language release is a global first and it could pave the way for it to be used by more popular acts.

‘We would first listen to the reaction, the voice of the fans, then decide what our next steps should be,’ said Chung Wooyong, the head of HYBE’s interactive media arm in an interview at the company’s studio.

‘We divided a piece of sound into different components – pronunciation, timbre, pitch and volume. We looked at pronunciation which is associated with tongue movement and used our imagination to see what kind of outcome we could make using our technology,’ Chung said.

HYBE announced the 45 billion won ($36 million) acquisition of Supertone in January.

HYBE said it planned to make some of the AI technology used in MIDNATT’s song accessible to creators and the public.

In a statement, MIDNATT said using AI had allowed him a ‘wider spectrum of artistic expressions.’

‘I feel that the language barrier has been lifted and it’s much easier for global fans to have an immersive experience with my music,’ he said.

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