Game and artificial intelligence, unusual guests to local pop music scene

Artificial intelligence technology restores the voices of deceased musicians to sing contemporary songs. A game company airs a song competition show for the soundtrack of its title game.

The local music scene continues to evolve, with the convergence of media, technology and industries.

South Korean game company Nexon adopted a TV competition show format to best fit Dungeon and Fighter, an arcade-style action game.

The five-episode series, available on YouTube channel Dingo Music, has garnered more than 2 million views as of Thursday, the company said.

It is not the first time that Nexon has sought an unconventional collaboration with the music industry.

The company has previously collaborated with a wide range of musicians, from the Czech National Symphony Orchestra to popular singer-songwriter Yozoh. The company has also been arranging concerts featuring both classical and popular music.

The increased use of artificial intelligence is invigorating the local popular music scene.

Music channel Mnet recently presented AI music project “Once More Time,” featuring deceased artists through holograms and AI voice covers.

South Korean broadcaster SBS also aired a competition between AI and human experts in which they sought to re-create legendary singer Kim Kwang-suk, who died in 1996 at the age of 31.

“If the previous music competition programs focused on the contest, recent music programs are taking more diverse approaches by applying new technologies and introducing different types of music, like game soundtracks. Such novel attempts are expected to continue making an impact,” said a local music critic.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)