“AI Can Make Content but Not Fandom,” bemyfriends CEO Says

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LOS ANGELES — As artificial intelligence lowers the barrier to producing content, the basis of competition in the content industry is shifting. In an era when anyone can create content quickly and easily, who keeps consuming and supporting that content matters as much as what gets made. Seo Woo-seok, CEO of the fandom platform bemyfriends, finds the answer in fandom. AI can generate content, the CEO says, but a fandom business — one that connects people to people and creators to fans, and sustains those relationships — is hard to build on technology alone.

Speaking with The Seoul Economic Daily at ‘U-KNOCK 2026 in USA’ held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on the 5th, Seo stressed that “the core of the fandom business is not simply running a fan community, but the capacity to create fans and turn their participation into a business.” The CEO added: “Many people think you do a fandom business because you have fans, but it is those who can create fans who do the fandom business.” The technology to build a platform can be secured quickly, Seo explained, but understanding a particular intellectual property, reading how fans behave, and lining up the partners and business opportunities to connect them are separate matters.

“Fans Are Made, Not Awaited” — The Nature of the Fandom Business

Seo said fandom should not be viewed only as a consumer group that already exists. Providing people who might become fans with experiences and points of connection worth sustained interest, and building relationships through that process, is itself the fandom business.

Using AI can make building a community platform considerably easier, the CEO said. But building a platform and growing a fandom into an actual business are different things, Seo said, expressing confidence in what sets bemyfriends apart. What is needed, the CEO said, is the operational capacity to understand what fans want, to connect IP holders with fans, and to generate a range of business opportunities across content, merchandise and live performances.

“Even Politicians Can Have Fandoms” — The Skills and Know-How to Create Fans

Beyond K-pop to Music and Sports: Targeting Fandom Markets in 150 Countries

The fandom business is not confined to K-pop or sports. Anyone who wants to build a following, politicians included, is a potential client, Seo explained. That does not mean bemyfriends intends to move into politics itself, but that it can support any party seeking to build a fandom. “As long as the person involved has the will, we can help turn that into a fandom,” the CEO stressed. Because the essence of fandom lies not in a particular genre or industry but in connecting figures with their supporters and sustaining those relationships, Seo expressed confidence that the model can expand well beyond music and sports.

bemyfriends is broadening its business from its K-pop base into music, sports and other fields. In global markets, the company is pursuing a strategy of working with local operators, targeting roughly 150 countries. The plan is to partner with entertainment companies and media operators that know their home markets well in order to secure fandoms in each region.

Seo stressed the importance of local partners in overseas expansion. Rather than transplanting a business model that succeeded in South Korea, the CEO said, the company should work with firms that have a strong grasp of local markets and consumers. In Vietnam, a venture with a local partner is performing well, and the company is exploring possible tie-ups in Indonesia and India.

To be competitive in the global fandom market, Seo said, it is not enough simply to export a platform. The company must build a business model that discovers and grows fandoms together with local operators, the CEO explained.

Rather than directly holding artists’ IP or management rights, Seo is focused on providing the business infrastructure that independent artists and small and mid-sized music companies need. “We will connect the functions a music business requires — from music distribution to live performances, global expansion and fandom building — so that artists and companies can grow,” the CEO stressed.

The model Seo is aiming for is what the CEO calls “management without IP.” Instead of owning or managing artists directly, bemyfriends would position itself as a partner providing the various services a music business needs.

The Fandom Business as a Korean Export: K-Content’s Next Competitive Edge

Seo stressed that South Korea can build global competitiveness in the fandom business as it has in content production. The CEO noted that while South Korea has developed both the experience of forming and running fandoms around K-pop and a related industrial ecosystem, much of the content distribution infrastructure is led by foreign companies such as YouTube, Spotify and Netflix.

Making good content alone, Seo believes, is not enough to hold a lasting lead in global markets. The view is that gathering the fans who consume content and channeling their activity into live performances, merchandise, communities and other businesses — the fandom business — can ultimately become a new competitive strength for South Korea’s content industry.

Seo said the goal is for bemyfriends to grow into a company that supports fandom businesses across multiple fields in global markets, rather than being limited to a single genre. Ultimately, the CEO wants fandom operators around the world to come to bemyfriends with their business questions and look for ways to work together. “Every fandom business in the world should ask me, bemyfriends,” Seo stressed.

#bemyfriends#FandomBusiness#Kpop#KContent#UKNOCK2026#FandomPlatform

Original reporting by Yeon Seung for Seoul Economic Daily.

AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreignxact original wording

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