Beyond Live
Beyond Live[Insider Inc.|] is an online live concert streaming service and concert series by South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment in partnership with Naver established in April 2020. It is known as the first paid concert streaming service in the world that makes use of advanced technology in order to produce full-length online-dedicated concerts combined with artists-to-audience real-time online interactions. On its establishment, the platform has been regarded by global media as a relevant response in substituting traditional concerts during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The first live concert of the Beyond Live series was headlined by South Korean boy supergroup SuperM with the concert titled SuperM: Beyond the Future on April 26, 2020; the live concert recorded over 75,000 virtual tickets sold, playing to real-time audience from 109 countries.
Background, technology and media reaction
By April 2020, it was announced South Korea's largest entertainment company SM Entertainment and South Korean Internet search platform and media corporation Naver had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with purpose to expand the reach of concerts to global audience. The joint effort lead to the creation of Beyond Live, a series of online live concerts which, according to SM, was formed in order to combine "SM's content development capabilities with Naver's platform technology." On April 20, SM Entertainment released a trailer on their official YouTube channel announcing the upcoming series of live concerts, with the first live show to be headlined by K-pop boy group SuperM. Initially, Beyond Live was scheduled with four concert dates in April and May 2020. The concerts are hosted on the Vlive application and made available to audience from over 200 countries and territories. Subtitles in different languages are made available to live audience. Together with real-time access to the live concert, the paid audience have rights to on-demand viewing of the concerts afterwards.“Beyond Live” constitutes a real-time customized performance service for full-length and full-sized arena live concert in which there are no in-person audience, making it different from commonly used methods of broadcasting a performance online from home or broadcasting an existing footage from previous concerts. The format and design of the concert is optimized solely for the online audience with the aid of technology including augmented reality technology, three-dimensional backdrop graphics, live sync camera walk, and digital communication to enable real-time interactions between performers and the online audience. Specifically, Beyond Live concerts are credited for implementing augmented reality graphics to transform the stage and make them fit in each performance, as well as varying camera shots conducted differently from normal concert broadcasts. Artists perform on a stage before "a backdrop of screens and visuals directed in real-time" by camera operators personnel. Real-time communication and Q&A sessions between artists and online audience are also conducted via video calls.
Global media outlets like Forbes, Rolling Stone, and ABC News have commended the platform as a viable and timely alternative to traditional in-person concerts, which were being cancelled around the world as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ensuing rules on social distancing and restricted travels enforced in various countries. The Beyond Live concert series is also regarded as a digital innovation created to foster more interactions between artists and the "technical-savvy audience." In addition, Forbes remarked that, even if the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is to be ignored, the concert streaming service still addresses a prevalent need from international K-pop fans located across regions where K-pop acts rarely travel to, highlighting that for areas outside certain countries in Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Australia, fans lack the chance for in-person concerts and would need to turn to online alternatives regardless.
Shows and reception
On April 21, 2020, the line-up for the first four concerts in the series were announced, with the each show to be headlined - in chronological order - by the boy groups SuperM, WayV, NCT Dream, and NCT 127. Media outlets have associated the concerts' timing for NCT subunits Dream and 127 with their album release schedules.In May 2020, SM Entertainment announced two additional concert dates were to be added for the month of May, bringing the number of shows to six. It is also revealed that they will be headlined by veteran K-pop acts, TVXQ and Super Junior respectively.
April 26, 2020: SuperM - Beyond the Future
On April 26, 2020, SuperM was the first boy group from SM Entertainment to perform online the full-sized live concert, a follow-up to their prior sold-out tour in North America as well as an alternative to their indefinitely postponed Japan Tokyo Dome concert due to the coronavirus pandemic. Live from Seoul, South Korea, they performed songs from their self-titled debut EP including the title track Jopping. As part of the concert, SuperM premiered a new track titled Tiger Inside, revealing their plan for a future comeback in addition to playing a highlight medley of tracks from their upcoming album release. In total, they performed 18 songs including solo, unit and group performances as SuperM and their own regular projects. The concert lasted two hours, with a turnout of over 75,000 paid live viewers from 109 countries. SM Entertainment girl group Red Velvet members made a surprise appearance in the concert as video called-in audience. Selected audience to ask questions via video chats came from locations abroad, including the U.S., Japan, New Zealand and Thailand.With average ticket price at $US 30, the estimated gross revenue of the concerts from virtual tickets is over $US 2 million.
Technological features for the concerts received widespread attention among entertainment media. Variety magazine remarked that the live show experienced minor lag issues but overall delivered, pointing out that certain features of the concerts cannot be achieved or witnessed at an in-person concert, giving example of a scene in which tigers jumped across the stage during the performance of new track Tiger Inside. ABC News shared similar observations, commending the technology-created Tigers that were viable only in a virtual concert setting, in addition highlighting the real-time interaction features, with the audience able to write down messages to the online chat which can be read by the group members, as well as selected viewers given opportunity to ask questions through live video calls. The Hankyoreh described how the stage for "Jopping" transformed into the Colosseum-like structure in which the group members danced on the "circular stadium", giving the members an impression “like gladiators in ancient Rome”. The live sync camera filming, with which space is linked with camera walking, is also regarded as a factor contributing to building a more realistic experience for viewers. Internet connection issues during the Q&A sessions with audience however have been noted by media as an area for improvement, with ABC News observing that during the video call session with audience located at different locations abroad, "brief moments of stutters" were experienced as a result of internet connection issues from audience's sites. That said, the opportunity for direct interactions between the boy group and their international fans received warm approval from the press.
Set list
May 3, 2020: WayV - Beyond the Vision
On May 3, 2020, WayV was the second boy group to perform online for the Beyond Live series. This was also WayV's first concert. The group performed songs from their mini albums as well as a new song titled "Turn Back Time". The surprise guest was Super Junior's Shindong.During the concert, a new feature was introduced called "official light stick sync play", which is an interactive activity displaying the ability to change the color of the fans' light stick in sync with the live performances. As a multilingual group, WayV communicated with fans using Korean, Chinese, Thai, English, and Japanese.
Set list
May 10, 2020: NCT Dream - Beyond the Dream Show
On May 10, 2020, NCT Dream held their first concert after the release of their forth Korean EP Reload on April 29, front lining the third installment of the Beyond Live series. NCT members Mark, Doyoung and Jungwoo made an appearance as video-call guest who gave challenges to the group and the online audience.Set list
May 17, 2020: NCT 127 - Beyond the Origin
On May 10, 2020, NCT 127 held their concert in the fourth installment of the Beyond Live series, performing songs in English, Korean and Japanese. Over 104,000 paid viewers from 129 countries watched the concert in real time, resulting in concert revenue of over 4 billion won. In the concert, NCT 127 performed the first stage performance of their song Boom from their latest album Neo Zone as well as new tracks from their upcoming repackaged album to be released two days after the concert, including the premier stage of Punch. According to Billboard, the scene of a 3-D dragon flying around the stage during Kick It performance was one of the technical highlights of the concert. In addition, the effects of the LED screens surrounding the stage during the performance of "Highway to Heaven" received praise from Billboard for giving the impression that the group was dancing on the surface of "an actual highway surrounded by shots of a West Coast desert", with viewer experience amplified through over-head combined with side-angled views. Reviewing the tech-provided interaction experience,Insider remarked that the cheers from audience were loud enough that the group had to ask to reduce the volume.
The new technical feature introduced in this concert was the multi-camera stream which gave viewers the option to select individual view shot of a particular member, besides the normal full group camera focus.
During the concert, NCT 127 answered questions via video with fans calling in from South Korea, Japan and the U.S. The surprise artist guest who called in via video was Yunho from TVXQ.
Set list
May 24, 2020: TVXQ - Beyond the T
held their concert on May 24, coinciding with the 15th anniversary of their Japanese debut. They performed 14 songs in the concert, ranging from their Korean songs, Japanese songs to their solo works. The concert was praised for its high quality of augmented reality effects, notably the helicopter appearance during "Why? ", haze in "Rising Sun" and swimming whale during "Asu Wa Suru Kara" performances. No Cut News stated that the multicamera feature that was introduced during NCT127's concert is more widely used in the concert. However, there are problems during interactive corner with the audiences in which their voices could not be heard clearly. After the concert end, the hashtag #TVXQ_BeyondLIVE trended on twitter in multiple countries; Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Chile, Peru and Singapore.Set list
May 31, 2020: Super Junior - Beyond the Super Show
Super Junior was the last boy band to perform on the concert series. The concert was held on May 31, and was directed by a member of the band, Eunhyuk who had previously directed their concert tours, Super Show 7 and Super Show 8. The concert, aptly named "Beyond the Super Show", ran for 130 minutes with the band performing 16 songs.Set list
Future concerts
August 9, 2020: TWICE - World in a Day
TWICE is the first non-SM Entertainment group and the first girl group to hold a concert under the streaming service. The group's first ever online concert is set to take place on August 9.August 23, 2020: Super Junior-K.R.Y. - The moment with us
On July 30, Super Junior-K.R.Y., a subunit of the boyband Super Junior announced that they will hold an online concert on August 23. They had previously appeared on the "Beyond The Super Show" concert held by Super Junior on May 31, and sang the song "Home".Piracy concerns
Illegal live-streaming has been identified as a potential concern. Before the first concert in the series, the SuperM: Beyond the Future show, SM Entertainment had warned of legal actions against copyright violation streaming. However, Forbes noted it is possible that many people had attempted to stream the first live show via unofficial sources.Concert dates
The dates are in Korean local time.| Concert date | Artists | Concert name | Real-time Attendance |
| 26 April 2020 | SuperM | SuperM: Beyond the Future | 75,000+ |
| 3 May 2020 | WayV | WayV: Beyond the Vision | |
| 10 May 2020 | NCT Dream | NCT Dream: Beyond the Dream Show | |
| 17 May 2020 | NCT 127 | NCT 127: Beyond the Origin | 104,000+ |
| 24 May 2020 | TVXQ | TVXQ: Beyond the T | |
| 31 May 2020 | Super Junior | Super Junior: Beyond the Super Show | 123,000+ |
| 9 August 2020 | TWICE | TWICE: World in a Day | |
| 23 August 2020 | Super Junior-K.R.Y. | Super Junior-K.R.Y.: The Moment With Us |