Overview
- Entertainment companies are increasingly commissioning novelists, poets and screenwriters to craft multi-platform narratives that link albums, videos, webtoons and other media.
- EXO’s Jan. 19 album REVERXE featured a short story by author Lee Hee-joo, with SM’s Culture Universe lead Mo Na-ri saying the collaboration tied the release to a new turn in EXO’s established universe.
- Recent collaborations span Red Velvet’s Joy with poet Cha Jeong-eun, rookie group KiiiKiii with novelist Lee Sull-a (Ysra), IVE with Chung Se-rang and Le Sserafim with sci-fi writer Kim Cho-yeop.
- Critics note idols have limited time to develop complex storylines, so agencies are bringing in literary professionals to structure long-term character arcs and narrative continuity.
- Analysts describe the shift as transmedia storytelling, citing precedents like EXO’s mythology and HYBE’s Dark Moon webtoon as evidence that narrative franchises will keep expanding.