Netflix’s animated hit “Kpop Demon Hunters” was part of a deeper conversation on how the superfan economy is evolving into a full-fledged business, at Singapore’s All That Matters conference.
Moderated by Bernie Cho, president of DFSB Kollective, the session featured Wooseok Seo, CEO of b.stage and former founder of Weverse, and Jaeson Ma, co-founder and CEO of Openwav. Both executives detailed how their platforms are helping artists capture superfans and turn passion into revenue streams.
Seo recalled creating Weverse with HYBE after seeing BTS rack up more than 10 million social followers but with no way to capture meaningful fan data. “We launched Weverse and it was very successful… but other labels didn’t want to join because they didn’t want to share their data with competitors,” Seo said.
Weverse Company was founded in 2018, and the Weverse platform went live the following year. That realization later led Seo to step away and create b.stage, a white-label solution — meaning a customizable fan platform that labels and artists can brand as their own — now used by more than 950 artists worldwide. “Anyone who wants their own fandom environment can solve the problem in less than a month,” he added.
Ma outlined how Openwav pivoted to focus squarely on independent musicians struggling in the streaming era. Citing statistics that less than 0.4% of independent artists on Spotify earned $10,000, he urged artists to rethink priorities. “Social media doesn’t pay you, even if you have a million followers. Spotify doesn’t pay you, even if you have a million monthly listeners,” Ma said. “Instead of chasing a million, build 1,000 true fans giving you $10 a month – that’s $120,000 a year.”
Both executives emphasized the power of the superfan model – owning data and building direct relationships rather than relying on ad-driven social platforms. “Openwav is the inverse of Instagram or TikTok,” Ma noted. “We’re the 1% true fan platform. You own the data, the IP, the fan relationships.”
For Openwav, a breakthrough came with Grammy winner Wyclef Jean joining as chief music officer. “He’s a renaissance musician who has also been deep in tech for over a decade,” Ma said. “He preaches the same message – own your masters, own your data, own your fandom.”
Both executives circled back to “Kpop Demon Hunters.” Seo revealed that b.stage launched the official community for the film within weeks of its release, selling memberships and welcome kits.
Ma described a proof-of-concept event with Kevin Woo, formerly of U-Kiss and a voice actor in the film. Expecting a few hundred attendees at a Los Angeles ice cream shop, Openwav instead sold 2,600 VIP tickets in 24 hours. “There were literally 2,000 kids lining up from 6 a.m.,” Ma said. “Fandom is real. It can absolutely be monetized where it’s win-win for both artists and fans.”
