[Dongguk University Campus Town X IT Donga] Dongguk University has participated in the Seoul Campus Town project since 2022, creating a startup ecosystem in the northwestern urban area. By supporting deep-tech and cultural content startups, it was selected as an excellent case of startup nurturing for two consecutive years and received an A+ grade in the 2024 Seoul Campus Town performance evaluation. IT Donga introduces promising startups developing alongside Dongguk University Campus Town.

Soundat aids the activation of the music industry, including K-pop, with AI-based data collection and analysis automation technology. It provides results by collecting and analyzing various data necessary for the music industry, such as the number of plays of released music on streaming sites and reactions to artists' SNS and marketing posts, enabling objective evaluations. By automatically collecting data for each music and artist, it not only reduces labor costs but also allows for accurate marketing efficiency measurement and future strategy formulation. Shin Yong-seop, CEO of Soundat, emphasized that this technology will support artists and entertainment companies, regardless of company size, to actively enter overseas markets.

Automatic collection and analysis of data on changes in music play counts and SNS global fandom for each artist

Shin Yong-seop, CEO of Soundat, stated, "In the past, data collection and analysis in the music industry were conducted by each stakeholder, making integrated analysis difficult. There was a need for a company to lead the digital transformation of the music industry from a neutral position, without direct interests involved, such as music producers or distributors," and added, "Soundat's PLAYCOUNT collects the increase or decrease rate of how much music released daily is played on each streaming site and visualizes it as a graph. It also collects and presents data on how much idol groups are mentioned on SNS and the increase or decrease in global fandom by country. The music industry can accurately grasp the current situation based on this data and decide the future business direction. This leads to efficient marketing and business strategies."

He continued, "Distributors using PLAYCOUNT can gauge their current position by checking the performance of music from other distributors and comparing it with competitors. Music producers can check the performance of idols managed by other producers, and artists can conduct accurate settlement work with various associations based on objective indicators," and emphasized, "Planning personnel can leave various indicator collection tasks to AI and focus on more creative work such as planning or analysis."

Soundat focused on the fact that there was no objective data to measure the response to artist albums or the size of fandom in the music industry.

Shin Yong-seop, CEO, said, "Although I majored in computer science, I have no experience working in the music industry. I once received a development contract related to a music recommendation model, which led me to enter the music industry. While working, I thought it would be interesting to create a platform to invest in the success of an artist's album or concert. For this, objective data to explain the investment product to the public is needed, but I found that such data does not exist in the industry," and added, "Without objective data, it is impossible to accurately measure the completeness of an artist's album or the size of their fandom. From the perspective of companies conducting marketing using artists, it is also difficult to accurately measure how much budget was invested and what effect was achieved."

He continued, "For these reasons, a structure has been formed where only large entertainment agencies survive. Artist-related indicators are mainly collected directly by internal organizations of large agencies, and considering that data is power and power is money, it is difficult for new artists or small agencies to survive without data collection personnel," and added, "If objective indicators can be confirmed with PLAYCOUNT and presented to investors, new artists or small agencies can be evaluated according to their abilities. There is no need to organize a data collection team internally, so work efficiency and labor cost reduction are possible. In particular, if an indicator shows that a new singer is receiving a great response in a specific overseas country, it can be presented to the music industry in that country, facilitating smooth overseas expansion. In fact, there was a case where a small-scale idol agency, while worrying about domestic marketing with little capital left, identified the needs of a specific country with PLAYCOUNT's indicators and signed a contract with a concert promoter in that country."

Soundat emphasized that it was able to accelerate the service development and launch period thanks to its entry into Dongguk University Campus Town.

Shin Yong-seop, CEO, said, "In the early stages of the business, there were many areas to pay attention to, such as service development, internal organization management, and tax affairs. In this process, thanks to the regular education for resident companies provided by Dongguk University Campus Town, we minimized trial and error and stabilized operations," and added, "They also organized networking events with resident companies, allowing us to communicate with fellow entrepreneurs, realize misconceptions, and share insights, which was an impressive experience."

Pursuing service advancement through service stabilization and data-based derivative function updates

Soundat plans to focus on service stabilization and data-based derivative function updates in the future.

Shin Yong-seop, CEO, said, "Since the first launch of PLAYCOUNT in June, we have been devoted to research and development for service stabilization. As we collect numerous indicators from various music sites and SNS without interruption and sort vast amounts of data in seconds, the service is sometimes unstable," and added, "We aim to further enhance service stability through continuous improvement efforts."

He continued, "We also plan to develop B2C services. There are limitations with only B2B services for revenue diversification. We are planning to launch services that can provide value to general consumers based on the data secured with PLAYCOUNT," and added, "For example, information on when concerts promoted by local governments will be held and which artists will perform is not widely known. For concerts, ticket sales usually start three months in advance, so a function to notify people not to miss them is also needed. We are considering developing a comprehensive concert calendar service to meet these needs."

Soundat announced its goal to establish itself as a company that provides a path for domestic artists to be accurately evaluated for their performance and to actively thrive overseas.

Shin Yong-seop, CEO, said, "This year, Soundat achieved the feat of being selected for the TIPS private-led technology startup support program. Through this program, we are researching and developing AI technology to assist with research tasks within the music industry," and added, "Many stakeholders in the music industry are continuously inquiring about PLAYCOUNT with interest. Soundat wants to provide a path for domestic artists to be accurately evaluated based on data and to actively pursue overseas expansion based on those indicators," and added, "We plan to provide information to concert planners or advertising agencies of various nationalities who want to recruit K-pop artists, thereby increasing the company's recognition. We aim to grow and gain a reputation as a company that specializes in providing data for the K-pop market."

IT Donga Reporter Kim Dong-jin (kdj@itdonga.com)

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