Soneium, a Layer-2 blockchain platform by Sony Block Solutions Labs, announced a partnership with\u00a0IRC APP, the official app for\u00a0one of Japan\u2019s largest idol and fashion festivals, Idol Runway Collection (IRC).<\/strong><\/p>\n The collaboration will bring the IRC onto Soneium\u2019s AI-powered IPFi infrastructure to transform global fan engagement through measurable, rewarding on-chain contributions. Asia\u2019s entertainment industry has become a trailblazer in fan participation, a trend that is now taking hold in Western markets.<\/p>\n Sponsored<\/small><\/p>\n Sponsored<\/small><\/p>\n The IRC, Japan\u2019s largest idol and fashion hybrid festival, is hosted by YOAKE entertainment and has expanded its scale through a collaboration with Tokyo Girls Collection (TGC). IRC has already established itself as a success, attracting approximately 11,800 attendees and 107 idol groups to its 2025 event.\u00a0<\/p>\n The core goal of the partnership is redefining fan engagement by valuing and rewarding measurable on-chain contributions across the J-Pop fandom. This collaboration will unlock the creative community\u2019s economic potential, starting with the world\u2019s second-largest music market. <\/p>\n The core of fan engagement is within the IRC mobile app. This AI-powered app evaluates positive, consistent, supportive posts made by fans on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter). The measured engagement is converted into \u201cIRC Score,\u201d which is automatically claimed to fans\u2019 on-chain wallets without gas fees. <\/p>\n This accumulated score determines a user\u2019s Membership rank\u2014Regular, Bronze, Silver, or Gold\u2014with each tier offering progressively enhanced real-world benefits for IRC 2026, scheduled for March 15, 2026, in Tokyo, including early ticket access, priority entry, and premium venue invitations. It also enables the on-chain Fan Vote, which directly shapes tangible aspects of the IRC 2026 event. This measurable fandom contribution system will expand beyond idol culture into new creative frontiers such as anime and fashion.<\/p>\n Sony launched its Soneium blockchain mainnet on January 14, 2025<\/a>, setting a new standard for production-grade Web3 services focused on entertainment, gaming, and intellectual property protection. This public Layer-2 network uses Ethereum\u2019s OP Stack, inheriting its security while offering lower transaction fees and higher throughput. Sony Block Solutions Labs designed Soneium to support scalable applications for digital communities and creative industries.<\/p>\n Sponsored<\/small><\/p>\n Sponsored<\/small><\/p>\n This is not the first time Asian entertainment companies have tried Web3-related projects. In Korea, girl group tripleS has made blockchain a core source of revenue<\/a>. Produced by Modhaus and formed as a 24-member group, tripleS lets fans use NFTs and utility tokens to influence unit composition and song selection. Fans purchase NFT objects to gain Komos token voting power in the COSMO app, creating a system of transparent, participatory governance.<\/p>\n This model enabled tripleS to generate revenue even before its debut, providing members with compensation comparable to that of large companies. Production exceeded 10 billion KRW ($6.8 million), and early NFT sales helped cash flow, offering a fairer distribution than typical idol group contracts. TripleS stands out as a case where blockchain drives fan co-creation and transparent value sharing in entertainment.<\/p>\n China\u2019s entertainment platforms are rapidly adopting superfan-driven community models that resemble Web3 economics even without blockchain. HYBE\u2019s expansion through Tencent Music and Alibaba shows how direct messaging, authenticated merchandise, and integrated fan services strengthen ownership-like engagement. This environment naturally supports large-scale Web3-style participation economies.<\/p>\n Tencent Music\u2019s superfan ecosystem<\/a> illustrates this shift with Bubble surpassing 2.3 million paying subscribers. G-DRAGON\u2019s Macau shows drew 36,000 attendees and 7 million simultaneous online viewers, proving the power of hybrid fan engagement. Merchandise, tiered subscriptions, and the expansion of long-form audio show China building a multi-channel superfan economy aligned with Web3 principles.<\/p>\n Failures have existed, too. Momentrica, an NFT platform by Dunamu and HYBE, closed on July 2, 2025<\/a>, after posting an operating loss of 13 billion KRW ($8.88 million USD)and a net loss of 12.3 billion KRW in the last reported year. Although HYBE artists\u2019 digital collectibles sparked initial interest, Momentrica struggled due to a lack of long-term utility or sustained fan participation amid the broader NFT market downturn. Precisely, the platform only offered NFTs as static digital goods, not as engagement tools.<\/p>\nSony\u2019s Blockchain Infrastructure for Entertainment<\/h2>\n
Asian Entertainment Companies Pioneer Fan Ownership Models<\/h2>\n
Lessons From Failed Web3 Entertainment Experiments<\/h2>\n