MBW reported recently on the growing (and controversial) phenomenon of AI-generated “artists” that are becoming stars on music streaming platforms. But long before there were AI-generated musical acts, there were virtual artists, many of them spawned in the gaming world.

Now we can add a new source of virtual artists: Netflix.

The most-streamed movie on the platform right now is Kpop Demon Hunters, an animated feature from Sony Pictures that pits fictional girl group HUNTR/X against bad-boy group Saja Boys.

Not only is the movie a major hit, with 25.8 million views in just the past week, but the fictional groups’ music is tearing up the charts.

HUNTR/X’s Golden is in top spot on Spotify’s daily US Top 50 (as of July 23), racking up 1.73 million streams in the several weeks it’s been out, while Saja Boys’ Your Idol (1.49 million streams) is in second place.

In all, seven of the film’s tracks are in the top 25 tracks on Spotify’s latest daily chart in the US – a feat never before accomplished by virtual bands. And in the wake of Kpop Demon Hunters’ success, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos sees the potential of integrating virtual artists with video-on-demand entertainment.

“The mix of music and pop culture, getting it right matters… the storytelling matters, the innovation and animation itself matters, and the fact that people are in love with this film and in love with the music from this film… will keep it going for a long time,” Sarandos said on the company’s Q2 earnings call on Friday (July 18).

Noting that animated features have been “struggling for years,” he said Netflix is “thrilled” that its biggest hits recently have been in the animated genre – and he hinted that Netflix will keep this going.

“Now the next beat is, where does it go from here?” he asked.

“But more importantly… Golden and… Soda Pop, these are enormous hits and they all came from a film that’s available only on Netflix. So we’re really excited that we can pierce the culture with original animated features considering that folks have been poking us on it.”

In an era where artists are increasingly reliant on income from touring – thanks to relatively poor payouts from streaming services – the idea that music fans are increasingly happy to listen to fictional acts – whether AI-generated or virtual – might be a bit unnerving.

Yet virtual acts may be just the thing that K-pop is looking for to regenerate itself for a new era in music.

“This is a long-running dream for K-pop companies,” UCLA professor Suk-Young Kim told the Wall Street Journal. “Here we have idols who never sleep, never get sick, never age.”

Nonetheless, behind these virtual bands are actual talents. HUNTR/X consists of R&B singer and rapper Audrey Nuna, singer and record producer Ejae, known for her work with K-pop groups like aespa, LE SSERAFIM and TWICE, and Seoul-born singer-songwriter Rei Ami. Saja Boys include SM Entertainment-signed singer Andrew Choi and FC ENM-signed singer and actor Kevin Woo.

“The fact that people are in love with this film and in love with the music from this film… will keep it going for a long time.”

Ted Sarandos, Netflix

Talking to WSJ, Woo said he doesn’t mind if his new alter ego, Mystery Saja, overshadows his earlier K-pop work.

“For me, in a sense, it’s like a reinvention of my artistry,” he said.

And even K-pop stars themselves are embracing the phenomenon, releasing covers of the movie’s songs, according to a report at the Korea Times. One of those covers – a version of Golden by NMIXX member Lily – has already racked up 10 million views on TikTok.

And in a live broadcast on HYBE’s superfan platform Weverse, BTS member Jung Kook revealed he had shed tears at the end of Kpop Demon Hunters. No spoilers here: you’ll have to watch the movie to find out why.Music Business Worldwide

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising toward more records on Friday and coasting toward the close of another winning week.

The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in late trading and on track to close at an all-time high every day of this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 221 points, or 0.5%, with less than an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was adding 0.4% to its own record set the day before.

Deckers, the company behind Ugg boots and Hoka shoes, jumped 12.3% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the spring than analysts expected. Its growth was particularly strong outside the United States, where revenue soared nearly 50%.

Edwards Lifesciences rose 4.3% after likewise topping Wall Street’s expectations for profit in the latest quarter. It said it saw strength across all its product groups, and it expects profit for the full year to come in at the high end of the forecasted range it had given earlier.

They helped offset a drop of 9.3% for Intel, which fell after reporting a loss for the latest quarter, when analysts were looking for a profit. The struggling chipmaker also said it would cut thousands of jobs and eliminate other expenses as it tries to turn around its fortunes. Intel, which helped launch Silicon Valley as the U.S. technology hub, has fallen behind rivals like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices while demand for artificial intelligence chips soars.

The pressure is on companies to deliver solid growth in profits in order to justify the rallies in their stock prices to record after record in recent weeks. Wall Street has zoomed higher on hopes that President Donald Trump will reach trade deals with other countries that will lower his stiff proposed tariffs, along with the risk that they could cause a recession and drive up inflation. Trump has recently announced deals with Japan and the Philippines, and the next big deadline is looming on Friday, Aug. 1.

Besides potential trade talks, next week will also feature a meeting by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. Trump again on Thursday lobbied the Fed to cut rates, which he has implied could save the U.S. government money on its debt repayments.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, though, has continued to insist he wants to wait for more data about how Trump’s tariffs affect the economy and inflation before the Fed makes its next move. Lower interest rates can help goose the economy, but they can also give inflation more fuel.

Lower rates also may not lower the U.S. government’s costs to borrow money, if the bond market feels they could send inflation higher in the future. In that case, lower short-term rates brought by the Fed could actually have the opposite effect and raise the interest rates that Washington must pay to borrow money over the long term.

The widespread expectation on Wall Street is that the Fed will wait until September to resume cutting interest rates.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady following Trump’s latest attempt to push Powell to cut interest rates. Trump also seemed to back off on threats to fire the Fed’s chair.

“To do that is a big move, and I don’t think that’s necessary,” Trump said. “I just want to see one thing happen, very simple: Interest rates come down.”

If Trump fired Powell, he’d risk freaking out financial markets by raising the possibility of a less independent Fed, one unable to make unpopular choices necessary to keep the economy healthy.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.38% from 4.43% late Thursday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, held steady at 3.91%, where it was late Thursday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slipped across much of Europe and Asia.

Stocks fell 1.1% in Hong Kong and 0.3% in Shanghai. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he will meet with Chinese officials in Sweden next week to work toward a trade deal with Beijing ahead of an Aug. 12 deadline. Trump has said a China trip “is not too distant” as trade tensions ease.

___

AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.