Watch: SNSD SMTown Live in New York 2012 -
Ending "SNSD, Super Junior, SHINee, DBSK, EXO, f(x), BoA
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, December 28, 2012
S.M. Entertainment
S.M. Entertainment is an independent Korean record label, talent agency, producer, and publisher of pop music, founded by Lee Soo-man in South Korea. Initially, "SM" was an abbreviation of the agency founder's name, but now stands for "Star Museum." Its current CEO is Kim Young-min. The label is one of the "big three" record companies of Korea along with YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment because of strong market share and international operations. SM is credited for starting and leading the Hallyu Wave throughout Asia and internationally.
Once the home to the original Korean Idol groups like H.O.T., S.E.S., and Shinhwa, its current roster of recording artists include Kangta, BoA, TVXQ, TRAX, The Grace, Super Junior, Zhang Liyin, Girls' Generation, J-Min, Shinee, f(x), and EXO, all of whom enjoy great success both domestically and internationally. It is also home to actors like Go Ara, Kim Min-jong, Lee Yeon-hee and Kim Ian. SM Entertainment also co-publishes Avex Trax releases for Japanese artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, and Koda Kumi, as well as Johnny's Entertainment acts like Arashi and KAT-TUN.
According to the Financial Times, the company's market capitalization has reached ₩1.38 trillion ($1.24 billion US Dollars).[4] Janine Bower from MTV Iggy described it as a mega-corporation, while Evan Ramstad from The Wall Street Journal called it a "K-pop powerhouse".
History
After graduating from Seoul National University and pursuing his own career as a singer, Lee Soo Man surveyed teenage girls on what they wanted to see in music groups and started the boy group H.O.T. and girl group S.E.S.. Both groups became successful during the late 1990s. Soon thereafter, Lee created Shinhwa, and once again, the band attained the same popularity and success, continuing Lee's streak of producing successful artists. In 1999, Lee created Korea's first R&B duo, Fly to the Sky, with members Hwanhee and Brian, adding to Lee's list of successful groups.
1990s: First generation groups
In February 1995, SM Entertainment set up its capital fund at ₩50,000,000. In January 1996, SM Entertainment purchased land for a recording site and manufactured its contents for broadcasting companies like KBS, SBS, HBS, KMTV, M-NET. In April 1997, the head office was transferred to the Yadang-ri, Gyoha-myeon, Paju, Gyeonggi-do. In October 1998, Kim Kyoung-wook was awarded the position of CEO. In August 1999, a paid-in capital increase of ₩25,000,000 (5,000 shares) and free issue of 225,000 shares (₩112,500,000) occurred. In that same year, SM Entertainment built a branch office in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
However, problems began appearing in SM Entertainment following the breakup of H.O.T., and S.E.S., who disbanded a year after H.O.T., and a few years later in 2003, SM Entertainment saw the departure of Shinhwa, though the group did not breakup and moved to a new management company. In the following years, some of its newer ventures, such as Isak N Jiyeon and Black Beat, failed to attain the popularity achieved by earlier SM artists.
2000s: Second generation and expansion
In early 2000, SM Entertainment agreed to share the split from 5,000 won to 500 per a share. In mid-2000, the company was approved and listed in KOSDAQ as 041510. Late that year, SM Entertainment and Avex Trax signed a contract for music licensing and an Asia agency. In December 2000, SM established an affiliation with Fandago Korea. In January 2001, SM Entertainment established an overseas joint-venture corporation as SM Entertainment Japan Co., Ltd. They are also preparing to establish a new headquarters in Beijing, China.[7] In March of the same year, Kim Kyoung-wook was appointed the company's third CEO. In May of the same year, SM Entertainment spent ₩10 billion to organize its first joint-venture investment fund in the music industry. SM also established subsidiaries BM Entertainment and Cid.K Entertainment for girl groups M.I.L.K. and Shinvi, respectively, but now defunct upon the groups' disbandment.
In April 2002, an additional 1,341,180 shares was added, and in June 2002, the third-party paid-in capital increased another 61,048 shares. In late-2002, SM Entertainment was awarded the Grand Prix of Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the Culture Contents for Export Award in music. In 2003, it established its affiliation with the Starlight Corporation Ltd and was awarded a prize for the best music contents in Korea. In February 2004, the third-party paid-in capital increased another 271,428 shares. In April of the same year, the head office moved from Paju, Gyeonggi Province to Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. A month later, it established its affiliation with C-Cube Entertainment Corporation.
The agency later found new successes with many other acts. SM Entertainment debuted a solo singer BoA in 2000, a five-member boy group TVXQ in 2003, a four-member rock band TRAX in 2004, a four-member girl group The Grace and a thirteen-member boy group Super Junior in 2005, a solo singer of Chinese descent Zhang Liyin in 2006, a nine-member girl group Girls' Generation in 2007, another five-member boy group Shinee in 2008, five-member girl group f(x) in 2009, four-member ballad project group S.M. the Ballad in 2010, and in 2012 boy group EXO, which is divided into subgroups EXO-K and EXO-M for Korean and Chinese (Mandarin) markets, respectively.
In May 2005, the fourth CEO came on board, Hur Dah-shin. In May 2008 SM Art Company was formed and helmed by Pyo In-bong as co-CEO. It aims to pursue businesses in musicals and theatre business. Its first production was Xanadu starring Super Junior members Heechul and Kangin.[8] In August 2010, Kim young-min took office.[9] Kim Young-min (born April 13, 1970) is a graduate of Korea University majoring in Sociology. In September 1999, Kim Young-min joined SM Entertainment as a team leader of overseas business, and during 2001 to 2005, he was the CEO of Fandango Korea.[10] On October 21, 2008, the company announced its plans to debut BoA in the United States under SM's new subsidiary label, SM Entertainment USA.
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| SM Entertainment building in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul in 2012 |
2010-2011: United Asia Management and joint ventures
In February 2010, founder Lee Soo-man resigned from his position as a member of the board of directors. An official at SM is quoted as saying that Lee had decided to do so in order to "focus more energy on SM's overseas business, new business management and artist development".
In May 2010, SM announced its largest first quarter operating profit of 2010 at ₩10.4 billion, up 471% from the same period in 2009. Its gross revenue from sales from January to March was reported at ₩22.7 billion, up 58% from the year before.
KMP Holdings: In March 2010, KMP Holdings was established via a joint venture between S.M., YG, JYP, Star Empire, and other companies like Medialine, Ken Entertainment and Music Factory. KMP is the official distributor of releases from these companies. KMP stands for Korean Music Power. The firm's first distributed release from SM was Super Junior's fifth studio album, Mr. Simple and since this release, SM is not self-distributed any longer.
United Asia Management: SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, KeyEast, AMENT and Star J Entertainment will be joining forces to create a huge Asian management agency named ‘United Asia Management‘. This joint investment corporate body was created in an effort to develop an industry that will push ‘Hallyu’ to ‘Asianlyu’. United Asia Management aims to pioneer a global market, and all artists under the six agencies will be under a database system that manages intellectual property rights. A new contents production system will be utilized as well for movies, dramas, and other media. UAM will also be acting as the global agency for artists planning to advance, or currently promoting, overseas. UAM was officially established as of April 2011.
SM True: On August 16, 2011, SM has established their first international joint venture with Thai media company TrueVisions Group called "SM True." Artists Kangta and Shinee are present in the event, as well as SM's CEO, Kim Youngmin. Kim said that the joint venture will help "quickly and more effectively distribute [SM's] contents" and that this will create a "positive synergistic effect."
2012: ENT, S.M.ART EXHIBITION and new contracts
In February 2012, SM launched new business initiative that specializes in travel and tourism. It acquired Hawaiian travel firm 'Happy Hawaii' and renamed it SM Town Travel. It is helmed by CEO Kang Jung Hyun and "aims to create synergies" between SM's entertainment product and travel. One of its first products is to offer special concert packages for overseas fans to attend Super Junior's Super Show 4 Tour encore concerts in Seoul in May 2012.
On 26 March 2012, 47 of their artists, including Kangta, BoA, TVXQ, CSJH The Grace, Super Junior, Zhang Li Yin, Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x), Go Ara, Isak and Lee Yeon Hee, became stockholders of SM Entertainment. Becoming stockholder enabled them to participate in the company’s vision and growth. Kangta, BoA, and most of the Super Junior and Girls’ Generation members will be receiving 680 shares each (value of around $27,200 for each member), while SHINee and f(x) members will be receiving 340 shares each (value of around $13,600 for each member).
Yoon In Wan, the creator of the popular comic, ‘The Blade of the Phantom Master‘, teamed up with S.M. Entertainment for a new webtoon series titled ‘ENT.’ The webtoon released an illustration featuring Girls Generation in cartoon form. Following up, the illustrations of the members of SHINee have been unveiled.
From 10 to 19 August SM Entertainment held an IT exhibition, the S.M.ART EXHIBITION at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center. SM’s premium contents showcased in state-of-the-art digital technology.
SM signed contracts with VISA & KB Card. They will start printing SM artist Check cards (debit cards) in October.
SM Entertainment has been cleared of the accusations regarding colluding with music distributors. On 16 August, the Seoul High Court revealed their verdict on the issue: “The FTC (Fair Trade Commission) has canceled all corrective orders against SM Entertainment, and the lawsuit costs will be paid by the defendant.” As a result, suspicions about SM Entertainment bargaining with music distributors have been found to be false.
On 17 August, MC Kang Ho-dong and Shin Dong Yup announced that they have signed exclusive contracts with SM C&C in collaboration with SM Entertainment. With the signing of the two MC's, this is seen as a move by SM to expand into television production outside of the management of singers and actors. On September 19, SM C&C merged with AM Entertainment as part of its strategy to extend into drama and video contents production. AM Entertainment, who represent actors, such as Jang Dong-gun, Kim Ha-neul, Han Ji-min. However Hyun Bin and Shin Min-ah were not included in the merge because both of their respective contract with AM had expired. They have yet to decide while the former is serving mandatory military service and the latter is still filming MBC drama Arang and the Magistrate. On the same day it was announced that they have also signed exclusive contacts with comedians Lee Su-geun and Kim Byung-man of Laws of the Jungle and 1 Night 2 Days fame.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Watch: SNSD SMTown Live in New York 2011 -
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