SM Entertainment
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| Type | Public (KOSDAQ: 041510) |
|---|---|
| Founded | February 14, 1995 |
| Founder(s) | Lee Soo Man |
| Headquarters |  Seoul, South Korea |
| Key people | Kim Young Min Chief Executive Officer Lee Jong In Chief Financial Officer Lee Soo Man Director Han Sae Min Director Nam So Young Director |
| Industry | Music & Entertainment |
| Products | Music & Entertainment |
| Services | Music & Entertainment |
| Revenue | ₩43,458,754,581 (2008) |
| Owner(s) | Lee Soo Man |
| Employees | 146 (as of March 2007) |
| Subsidiaries | SM TinTin Hall (2000) SM Entertainment Japan (2001) SM Academy (2003) SM Pictures (2007) SM Amusement SM F&B Development SM Entertainment USA (2008) |
| Website | Official Site |
SM Entertainment is a talent agency, producer, and publisher of Korean pop music, founded by Lee Soo-man. Initially, "SM" was an abbreviation of the agency founder's name, but now stands for "Star Museum." Once the home to top-selling groups such as H.O.T., S.E.S., and Shinhwa, its current roster includes BoA, TVXQ, Girls' Generation, Super Junior, The Grace, SHINee, Zhang Li Yin and f(x) (band). SM Entertainment also co-publishes Avex Trax releases for Japanese artists such as Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, and Kumi Koda. The company celebrated its ten-year anniversary with a party on February 15, 2006. Its current CEO is Kim Young-min.
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[edit] 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 band 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 successful artists.
However, problems began appearing in SM Entertainment following the breakup of H.O.T. Some assumed financial issues to be the problem, but real reasons have never been officially disclosed. S.E.S. disbanded a year after H.O.T., and a few years later in 2003, SM Entertainment would see the departure of Shinhwa as well, though the group shifted towards a new management instead of breaking up and continued their success outside of SM Entertainment. 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.
The agency later found new successes in acts such as BoA and TVXQ. In addition to marketing to domestic audiences, the two artists have been aggressively promoted in Japan, as part of the company's recent blue ocean strategy to export Korean talent to larger overseas music markets. SM entered into a joint venture with Avex Trax to release music of BoA, TVXQ, The Grace, Super Junior and The TRAX in Japan. Super Junior and Zhang Liyin have been heavily promoted in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other Chinese-speaking communities, and Super Junior M, who sings in Mandarin Chinese, was created to target Chinese-speaking audience.
[edit] Major Timeline
[edit] 1990s
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 Kyoha myon Paju Kyungki do part of Seoul. 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 Apgujung dong Kangnam gu, Seoul.
[edit] 2000s
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 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. 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 won to organize its first joint-venture investment fund on the music industry. 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 Culture Contents for Export award in music. In 2003, it established its affiliation with Starlight Corporation Ltd and was awarded 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, Kyungi to Apgujung dong, Kangnam gu, Seoul. A month later, it established its affiliation with C-Cube Entertainment Corporation. In May 2005, the fourth CEO, Kim Young-min took office.[1] 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.[2]
[edit] Expanding into other markets
SM Entertainment Japan was established in 2001. SM Entertainment, along with SM Entertainment Japan, is preparing to establish a new headquarters in Beijing, China.[3] SM Entertainment will also set up its Asian headquarters in Hong Kong.[4] The company announced its plans to debut BoA in the United States under SM's new subsidiary label, SM Entertainment USA, on October 21, 2008.
[edit] Roster
SM Town, which started in 1999, is the project name for SM Entertainment's summer and winter vacation albums. SMTown albums consists of current SM Entertainment artists. Each SMTown album consists of one SMTown song and a song from each artist or group.
[edit] Current
[edit] Recording artists |
[edit] Other artists |
[edit] Former
- Black Beat
- Fly to the Sky
- H.O.T.
- Isak N Jiyeon
- Jang Nara
- M.I.L.K.
- Moon Hee Jun
- S.E.S.
- Shinhwa
- Shinvi
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- SM Entertainment Official website (Korean)
- SM Entertainment Japan Official website (Japanese)
- Avex Trax Japan Official website (Japanese)
- SM Entertainment & Avex Trax Joint-Venture website (Japanese)
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