SM Entertainment facts for kids
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Native name
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SM 엔터테인먼트
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Formerly
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SM Studio (1989–1995) |
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| Traded as | KRX: 041510 |
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| Founder | Lee Soo-man |
| Headquarters | SM Entertainment 83-21, Wangsimni-ro, Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea Singapore (TBC) |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Revenue |  US$657 million (2022) |
| US$62.3 million (2022) |
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Number of employees
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601 (As of 2023[update]) |
| Subsidiaries | See subsidiaries |
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. (Korean: SM엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the careers of many K-pop stars garnering huge global fanbases. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house. SM Entertainment is known for having led the worldwide K-pop phenomenon and the musical side of "Hallyu", also known as the "Korean Wave", with early overseas successes such as H.O.T., S.E.S. and BoA.
The label currently represents K-pop artists such as Kangta, BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, J-Min, Shinee, Zhou Mi, Exo, Red Velvet, NCT, WayV, SuperM, Aespa, Got the Beat and Riize and has previously represented Hyun Jin-Young, H.O.T., S.E.S., Shinhwa, Fly to the Sky, The Grace, f(x) and Henry Lau. It also manages actors, including Lee Jae-ryong, Yoo Ho-jeong, Cho Jun-young and previously represented Lee Yeon-hee, Go Ara. In Japan, SM co-publishes Avex Trax releases for artists including Ayumi Hamasaki, Namie Amuro, and Koda Kumi, as well as Johnny's Entertainment artists such as Arashi and KAT-TUN.
Contents
- History
- 1989–2000: Creation and first-generation artists
- 2000–2005: Affiliations and second-generation artists
- 2005–2010: Expansion and international artists
- 2010–2012: Joint and further ventures
- 2013–2016: Third-generation artists and new music ventures
- 2017–2022: NCT expansion, business expansion and the end of "SM 2.0" era
- 2023–present: Announcing "SM 3.0" era and major adjustments
- Divisions
- Artists
- Discography
- Filmography
- Philanthropy
- See also
History
1989–2000: Creation and first-generation artists
After graduating from California State University, Northridge in the United States, Lee Soo-man returned to Korea and in 1989 established what was then known as "SM Studio" in the Apgujeong neighborhood of Gangnam, Seoul and signed singer Hyun Jin-young. During the 1990s, SM Studio developed an in-house system that looked after all aspects of its artists' careers. Lee's approach was targeted at teenage audiences, and took a holistic view of the qualities needed to become a successful entertainer. In February 1995, the company changed its name to SM Entertainment and set up its capital fund. SM then developed an in-house production system and created a string of successful artists, including boy band H.O.T. in 1996, girl group S.E.S. in 1997, boy band Shinhwa in 1998, R&B duo Fly to the Sky in 1999, and soloist BoA in 2000.
Jung Hae-ik was appointed CEO at the time of SM's official reestablishment in 1995, and was succeeded by Kim Kyung-wook in 1998.
2000–2005: Affiliations and second-generation artists
The early 2000s saw the disbandment of both H.O.T (in 2001) and S.E.S (in 2002). Shinhwa departed to a new agency, and new acts like the duo Isak N Jiyeon and the boy band Black Beat failed to attain the popularity of previous SM artists. In December 2000, SM established an affiliate company called Fandango Korea. In January 2001, the company founded an overseas division, SM Entertainment Japan. Around the same time, the company was approved for listing on KOSDAQ, and SM established an affiliation with the Japanese major label Avex Trax. SM also formed the subsidiaries BM Entertainment and Cid. K Entertainment (under which the girl groups M.I.L.K. and Shinvi were signed, respectively), but they later dissolved when their groups disbanded.
In late 2002, SM was awarded the Grand Prix of Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the Culture Contents for Export Award in music.
In 2003, SM became affiliated with Starlight Corporation Ltd. and C-Cube Entertainment Corporation. That same year, the company debuted five-member boy group TVXQ. The following years saw the debuts of artists such as TRAX (2004), The Grace (2005), and Super Junior (2005).
2005–2010: Expansion and international artists
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In 2005, Kim Young-min became the company's third CEO, under whom several artists debuted with a view to promoting outside of South Korea. Artists produced by SM during this period included Chinese-born soloist Zhang Liyin (2006), Japanese-language soloist J-Min (2007), Girls' Generation (2007), Shinee (2008), and f(x) (2009). In April 2008, SM debuted a Mandarin-language sub-unit of Super Junior, named Super Junior-M. In October 2008, SM announced plans for BoA's debut in the American market, under a newly formed subsidiary label named SM Entertainment USA.
In May 2008, the SM Art Company opened under co-CEO Pyo In-bong, with a focus on producing theatrical works. The company's first venture was a production of the American musical comedy Xanadu, starring Super Junior members Heechul and Kangin.
2010–2012: Joint and further ventures
In February 2010, after two decades on SM's board of directors, founder Lee Soo-man resigned from his position in order to "focus more energy on SM's overseas business, new business management, and artist development." In March of the same year, KMP Holdings was established as a joint venture between SM, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, Star Empire, Medialine, CAN Entertainment, and Music Factory. The firm's first release from SM was Super Junior's fifth studio album, Mr. Simple, which marked the end of SM's self-distribution. In May, SM announced its highest ever first quarter operating profits, at KR₩10.4 billion, up 471% from the same period the previous year. Gross revenue was reported at KR₩22.7 billion, a 58% increase on the previous year.
In April 2011, SM, YG, JYP, KeyEast, AMENT, and Star J Entertainment came together to form United Asia Management, a joint investment agency geared towards advancing Asian music worldwide. That August, SM joined with Thai media company TrueVisions to create an international joint venture, SM True.
In 2012, SM debuted the large-scale boy group Exo, split into two units in order to promote in Korea and China simultaneously. In February, SM acquired Hawaiian travel firm Happy Hawaii and launched SMTown Travel, a new business initiative specializing in travel and tourism under Kang Jung-hyun. Later that year, SMTown Travel offered package deals for overseas fans attending Super Junior's Super Show 4 Tour encore concerts in Seoul. In March, 47 of SM's recording artists became stockholders of the company. Kangta, BoA, and most members of Super Junior and Girls' Generation received 680 shares each (with a value of approximately US$27,200 per person), while members of more recent groups like Shinee and f(x) received 340 shares each (with a value of around US$13,600 per person). In August, SM held an art exhibition at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center, and collaborated with Visa and KB Kookmin Card to begin printing SM artist cards. That same month, Korean TV personalities Kang Ho-dong and Shin Dong-yup announced that they had signed exclusive contracts with SM's new broadcasting subsidiary, SM Culture & Contents (SM C&C), marking SM's expansion into television. The next month, in September, SM C&C merged with AM Entertainment (which then represented top actors such as Jang Dong-gun, Kim Ha-neul, and Han Ji-min), and two other TV personalities, Lee Su-geun and Kim Byung-man, announced that they had also signed with SM. In November, KMP Holdings was acquired by KT Music, and in June 2013, KT Music absorbed KMP's distribution network.
2013–2016: Third-generation artists and new music ventures
In 2013, SM C&C acquired Hoon Media (a production company led by Lee Hoon-hee, responsible for KBS serials 1 vs 100, Heroines 6, Qualifications of Men, and Music Bank) and Woollim Entertainment, a record label responsible for artists such as Infinite.
In January 2014, SM and the other six talent agencies behind KMP Holdings formed a collective bond partnership and bought 13.48% of KT Music's stocks, leaving parent KT Corporation with 49.99%. In February, SM acquired a share in Baljunso, an indie record label founded in 1991 by Kang Byung-yong. On August 1, SM debuted Red Velvet, its first girl group since f(x) five years prior.
In August 2015, SM partnered with sports marketing company IB Worldwide to create Galaxia SM, responsible for golfer Park In-bee, gymnast Son Yeon-jae, and Choo Shin-soo, right fielder for the Texas Rangers. On November 6, the 10th anniversary of Super Junior's debut, SM announced the creation of the group's own sub-label, Label SJ. In late 2015, SM partnered with modeling company ESteem to promote self-owned content and network. The venture later expanded its acting division through the acting debuts of models Ki Do-hoon and Lee Cheol-woo. In 2015, SM had reported revenues of KR₩325 billion (approximately US$287 million) and a net income of KR₩21.7 billion (US$19 million).
In January 2016, founder Lee Soo-man held a conference at the SM Coex Artium, announcing plans for a new boy group, NCT an acronym for Neo Culture Technology, with "unlimited members". Its first sub-unit, NCT U, released two debut singles in April 2016. NCT has since expanded to three more units - NCT 127 in July 2016, NCT Dream in August 2016, and the China-based unit WayV in January 2019. The sub-label Label V manages WayV. With members debuting yearly from 2016 to 2020, NCT as a whole currently has 20 members.
At the beginning of 2016, the company opened a restaurant, SMT Seoul, and also established a series of stores selling branded foods under the name SUM Market. On February 11, 2016, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group acquired a 4% minority stake in SM Entertainment for US$30 million. On May 5, 2016, SM released the first single under its newly established EDM label ScreaM Records, "Wave", featuring f(x) members Amber and Luna and produced by Xavi & Gi and E-mart's Electro Mart. ScreaM Records opened as part of SM's New Culture Technology 2016 project, under which SM also initiated the digital music channel SM Station and a number of mobile apps. In late 2016, SM began organizing a League of Legends tournament, called SM Super Celeb League, in which SM artists Heechul and Baekhyun played against both professional gamers and fans from South Korea and China.
2017–2022: NCT expansion, business expansion and the end of "SM 2.0" era
On February 16, 2017, a source from the task force in charge of the international K-pop academy has plans to open this upcoming September. The Gangnam-based academy is a collaborative venture with the private Jongro Sky Academy. Plans for the school to be certified as an alternative program for domestic Korean middle and high school education, as well as US secondary school education, are also underway. In March 2017, SM acquired the independent record label Mystic Entertainment, becoming the label's largest shareholder.
In March 2018, SM acquired entertainment agency KeyEast and drama production company FNC Add Culture, a subsidiary of FNC Entertainment. Two months later, FNC Add Culture changed their name to SM Life Design Group. On October 2, 2018 it was revealed SM had acquired Million Market, home to singer-song writers, rappers and R&B singers. In October 2018, SM partnered up with Trans Media of Indonesia, which was owned by CT Corp. In February 2019, Trans Media and SM signed their Heads of Joint Venture Agreement together. Later, on the same month, SM opened its Indonesian office in Jakarta.
In January 2019, SM debuted NCT's China unit, boy group band WayV. On August 8, 2019, SM and Capitol Music Group – which earlier signed NCT 127 in April 2019 – announced SuperM, a supergroup consisting of Taemin from Shinee, Baekhyun and Kai from Exo, and Taeyong, Ten, Lucas and Mark from NCT units NCT 127, NCT Dream and WayV, in the 2019 Capitol Congress event in Los Angeles. The group debuted in October 2019. The group's self-titled EP entered the Billboard 200 albums chart at number one, making SuperM the first Asian artist in history to top the US album chart with a debut release. In November 2019, SM signed with Creative Artists Agency for representation in all areas. In March 2020, SM appointed production head Lee Sung Soo as the company's CEO, as well as Tak Young Joon as SM's chief marketing officer (CMO).
By April 2020, it was announced that SM and Naver had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with purpose to expand the reach of concerts to global audience. The joint efforts leads to the creation of Beyond Live, a series of online live concerts, which were created in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On April 20, SM released the first trailer on their official YouTube channel announcing the upcoming series of live concerts dubbed as the "new era of live concert", with the first live show to be headlined by SuperM. The concerts are hosted on Naver's V Live app and made available to audience from more than 200 countries. On August 3, Naver invested ₩100 billion in SM. This would be used for their subsidiaries SMEJ Plus and Mystic Story, as well as plans for merging their fanclubs into V Live's Fanship platform and developing more Beyond Live concerts. A day later, SM announced its partnership with JYP Entertainment to establish Beyond Live Corporation, a joint company for producing Beyond Live concerts. SM Coex Artium closed in June 2020. A venue located in Changwon, which has been planned since 2016, will replace it. In addition to the new complex, SM partnered with Jongro Haneul Education to launch SM Institute, an educational facility to train local and international aspiring artists; the institute is expected to open in March 2021. On June 12, it was announced that SM partnered with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to release orchestral versions of their artists' most popular songs under the label SM Classics. In October 2020, SM announced that Aespa, their first new girl group in six years, would debut with their digital single "Black Mamba" on November 17.
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On December 27, 2021, SM announced the creation of their rotational all-female supergroup Girls On Top. The group's first lineup, Got the Beat, consists of BoA, Taeyeon and Hyoyeon from Girls' Generation, Seulgi and Wendy from Red Velvet, and Karina and Winter from Aespa. The group released their debut single "Step Back" on January 3, 2022.
On October 1, 2022, an amusement park collaboration between SM and Everland was launched, based on artists and concepts within the SM Culture Universe (SMCU), called Ever SM Town.
In 2022, SM terminated its production license contract with founder Lee Soo-man's company Like Planning. On December 1, SM announced that the company will be setting up its Southeast Asian headquarters in Singapore, which will be managing joint ventures in Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The company plans to launch retail businesses such as cafes, merchandise stores and pop-up exhibitions in the country.
2023–present: Announcing "SM 3.0" era and major adjustments
On February 3, 2023, SM released a video titled "SM 3.0: Producing Strategy Multi 'Production Center/Label' System" on its official YouTube channel, in which co-CEOs Lee Sung-soo and Tak Young-jun revealed that the label was passing from its "2.0" era to the "3.0 era", with major adjustments to come concerning the label's operations. These included shifting from a one-man production system led by founder and executive producer Lee Soo-man to a system under which multiple production teams, both internal and external, would supervise music production and artist promotions. A goal of the new system was to avoid production delays. On February 6, it was announced that Kakao had purchased a 9.05% stake of SM Entertainment, becoming the company's second-largest shareholder at the time. The next day, Lee Soo-man filed an injunction against SM Entertainment for its issuance of new shares and convertible bonds to Kakao, stating the deal between the companies was "illegal" without his permission as the largest shareholder. Two days later, it was announced that Hybe Corporation had become SM Entertainment's largest shareholder after acquiring a 14.8% stake from Lee Soo-man for approximately 422.8 billion won, with the company subsequently acquiring Galaxia SM's 1% stake on March 3, increasing their share to 15.8%.
On March 3, 2023, a South Korean court issued an injunction against SM Entertainment's deal with Kakao. On March 6, 2023, Kakao launched a tender offer bid, in which it sought to acquire 35% of SM Entertainment's shares, in addition to the 4.9% stake already owned by the company. On March 12, 2023, Hybe announced that it no longer planned to acquire a majority stake in SM Entertainment, saying that the bidding war with Kakao could "damage shareholder value". On March 24, 2023, Hybe announced that it would sell its entire stake in SM Entertainment to Kakao by participating in its tender offer. On March 28, 2023, Kakao announced that it had successfully acquired a 35% stake in SM Entertainment through its tender offer bid, resulting in a combined 39.87% stake between Kakao and its subsidiary, Kakao Entertainment, making it the largest shareholder. Hybe sold half of its stake in SM to Kakao, leaving it with 8.81%. On March 31, 2023, during the shareholders' meeting, SM Entertainment appointed chief financial officer (CFO) Jang Cheol-hyuk as its new CEO. Former co-CEO Lee Sung-soo returned to his role in A&R as chief A&R officer (CAO). Lee Soo-man declared the meeting "the end of an era" for the company he founded, stating he was "moving toward the future".
On August 1, 2023, SM Entertainment announced that they would form a joint venture division with Kakao Entertainment in North America. The following day, SM announced the establishment of its music publishing subsidiary, Kreation Music Rights. SM debuted its new boy group Riize in early September, featuring former NCT members Sungchan and Shotaro. On November 16, 2023, SM Entertainment signed an agreement with British entertainment company Moon&Back to debut a new British boy group. The final NCT sub-unit, NCT Wish, made their debut in February 2024. On March 18, SM's music publishing subsidiary Kreation Music Rights launched new production label Kustomade as part of SM's multi-label strategy, managing soloist Kim Woo-jin and Yelo, a member of the production team MonoTree.
Divisions
- SM Studios
- SM C&C (since 2012)
- SM Life Design Group (2018)
- Dear U (2017)
- Mystic Story (since 2017)
- KeyEast (since 2018)
- Dream Maker Entertainment (2006)
- SM Brand Marketing (2008)
- ESteem (since 2015)
- Galaxia SM (since 2015)
- SM Town Planner (2017)
- SM Culture Partners (2022)
- Studio Kwangya (2022)
- Kreation Music Rights (2023)
- Kustomade (2024)
- Studio White (2023)
Branches
- SM Japan (2001)
- SM USA (2008)
- SM True (2011), joint venture with True Corporation of Thailand
- SM Entertainment Beijing (2012)
- SM Entertainment Indonesia (2019), joint venture with Trans Media of Indonesia
- SM Entertainment Vietnam (2020)
Labels
LIC stands for Labels In Company and is SM Entertainment's in-house label were introduced following SM 3.0.
- ScreaM Records: An exclusive label established in 2016 to focus on the electronic dance music genre.
- Label V: An exclusive label established in 2019 to manage WayV's activities in China.
- SM Classics: A classical music label established in 2020 in partnership with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Krucialize: A new label established in 2024 for an undisclosed SM project.
Former labels
- Baljunso: A South Korean indie record label founded in 1991 and acquired by SM in February 2014. The label is now defunct.
- Label SJ: An exclusive label established in 2015 to manage Super Junior. It was officially shut down in March 2023 due to the group being moved to SM's new production center.
- Woollim Entertainment: A South Korean record label and entertainment company founded in 2003. In August 2013, SM acquired the label and merged it into their subsidiary SM C&C as Woollim Label. In March 2016, SM C&C decided to spin off their music content business with Woollim.
- All I Know Music (AIKM): A hip hop label founded by Mystic Story. It became part of SM in 2019 following their acquisition of Mystic Story. The label is now defunct.
- Million Market: A South Korean record label founded in 2012. It was acquired by SM in October 2018.As November 2023, the remained shares of SM had acquired by Chairman Cha Won, a major shareholder of BPM Entertainment.
Artists
Discography
Filmography
Philanthropy
On February 13, 2023, SM donated 200 million won to help in 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake through Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association.
See also
In Spanish: SM Entertainment para niños
