Chrome Entertainment is a record label and talent agency founded by Hwang Hyun-chang in 2011, based in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Since 2014, Chrome Entertainment is a

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

under

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

History

Hwang Hyun-chang, a commercial photographer, was inspired to create a girl group after seeing

T-ara T-ara (; ko, 티아라) are a South Korean girl group formed by MBK Entertainment in 2009, consists of four members: Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their close partner ...

's "

Roly Poly Roly Poly is an American restaurant chain, chain of sandwich stores. They first opened their doors in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996. History The first Roly Poly Sandwich Shop opened in 1997 in the Buckhead (Atlanta), Buckhead section of Atlanta, ...

" on television. Before that, he had never paid attention to

pop idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

s and only listened to

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. After an initial investment of 10 million won, he converted his photography studio, Chrome Creative, into Chrome Entertainment. To finance this venture, Hwang sold his camera gear, used up all his savings, and went into debt. He later said, "If I had known how much it would cost, I would never have done it." The first group that Chrome Entertainment formed and managed was

Crayon Pop Crayon Pop (Hangul: 크레용팝) is a South Korean girl group formed under Chrome Entertainment in 2012. The group consisted of four members: Geummi, Ellin, Choa, and Way. Their fifth member, Soyul, left the group in 2017. Crayon Pop officiall ...

, who debuted in July 2012. After the success of Crayon Pop's "

Bar Bar Bar "Bar Bar Bar" () is the second single album, and fourth single overall by Crayon Pop. It was released digitally on June 20, 2013 by Chrome Entertainment and distributed by CJ E&M Music. "Bar Bar Bar" became a viral hit in late July, eventually re ...

", which earned the company US$2 million, Chrome was able to debut more groups. Boy band

K-Much Be.A (Hangul: 비에이, shortened from Be. A or Be an A; formerly known as K-Much) was a South Korean boy band formed under Chrome Entertainment in 2014. They debuted on 7 January 2014 as K-Much with the release of their first mini album ''Be ...

debuted in January 2014, and two more groups debuted in June 2014: girl group

Bob Girls Bob Girls () was a South Korean girl group under the management of Chrome Entertainment. The group consisted of four members, Dahye, Yujeong, Jina and Danbi. They debuted on June 10, 2014 with the single "No Way" from ''The 1st Single Album''. ...

and male duo Zan Zan (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 짠짠). On 2 December 2014, male trot singer Her Min-young signed a contract with Chrome Entertainment. On February 24, 2015, it was announced that Bob Girls had disbanded. Later that year, Zan Zan and Her Min-young left the agency. In 2016, Chrome Entertainment had major changes in management, with founder Hwang Hyun-chang leaving the agency. Kim Jeong-tae replaced him as CEO.

Partnership with Sony Music

On 13 August 2013, Chrome Entertainment signed a strategic partnership contract with

, which gave Sony international distribution rights to Chrome's music and albums. On 7 July 2014, Chrome Entertainment signed a label contract which made Chrome an independent label under Sony Music Entertainment. With this new contract, Chrome has the ability to distribute music from other agencies. In August 2014, it was reported that K-pop trio Lip Service had signed a contract with Chrome Entertainment. The company was subsequently credited under "manufacture" (as Chrome Entertainment Sony Music) on Lip Service's single album, ''Upgrade'', released 20 August 2014.

Concerts

Chrome Entertainment has held several concerts for their artists. The first such concert was on 21 June 2014, called Chrome Happy Concert in

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest List of cities in South Korea, city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the ...

. On 4 October, the First Chrome Family in Japan Concert was held in

Shinagawa, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The Ward refers to itself as Shinagawa City in English. The Ward is home to ten embassies. , the Ward had an estimated population of 380,293 and a population density of 16,510 persons per km2. The total a ...

. On 3 December, Chrome Family released a single album, ''2014 Chrome Family – A Very Special Christmas'', with the single "Love Christmas".

Artists

Recording artists

Be.A Be.A (Hangul: 비에이, shortened from Be. A or Be an A; formerly known as K-Much) was a South Korean boy band formed under Chrome Entertainment in 2014. They debuted on 7 January 2014 as K-Much with the release of their first mini album ''Bey ...

(''Mix9'' contestant) *Bz-Boys

Actors

* Cho Hyung-joon * Lee Geun-hwa * Lee Ho-suck

Former artists

* Loki (K-Much, 2014) *

(2014–2015) * Zan Zan (2014–2015) * Her Min-young (2014–2015) *

(2012–2017) *

(2014–2018)

Discography

References

External links

* {{Authority control Talent agencies of South Korea Record labels established in 2011 South Korean record labels