Konnect Entertainment (; stylized as KONNECT Entertainment) is an independent South Korean entertainment company founded on June 5, 2019 by

Kang Daniel Kang Daniel (; commonly stylized as KANGDANIEL; born Kang Eui-geon []; December 10, 1996) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, and businessman who rose to fame in early 2017 as the first-place winner of the Produce 101 Season 2, second ...

. The company is based in the

Gangnam District Gangnam District ( ; , ) is one of the 25 local government districts which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Gangnam translates to "South of the (Han) River". Gangnam District is the third largest district in Seoul, with an area of . A ...

of Seoul in South Korea. As of September 2021, Konnect fully manages solo artists Kang Daniel,

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

, and Yuju while domestically managing solo artist CL. It is also home to dance crew We Dem Boyz (WDBZ).

History

Konnect Entertainment was founded on June 5, 2019 as a one-man agency for and by Kang Daniel. The name "Konnect" is a fusion of the words "Korea" and "connect", which reveals his goal to connect Korea to the rest of the world through his future activities. Immediately after the disbandment of project boy group

Wanna One Wanna One () was a South Korean boy band formed by CJ E&M through the second season of ''Produce 101''. The group was composed of eleven members: Kang Daniel, Park Ji-hoon, Lee Dae-hwi, Kim Jae-hwan, Ong Seong-wu, Park Woo-jin, Lai Kuan-lin, ...

, it was revealed that Kang was in a legal dispute with his former agency due to the transfer of his exclusive contract rights to third parties without his prior consent. This dispute resulted in his six-month hiatus from the entertainment industry until the

Seoul Central District Court 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 of ...

ruled in his favor, allowing the suspension of his contract. This ruling meant that he could pursue individual entertainment activities without any interference from his former agency. After receiving help from multiple experts as well as his lawyers, Kang established both KD Corporation Ltd. and Konnect Entertainment. A representative from the agency revealed that:

"Kang decided to go in the direction of establishing a one-man agency after considering every possible angle in terms of what agency structure would best suit his long-term activities. His decision was also heavily influenced by the fact that he wanted to return to his fans, who had waited for a long time, as quickly as possible."

During the comeback show for his second EP that aired on Mnet and M2 channels, Kang revealed that his dance team at Konnect Entertainment partially consists of friends that he has known since before his debut. As for KD Corporation Ltd., plans to branch out into various business directions in the future were announced. In February 2020, a cafe on the first floor of Konnect Entertainment's building in the Gangnam District of Seoul called Cafe de Konnect officially opened for business. It held a fan-only event on February 19 and 20 before opening to the public on the following day. The fan event allowed 100 fans to claim a free drink after showing their membership card from Kang's official fancafe on a first-come, first-served basis. In the same month,

Kakao Friends Kakao Friends (stylized as KAKAO FRIENDS; ) are featured characters based on KakaoTalk emoticons released in November 2012 by Kakao. The copyrights of the characters are currently owned and managed by Kakao's subsidiary Kakao IX, which was forme ...

released a limited-edition beverage and dessert menu as part of its collaboration line with Kang for three cafes including Cafe de Konnect. In February 2021, Konnect Entertainment announced that it would launch a

mobile application A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

for Kang's official fancafe which had previously been located on the company's official website. The app was released for free for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

on the

Apple App Store The App Store is an app store platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS Software Deve ...

and for Android on the

Google Play Store Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating sy ...

on March 30, 2021. This marked the first time an artist in Korea had ever released their own app. Developed by Konnect and titled "Kang Daniel", the

social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, ac ...

has an automatic translation function with 10 translatable languages including:

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions ...

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

, Malay,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Port ...

, and Thai. In August 2021, it was announced that singer-songwriter and producer

had signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment. The agency confirmed this and said "we will spare no effort to support him so that he can showcase his full potential as a producer and artist". Following her departure from

Source Music Diegetic music or source music is music in a drama (e.g., film or video game) that is part of the fictional setting and so, presumably, is heard by the characters. The term refers to diegesis, a style of storytelling. The opposite of source mu ...

and the disbandment of South Korean girl group

GFriend GFriend (stylized in all caps; ) was a South Korean girl group formed by Source Music in 2015. The group consisted of six members: Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji. They debuted with the extended play (EP) '' Season of Glass'' on ...

, former member Yuju signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment in September 2021. In June 2022, Cafe de Konnect launched a beverage and dessert menu to commemorate the collaboration line between Kang and

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American Animated series, animated Television comedy, comedy Television show, television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It ...

. In the same year, the agency won the

APAN Apan is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 346.9 km². Overview As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was an important site in the ...

K-pop Label Award for "leading the Korean wave" as it promotes the development of K-pop and is active in various fields. Kang, Chancellor, and Yuju each held a special performance at the 2022 APAN Star Awards to commemorate this award as artists of the agency. Following their placement as runner-up on Mnet's ''

Street Man Fighter ''Street Man Fighter'' ( ko, 스트릿 맨 파이터), often abbreviated ''SMF'', is the second season of the South Korean dance competition franchise '' Street Woman Fighter''. It premiered on Mnet on August 23, 2022, and aired every Tuesday a ...

'' and their long-standing relationship with the agency as Kang's dance team, dance crew We Dem Boyz (WDBZ) officially signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment in November 2022. In the same month, they were featured on Kang's lead single "Nirvana" from his repackaged album '' The Story: Retold''.

Partnerships

In July 2019, Sony Music Korea confirmed that it would take charge as both the investor and distributor of Kang's solo debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

(EP), '' Color on Me''. Since then, the company has continued distributing Kang's subsequent works including his three-part color series: ''

Cyan Cyan () is the color between green and blue on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 490 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK col ...

'', ''

Magenta Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish- red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish- crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and bl ...

'', and ''

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In ...

''. In June 2022, he started Japanese activities in partnership with

Warner Music Japan Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records * Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Rec ...

. In April 2021, South Korean game development company Dalcomsoft revealed its next

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pr ...

app featuring music from Kang Daniel. Developed by Dalcomsoft Inc. and in collaboration with Konnect Entertainment, the app was released on April 29, 2021 for

on the

and for Android on the

. ''Superstar Kang Daniel'' is the first version of the app series exclusively made for a solo artist. Two months later, it was announced that CL had signed a domestic management contract with Konnect Entertainment. The agency confirmed that it would be responsible for CL's domestic activities and said "we will actively support CL so that she can carry out her music activities as a top-tier musician". This would work as a partnership agreement between Konnect Entertainment and CL's own label, Very Cherry. In September 2022, South Korean production company Snowballs revealed its next

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...

app featuring Kang Daniel as the main character. Developed by Snowballs Inc. and in collaboration with Konnect Entertainment, ''Starway Kang Daniel'' was released on September 29, 2022 for iOS on the Apple App Store and for Android on the Google Play Store.

Philanthropy

In December 2019, it was revealed that Konnect Entertainment donated 31,000

briquettes A briquette (; also spelled briquet) is a compressed block of coal dust or other combustible biomass material (e.g. charcoal, sawdust, wood chips, peat, or paper) used for fuel and kindling to start a fire. The term derives from the French word ' ...

to 31 briquette banks nationwide to thank fans for helping those in need on Kang's birthday. In December 2020, Kang and all of his agency staff participated in the Holt Children's Services (HCS) campaign "Please Protect Me" by handcrafting and delivering 100 book covers to the humanitarian organization. Proceeds from the book cover kits bought by Konnect would be used to provide mental and medical care, housing, living, and educational support to children in need.

Artists

Soloists

* CL (co-managed by Very Cherry) *

* Yuju

Producers

* Chancellor

Actors

* Kang Daniel

Dance crews

* We Dem Boyz (WDBZ)

Discography

2019–present

Accolade

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Konnect Entertainment South Korean record labels South Korean independent record labels Talent agencies of South Korea 2019 establishments in South Korea Entertainment companies established in 2019 Companies based in Seoul K-pop record labels Record labels established in 2019