Kakao M Corp. (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company operated as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management, concert production company, and music publishing house. , the company was the leading record company in South Korea by net revenue according to the statistics compiled by the Korea Music Content Industry Association (KMCIA) through the

Gaon Music Chart The Circle Chart (), previously known as the Gaon Music Chart or the Gaon Chart (), tabulates the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in South Korea. Founded in 2010, it is produced by the Korea Music Content Association and sponsored ...

(30.4%); it was also the second leading company in terms of album sales (25.4%). LOEN Entertainment became a subsidiary of

Kakao Kakao Corporation () is a South Korean internet conglomerate headquartered in Jeju City. It was formed through the merger of Daum Communications and the original Kakao Inc. in 2010. The company was renamed Daum Kakao in 2014. In 2015, it was ...

in January 2016 and was subsequently renamed two years later. Online music sales accounted for most of the company's profit, with 93.9% of revenue coming from online music sales. The label also distributed CDs of some other entertainment agencies in South Korea through its branch 1theK, but made less than 5% of its revenue through them. On March 2, 2021, the company became defunct upon merging into

KakaoPage KakaoPage () is a monetized content platform optimized for mobile devices, launched by Kakao Corp. in 2013 and currently owned by its subsidiary Kakao Entertainment. The service launched on April 9, 2013, as a digital content marketplace, allowin ...

. The merger resulted in the formation of a new company,

Kakao Entertainment Kakao Entertainment Corp. () is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the Internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries KakaoPa ...

History

1978–2008: Founding of Seoul Records

Kakao M was founded as Seoul Records in 1978 by Min Yeong-bin as a subsidiary of YBM Sisa, a company mainly involved in creating language-learning tapes. The company was officially registered in 1982, and in 1984 it began to produce and distribute records of classical and traditional music. It was registered as a

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

company in 1999 when it began to sell albums while operating an online shop. In 2000, the company's name was changed to YBM Seoul Records and it began to operate on

KOSDAQ The Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ; ) is a trading board of Korea Exchange (KRX) in South Korea established in 1996. Initially set up by Korea Financial Investment Association as an independent stock market from the Korean ...

. The company joined the

IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...

in 2003. Korean conglomerate

SK Telecom SK Telecom Co., Ltd., abbreviated as SKT ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 perce ...

bought a 60% share of the company in 2005, and YBM Seoul Records subsequently became part of SK Group.

2008–2016: Name change to LOEN Entertainment

As of 2008, the company was known as LOEN Entertainment. LOEN stood for: Live On Entertainment Networks and LOve + ENtertainment LOEN took charge of SK Telecom's online music distribution service,

MelOn A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

, in 2009. MelOn is currently the most used online music sales site in South Korea. In 2012, the company signed a deal with streaming site Viki so that content from their artists (such as IU,

Brown Eyed Girls Brown Eyed Girls (; ) is a South Korean girl group. The group is composed of four members: JeA, Miryo, Narsha, and Gain (singer), Gain. They debuted as an R&B/ballad vocal group with "Come Closer (다가와서)" in 2006 through the release of ...

and Drunken Tiger) would be featured on their site. In August 2012, the recording artists under LOEN collaborated to release a collaborative EP titled ''LOEN Tree Summer Story'' under the collective title 'LOEN Tree'. On July 18, 2013,

Affinity Equity Partners Affinity Equity Partners is an Asian private equity firm that focuses on leveraged buyout and growth capital transactions. Affinity operates as a Pan-Asian firm focusing on investment opportunities in Korea, Southeast Asia, Greater China, Austral ...

, through its subsidiary Star Invest Holdings Ltd., bought 52.56% of LOEN Entertainment's shares, leaving SK Group with only 15%. Five months later, Star Invest Holdings acquired RealNetworks, Inc.'s 8.83% stake in the company. The company was reorganized to include two labels: "LOEN Tree" (Jo Yeong-cheol) and "Collabodadi" (

Shinsadong Tiger Lee Ho-yang (June 3, 1983 – February 23, 2024), known professionally as Shinsadong Tiger, was a South Korean music producer and songwriter. After debuting in 2001 at the age of 18, he still worked several odd jobs to fund his music career. H ...

). On December 18, 2013, LOEN Entertainment acquired 70% of shares in

Starship Entertainment Starship Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2008 and became an independent subsidiary of Kakao Entertainment in 2013. It is also called one of the "five major agencies" in the pop music world, with SM Entertainm ...

, making it an independent subsidiary of the company.

2016–2021: Acquisition by Kakao and name change

On January 11, 2016, LOEN Entertainment was acquired by

Corporation. On May 11, 2017, LOEN Entertainment announced its strategic

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

production alliance with

CJ E&M CJ ENM Entertainment Division (), formerly known as CJ E&M, is a South Korean entertainment and mass media division (formerly company) of CJ ENM. In July 2018, the company merged with the parent company's subsidiary CJ O Shopping, with the latte ...

's drama production subsidiary Studio Dragon Corporation. Among the plans under the alliance is producing dramas based on web novels and

webtoon Webtoons () are a type of episodic digital comics that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allo ...

s on

and Daum Webtoons (which copyrights are managed by ''Podotree'', the web literature subsidiary of Kakao). (LOEN Entertainment first entered the drama production industry three years ago through the cable-web drama ''Another Parting'', which starred Seo In-guk and Wang Ji-won.) On August 25, LOEN Entertainment announced that its joint venture with Studio Dragon will be called as Mega Monster. The company has also signed actress

Kim So-hyun Kim So-hyun (; born 4 June 1999) is an Australian-born South Korean actress. She is known for her leading roles in the youth series ''Who Are You: School 2015'' (2015), historical dramas ''The Emperor: Owner of the Mask'' (2017), ''The Tale o ...

through setting up her own independent label, E&T Story Entertainment, which is led by her long-time manager Park Chan-woo. Upon approval by the company's board of directors in a December 20 meeting, the company is known as Kakao M Corporation () since March 23, 2018. The letter M in the new corporate name stands for three things: Melon (the company's flagship online music service), Music (the company's core business) and Media (another business that the company will advance to in the future). The company will now also have a corporate

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

, ''We Entertain''. Barely a month before the company's relaunch under its new name, Sean Seong-hoon Park resigned from both his positions as CEO of the company and chief strategy officer of its parent company, and later moved to

Netmarble Games Netmarble Corp. (Hangul, Korean: 넷마블 주식회사) is a South Korean game developer and publisher, which was founded in 2000 by Bang Jun-hyuk. History Netmarble has its origins in the video game developer Ipopsoft (). Around the late 1990 ...

. He was replaced by Melon division head Lee Jae-wook. On February 28, 2021, Kakao M's music was removed from

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

after its licensing deal with the streaming service expired. They had addressed the removal in a statement, citing the streaming service as the party who had ensued it. On March 11, 2021, Kakao M renewed its licensing deal with Spotify. In March 2021, Kakao M and KakaoPage merged into a company named

, while having its own representative system under the name "M Company" there.

Corporate identity

Company name

The company name was Kakao M, the letter ''M'' standing for: * ''Melon'' (the company's flagship online music service) * ''Music'' (the company's core business) * ''Media'' (another business that the company would advance to in the future)

Logos

File:YBMSeoulRecords.jpg, The company's logos as YBM Seoul Records (2000–2008) File:LOEN Entertainment.png, The company's logos as LOEN Entertainment (2008–2018) File:Logo of Kakao M.svg, The company's logos as Kakao M (2018–2021)

Catalog numbers

, Kakao M used two types of catalog number codes for its releases: the L10000**** series (later at the -5000 suffix) and the L20000**** series (later at the -1000 suffix).

Controversies

Price fixing

2011
LOEN Entertainment, along with then-parent

, was one of the 15 companies fined and sued by the Korean FTC for price rigging in 2011. The company was fined $9.6 million for its role in the scheme. 2016
On October 9, 2016, the

Supreme Court of Korea The Supreme Court of Korea () is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdictio ...

handed out a 100 million won fine each to LOEN Entertainment and its closest competitor

Genie Music Genie Music (), a subsidiary of KT Corporation, is a South Korean company that specializes in the production and distribution of music content. Its music streaming service is the second most used in South Korea with 2.5 million subscribers as ...

(then known as KT Music) for colluding in price fixing, dating back to a case filed in 2008. Co-CEO Shin Won-soo, who was the sole CEO at the time being, was also sentenced to pay 10 million won.

Stealing royalties

On September 26, 2019, it was revealed that 3 former executives of the company have been charged with stealing 18.2 billion won in royalties from Melon, artists, and producers.

''Incredible'' promotion conflict

In 2013, LOEN Entertainment made a deal with C-JeS Entertainment to promote and distribute

Junsu Kim Jun-su (; born December 15, 1986), known mononymously as Junsu or known under the stage name XIA ( ; ) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer and musical actor. He is a member of JYJ, and was one of the original members of boy band TVX ...

's second

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Incredible Incredible may refer to: Music Albums * ''Incredible'' (Clique Girlz album) or the title song, 2008 * ''Incredible'' (Gary Puckett & The Union Gap album), 1968 * ''Incredible'' (Ilse DeLange album), 2008 * ''Incredible'' (Mary Mary album) or ...

''. Days before the album's release, C-Jes was reportedly notified by LOEN that they would distribute the album but had scrapped plans for promotional marketing and broadcasting Junsu's upcoming showcase on MelOn, although they would be able to broadcast it on

LOEN TV 1theK Originals, formerly LOEN TV (), is a South Korean web series, produced by Kakao M. It is shown on the label's official YouTube channel. History 2011: Debut LOEN TV started in 2011, also going under the name ''LOEN Bangsong'' (로엔 방송, ...

. Promotional banners regarding the album's release on MelOn also disappeared from LOEN's social media accounts. C-JeS subsequently threatened to remove mentions of LOEN from Junsu's upcoming showcase and to file for a civil appeal to the Fair Trade Commission and Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission. In response, LOEN Entertainment stated that they were still in discussions regarding the album's promotion and that nothing had been confirmed prior to the relevant article's release. They pointed to the showcase event page on MelOn's homepage still being up as evidence that promotions were going ahead as planned. C-JeS responded saying that they had begun receiving pre-orders for the album and entries for the showcase event without a response from LOEN. Following media attention, the two companies met on July 8 and resolved the dispute. ''Incredible'' was promoted and distributed by LOEN as planned.

Business

Kakao M had three companies, a concept known as a "company in company" (CIC). The company also planned to set up another one in the future.

Melon Company

Melon Company () was Kakao M's online music service company, operating

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

(short for ''melody on''), the most popular music service in Korea, with 59% of all users in South Korea . That year

Soompi Soompi is an English-language website providing coverage of Korean pop culture. It has one of the largest international Internet communities for K-pop, mostly concentrated in news and forums. With more than 23 million fans across all platforms, ...

ranked MelOn as the third most influential entity in the K-pop industry.

Music Content Company

Music Content Company () was Kakao M's music content production company, which included the music content brand 1theK (which was known as LOEN Music before February 2014), the ticket selling portal Melon Ticket and distributed over 300 titles per year, working with independent agencies to invest in music production. The name '1theK' indicated its aim of creating one source for worldwide K-pop content.

Multilabel

Kakao M managed its artists within the companies under its Music Content Company, including LOEN Tree (2012) and Collabodadi (2014). Collabodadi artists were moved to LOEN Tree in September 2015 and later LOEN Tree was renamed as Fave Entertainment in February 2017. Kakao M acquired independent label

in 2013 and Cube Entertainment subsidiaries label A Cube Entertainment (which later was renamed Plan A Entertainment) in 2015, as well as King Kong Entertainment (which was acquired by Starship in 2015). In June 2016, Kakao M established an independent label Mun Hwa In. In December 2017, Kakao M established a one-person agency E&T Story Entertainment for actress

, which was led by her long-time manager Park Chan-woo. As January 2018, Kakao M's independent label Plan A Entertainment has taken over the agency. On June 27, 2018, Kakao M made strategic investments and created partnerships with three actor management agencies BH Entertainment, J.WIDE Company, Management SOOP, and Korea's leading advertisement model casting agency, Ready Entertainment in order to globalize its content. On January 13, 2019, Kakao M acquired independent label Blossom Entertainment. On February 13, 2019, Kakao M released a statement that Plan A Entertainment and Fave Entertainment will be merging into

Play M Entertainment IST Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company under Beyond Music. History Plan A Entertainment In 2011, A Cube Entertainment was established as an independent label of Cube Entertainment. A Cube signed its first solo artist Huh ...

on April 1. On January 6, 2020, Kakao M established a new label, EDAM Entertainment, to manage their long-time soloist IU.

Video Content Company

Video Content Company () was Kakao M's media production company, which included Krispy Studio (a web content production company) and Mega Monster (formerly Story Plant, a

production company that Kakao M co-owned with

subsidiary Studio Dragon Corporation). Just almost a week after its name change, Kakao M (through Krispy Studio) acquired a majority (65.7%) stake in Nylon Media Korea, publisher of the Korean edition of beauty and fashion magazine ''

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

'', from Seoul Cultural Publishers.

Others

In April 2018, Kakao M and its parent company formed the CSR venture Kakao Impact Foundation.

Subsidiaries

, the following companies were the subsidiaries of Kakao M: * Antenna Entertainment (since 2021) * Awesome ENT (since 2019) * BH Entertainment (since 2018) * Bluedot Entertainment (since 2021) * E&T Story Entertainment (since 2019) * EDAM Entertainment (since 2020) * Flex M (since 2020) * GRAYGO (since 2017) ** Maison de Baja (since 2019) * High Up Entertainment (since 2021) * J-Wide Company (since 2018) * Management SOOP (since 2018) * Mega Monster (since 2017) * Moonlight Film (since 2019) * MTN Entertainment (since 2020) * Ready Entertainment (since 2018) * Sanai Pictures (since 2019) *

(since 2013) ** Starship X (since 2013) ** Highline Entertainment (since 2017) ** King Kong by Starship (since 2015) ** Shownote (since 2019) * VAST Entertainment & Media (since 2015)

Locations

* Jungseok Building,

Teheran-ro Teheran-ro (; named for Tehran, Iran) is a street in the Gangnam district of Seoul, South Korea. It runs from Gangnam Station through Yeoksam-dong and into Samseong-dong. It is colloquially known as "Teheran Valley" (after Silicon Valley) d ...

103-gil 17, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul * Star Hill Building, Bongeunsa-ro 151, Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul *12/F Hibro Building,

503, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul * 20/F Sangam DMC Digital Cube, 34 Sangamsan-ro,

Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul Sangam-dong () is a legal ''dong (neighbourhood), dong'' (neighborhood) of Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea. In the wake of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, a large apartment complex and DMC business district have been created and developed into the cent ...

Awards

Notes

References

External links

*
Kakao M official recruitment site
{{Authority control Companies based in Seoul Companies listed on KOSDAQ Electronic music record labels Entertainment companies of South Korea Event management companies of South Korea Film distributors of South Korea Film production companies of South Korea Former SK Group subsidiaries Hip-hop record labels Kakao subsidiaries Music publishing companies of South Korea K-pop record labels Publishing companies established in 1978 Record label distributors Record labels established in 1978 South Korean record labels Synth-pop record labels Talent agencies of South Korea South Korean companies established in 1978 Entertainment companies established in 1978 2021 mergers and acquisitions 2021 disestablishments in South Korea Entertainment companies disestablished in 2021 Defunct record labels of South Korea