Naver is in discussions to bring Spotify to its members. In November of 2024, paid members of Naver were able to add Netflix for 4900 per month as opposed to the Netflix with ads subscription fee of 5500 (which is 7000w now) n.news.naver.com/mnews/articl...

The Black Label suffers its 7th year of consecutive loss. On Thursday, TBL reported 42.3B in revenue which is a 7.9% increase due to increased album sales. Album sales in 2024 were 11.2B, up 88.9% YOY. However the revenue did not cover production costs.

CJ ENM will establish a new global music label in parternship with a global company. Additionally, it will broadcast “World of Street Woman Fighters, "Boys 2 Planet,” a large-scale boy group audition program in Japan and China;

KQ Entertainment has announced its intention of going public next year and has selected Mirae Asset as its IPO organizer. In the last two years, revenue has grown 150% and operating profit 184% primarily due to increased performance revenue. 2022: 46.4B / 4.4B 2023: 65B / 5.9B 2024: 115.8B/12.5B

CJ ENM's music division has hit a structural limitation as it fails to maintain profitability in spite of expansion. Revenue increased 3.8% to 702.1B but Op Profit decreased by 56.5% to 30.9B The main reason for the deteriorating profit is due to increased cost of expanding its global business.

Kakao intends to sell Kakao Entertainment. This decision was made due to the stagnating IP conditions, making it difficult to receive proper corporate valuation to go public. Kakao Ent's current valuation is said to be around 11tr.

Wendy and Yeri will not renew their contracts with SM Ent however, they will continue group activities as Red Velvet members. m.entertain.naver.com/article/609/...

Korea Music Copyright Association introduces a new procedure requiring confirmation and verification that AI was not used in songs registered for new music copyrights. A registrant must also agree to bear all criminal and legal fees and penalties should a dispute arise over whether AI was used

Exports for albums and DVDs is up in 2025: Provisional data shows that exports of albums and DVDs in March was $20.13 million, a 6.4% increase. This follows a 46.1% surge last month to $36.25 million and represents two consecutive months of upward trends.

SM acquired an additional 11.4% from JYP and three DearU execs increasing its total ownership to 45.1% n.news.naver.com/mnews/articl...

As kpop's growth has stagnated, the fandom platforms Weverse and DearU, have also taken a step backward. Weverse Company revenues were down 24.3% in 2024 to 255.6B. Net loss doubled to 10.7B DearU's revenue decreased by 1.3% from 75.7B to 74.9B and operating profit decreased by 11%

Hybe is withdrawing from the blockchain business and absorbing and merging its subsidiary Binary Korea. Last year, Binary Korea revenues were 468K with a net loss of 4.2B. It is noted that there is a change in Hybe's tone and the industry believes that due to its dispute with Ador last year,

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports, Tourism, legislative notice has been announced regarding a partial amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Popular Culture and Arts Industry Development Act. (Legislative notice is where the ministry proposes new laws or

opened up X to post this: Kakao Ent, number one in market share for domestic music distribution, has been found to have engaged in online backdoor advertising for more than 8 years. The FTC announced that it imposed a correction order and fine of 390M

Billboard names Starship’s general producer and VP Seo Hyun-joo as one of the ‘Most Influential Women in Music.’ Seo Hyunjoo founded Starship Entertainment in 2008 after serving as an A&R producer at SM Entertainment and an executive at BigHit Ent.

WM Entertainment announces the debut of a new girl group, the first since Oh My Girl debuted 10 years ago. The group uSpeeR (?) will debut in the 1H of this year sports.chosun.com/entertainmen...

SM stock is up 3.59%. Today, SM announced the release of the English version of Aespa’s mega hit song “Whiplash” along with a remix by Steve Aoki on 27 Apr. NCT’s Mark is also releasing a solo album. enter.etoday.co.kr/news/view/27...

YG is responding to its liquidity crisis by selling subsidiaries. While it is holding onto YG Plus, its album and song production and distribution subsidiary, it is in the process of re-organizing YGX and StudioPlex. YG plans to continue its turn around by focusing on expanding its IP and the

Treasure announces the early renewal of its exclusive contract with YG Entertainment on the Cultwo Radio show www.celuvmedia.com/article.php?...

Ador responds that they deeply regret the performance (in Hong Kong) was carried out under a different name rather than NewJeans despite the court’s decision that that they issued a unilateral announcement regarding suspension of activities. Ador will do its best to carry out its duties under the

At the end of their appearance in HongKong, NewJeans announced the suspension of their activities. Ador says that this was a unilateral decision not previously discussed. They sent staff to HongKong to meet but the members refused. n.news.naver.com/article/023/...

Update on the One Hundred v KBS fight. A petitioner has requested a more clear response from KBS as to why Xiumin wasn't able to appear on Music Bank m.entertain.naver.com/article/408/... He is also not scheduled to perform on Countdown or Inkigayo m.entertain.naver.com/article/109/...

Baekho will not be renewing his contract with Pledis at the end of his exclusive contract. His exclusive contract ends of 14 Mar m.entertain.naver.com/article/003/...

Members Handong, Dami, and Gahyun of the group Dreamcatcher have decided not to renew their exclusive contracts with their agency. Their contract will expire on 31 Mar 2025. Group activities will continue

A new production investment corporation (문전사) has been established to provide funding for the hiphop girl group, Young Posse. The company is comprised of joint venture between Young Posse's entertainment company DSP Media (a subsidiary of RBW), and

One Hundred has issued a new statement and they will be suspending their boycott and their artists will appear on KBS shows as scheduled starting next week m.entertain.naver.com/article/312/...

Kakao pre-opens its fan platform Berriz. The app will be officially launched at the en of the month. Will included translations for 18 different languages and will allow artists and fans to communicate as well as fans to share content with other fans www.newsis.com/view/NISX202...

One Hundred artists are said to be boycotting KBS. Lee Mujin did not appear for the taping of Limousine Service and NMIXX Kyujin will appear alone. First reported by Dispatch: m.entertain.naver.com/article/433/...

"After 'Xiumin controversy' KBS and SM meet?... KBS denies, SM says 'we will give a statement' but remains silent" Amid allegations that public broadcaster KBS is blocking EXO Xiumin's appearance on MusicBank due to SM Ent's wishes, there are claims that high ranking officials of KBS and SM Ent met

Some additional details: In June of 2024, the Bangbae police received the victim's report and requested arrest warrants for all three suspects but the court rejected it because the [two] suspects [who were questioned] admitted to the crime.

KBS has replied that this accusation is unfounded and that they are communicating with the agency m.entertain.naver.com/article/015/...

Xiumin's agency, One Hundred, released a statement that said "Xiumin, a member of IBN100, is scheduled to release his solo album 'Interview X' on 10 Mar" "We have made multiple attempts to meet with [KBS] so that he can show a good stage but KBS has been silent and not responded to our calls."

Former NCT member Moon Taeil has been indicted without detention on charges of sexually assaulting a woman with other acquaintances. It was later revealed that a request for an arrest warrant had been rejected. Moon and two others were charged with aggravated quasi-rape

There are concerns that Kakao Entertainment's practice of binding subsidiary company representatives by using its own stock as collateral could lead to management pressure on each company.

Ahn Sungil to produce and manage Albume, a kpop group comprised of three former members of FIFTY FIFTY. They have recorded a new song and shot a MV in the US m.entertain.naver.com/article/009/...

2024 Annual Results Hybe: Revenue: 2.2545tr (+4%) Op Profit: 184.8B (-38% YOY) This is the highest annual sales ever for Hybe and its second year in a row of 2tr+ in revenue. This is attributed to solid performance by music sector and the growth

4Q24 Hybe Results: Revenue: 725.3B (+19.2%) Op Profit: 65.3B (-26.7%) Net Profit: -26B Album sales increased 17.4% YOY with 10.27M copies sold led by SVT 3.9M, TXT 2.03M, and Enhypen 1.6M. Concert/Perfomance revenue increased 156% YOY with SVT, TXT, and Enhypen attracting more than 1M attendees.

Kakao Ent liquidates the China arm of its modeling agency business, Ready Entertainment. Ready only made a net profit of 2B every year for the past three years. Considering that Ready Ent is the top casting ad agency in Korea, the likely revenue from its China branch was insignificant.

Kakao Ent is selling its 50.07% stake in 3Y Corporation to Nova Entertainment for 8.7B. Nova Ent is a company founded by financial investor Asia Advisors Korea. Kakao Ent will remain the second largest shareholder with a 49.93% stake. QWER is the representative artist under 3Y.

Once the share acquisition is completed, SM Ent and its subsidiaries will hold 45.1% share in DearU....Going forward, DearU's performance will be reflected in SM Ent's consolidated revenue and operating profit. Through 3Q23, DearU recorded 57.1B in revenue and 20.5B in operating profit.

Korea to resume short selling for all stocks beginning 31 Mar koreatimes.co.kr/www/special/...

According to industry sources on the 21st, Investigation Bureau 1 of the Seoul Regional Tax Office recently completed a routine tax audit of YG Entertainment. The investigation covered the period from December of last year until recently. This is the first routine tax audit of YG in six years

SM plans to strengthen its management control over DearU and maximize synergies between the two companies by acquiring an additional 11.4% stake in DearU, in addition to the 33.7% stake held by its subsidiaries (SM Studios, SM Japan, and Everysing Japan) n.news.naver.com/mnews/articl...

According to Chosun Biz, the owner of Cheongdam Inv is Park Geun-beom who is known for being a long-time associate of former Chorokbaem Group Chairman Won Young-sik. Chairman Won is known as a corporate raider amid controversies of stock manipulations. He was arrested and indicted for stock fraud

KED Exclusive: China set to lift the Hallyu ban as early as May. A senior level official handling China's preparations for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit for 2026 said that "starting next month, we will send a private level cultural delegation to South Korea

Five music orgs including the Korea Management Federation, Korea Entertainment Producer's Association, Record Label Industry Assoc of Korea, Recoding Industry of Korea, and KMCA have issued a joint statement calling on the National Assembly and government to support policies to eradicate tampering

The Federation of Korean Industries will hold a general meeting on the 20th to approve the membership of new companies. The new members reportedly include domestic IT companies such as Naver and Kakao, as well as HYBE and gaming companies. n.news.naver.com/mnews/articl...

Mohegan Inspire has lost management control of Inspire to US PEF Bain Capital just one year after the opening. Mohegan had taken out a loan from Bain but failed to meet certain conditions resulting in the transfer of 100% of its shares. Inspire is a large scale resort next to the Incheon airport

Spotify to charge $5.99 for "Music Pro" which will bring a higher audio quality but Spotify hopes to offer concert tickets with benefits like presales or better seats. Spotify is currently in talks with multiple promoters, ticket vendors, and music labels to bring this new tier to the market

Dealsite.kr published a series of articles on YG which detail the origins of the company, its heyday, various partnerships such as with Naver, and its future which the analysts say depends largely on BabyMonster. Background of YG, how it started, its controversies: dealsite.co.kr/articles/135...