Hallyu’s leading enterprise SM Entertainment will be aiming to add value to their company by not only producing albums, but distributing them all over Asia. They will be officially making their breakthrough in China with their new Chinese boy group EXO-M. And although most artists make most of their overseas profit from the Japanese market, SM plans to break free from the mold and attempt to be successful in China with the release of EXO-M.
MK recently held an interview with representative Kim Young Min from SM Entertainment who said, “I guess you can say that we have constructed the market conditions so that now, we can create a music format to break into the Asian market. Our goal this year is to launch into the Asian market, collaborating with corporations in China and Japan. We are keeping all of our options open, and reviewing them over carefully.”
SM Entertainment is looking to grow their profits through the distribution of music. “We will only be distributing digital music, and not physical CD’s. There will be more opportunities for business after launching our musical library.”
Although 90% of the profits made overseas are solely from sales in Japan, SM Entertainment is looking to change that this year with their new boy group, EXO.
There will be two halves to EXO, EXO-K, and EXO-M. EXO-K will be mostly Korean, while the members of EXO-M will be mostly of Chinese descent. Both teams will be making their debut at the same time. This is the first time that SM Entertainment will be releasing a brand new rookie group in China. Previously, they had added two Chinese members added to Super Junior, creating Super Junior-M to promote in China.
“The image of the SM Entertainment brand has grown to a point where we are acknowledged enough to release a rookie group in China,” Kim continued. The Chinese market has a high profitability rate for things like advertisement and management. If advertising rates in Japan are $100, it would be $120 or $130 in Korea, while China would be the highest at around $200. With China allowing more free streaming and downloads, profits from digital music is increasingly growing.
Kim continued, “Compared to America and Europe, Asia is still the best market that yields the most efficient results,” and that’s where SM plans to work on a lot of side projects. ”The US market is still a bit risky, and if it was a market that yielded the best results compared to what we invested, we would have jumped into it without thinking twice.”
But it doesn’t mean they will stop promoting in the US or Europe. K-pop is becoming a hot trend in both the US and Europe, and even just looking at the iTunes charts, anyone can see that Korean music is readily growing more and more popular. SM Entertainment does have plans to further reach out to the American and European demographic and distribute digital music overseas to garner more profit. “20% of our Facebook visitors are foreigners,” he said, optimistic about future growth.
SM Entertainment artists will also be taking part in drama series and musicals. “We want to get more of our artists to focus on acting this year,” he added. He also believes that SM Entertainment will have a fruitful year advancing into new business territories.
“We will continue to do business without the need of any loans, and once the funds are secured, we will work to continue to expand our enterprise,” he said in closing.
Source & Image : MK News
