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
