Kakao M

Kakao M Corp.
Native name
주식회사 카카오엠
(full)
(주)카카오M
(shortened)
FormerlySeoul Records (1978–2000, 2005–2008)
YBM Seoul Records (2000–2005)
LOEN Entertainment (2008–2018)
Company typePublic Jusikhoesa (J.H.)
Industry
GenreVarious
FoundedOctober 1978; 46 years ago (1978-10)
FounderMin Yeong-bin
DefunctMarch 2, 2021 (2021-03-02)
FateMerged into KakaoPage, subsequently renamed Kakao Entertainment, business and subsidiaries were put up as the Kakao Entertainment M Company division
SuccessorKakao Entertainment
Headquarters
Seoul
,
South Korea
Number of locations
3 (see list)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
(Until March 2, 2021)
Stephan Kim (CEO)[1][2][3]
Kim Young-suk (EVP/Head of Music Content Company)
Jang Sai-jung (EVP/Head of Video Content Company)[a]
Services
  • Music Production
  • Media Production
  • Record Distribution
  • Licensing
  • Publishing
RevenueIncrease US$ 323.2 million (2014)[4]
Increase KRW 65.9 billion (2015)
KRW 58.4 billion (2014)[4]
Increase KRW 50.6 billion (2015)
KRW 45.7 billion (2014)[4]
Total assetsIncrease KRW 303.8 billion (2014[4])
Number of employees
361 (as of October 2016 (2016-10))[4]
ParentYBM Group (1978–2005)
SK Group (2005–2016)
Affinity Equity Partners (2013–2016)[5]
Kakao Corp. (2016–2021)[6][7]
Divisionssee list
Subsidiariessee list
Korean name
Hangul
카카오 M
Revised RomanizationKakao M
McCune–ReischauerK'ak'ao M
Websitekakao-m.com

Kakao M (Korean: 카카오M; 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.

As of 2015, 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 (30.4%); it was also the second leading company in terms of album sales (25.4%).[8] LOEN Entertainment became a subsidiary of Kakao in January 2016 and was subsequently renamed two years later.[6]

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.[9]

On March 2, 2021, the company became defunct upon merging into KakaoPage.[10] The merger resulted in the formation of a new company, Kakao Entertainment.[11]

  1. ^ Baek, Byung-yeul (January 2, 2019). "New Kakao M CEO to challenge Netflix, CJ ENM in original content". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  2. ^ Park, Chang-young; Choi, Mira (January 2, 2019). "Kakao M names new CEO, adds Lee Byung-hun, Gong Yoo under management". Pulse News. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  3. ^ "Kakao Corporation Internal Audit Report" (PDF). Kakao. PwC. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Loen Entertainment on the Forbes Asia 200 Best Under A Billion List". Forbes Asia. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  5. ^ Han, Woo-ram (January 13, 2016). "Affinity Equity Partners hit the jackpot with Kakao-Loen deal" 어피니티에쿼티파트너스, 카카오로엔 대박 [Affinity Equity Partners hit the jackpot with Kakao-Loen deal]. Mail Economic Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2021 – via Naver.
  6. ^ a b Kim, Min-soo (January 13, 2016). 카카오, '멜론' 로엔엔터테인먼트 1.8조에 인수…종합 모바일 콘텐츠 플랫폼 서비스 나선다 [Kakao acquires "MelOn" company Loen Entertainment for 1.8 billion dollars... sets out an entertainment platform for comprehensive mobile content services]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 18, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  7. ^ Lee, Se-young (January 12, 2016). "Kakao to buy South Korea's top music streaming operator for $1.6 billion". Reuters. Thomson Reuters Corp. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  8. ^ Kim, Jin-woo (December 11, 2015). 2015년 음악시장 결산 [2015 Music Market Closing Review]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  9. ^ Moon, Joo-young (May 27, 2005). SKT, 국내최대 서울음반 인수 [Seoul Records, SKT's largest acquisition]. Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 10, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  10. ^ "Kakao Entertainment: 합병 보고의 공고". Kakao Entertainment (in Korean). March 12, 2023. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  11. ^ Dave, Aditi (May 20, 2022). "Kakao Entertainment to merge Tapas & Radish to solidify the global content provider position". Korea Tech Desk. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.


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