SM Entertainment In The News

A counterfeit merch crackdown, facial recognition at K-pop concerts, and 3 other things we learned from HYBE’s 2025 sustainability report

The 121-page document sets out a number of disclosures, from anti-counterfeiting measures to the company's use of generative AI and expansion into physical retail.

News

South Korea launches $2.2M fund to help indie K-Pop agencies expand overseas

Each selected agency will receive up to 300 million won ($197,000) annually for up to three years.

News

HYBE’s Weverse appoints Zooil Yang as President as superfan platform enters ‘next phase of growth’

Yang most recently served as CEO of AXZ, the Kakao-spun-off company that operates South Korea's Daum portal.

News

Warner Music Korea strikes strategic global partnership with indie label and management firm FeelGHood Music to represent Korean star BIBI

BIBI has surpassed one billion streams in the past 12 months and has over 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Analysis News

Tencent Music is quietly building a live music empire. Concerts could become the streaming giant’s ultimate differentiator in the age of AI.

TME's non-subscription music services revenue, encompassing live concerts, advertising, and merchandise, jumped 28.0% YoY to RMB 1.94 billion (USD $282 million) in Q1

Interviews

‘Many still view Thailand as a domestic-only market. In truth, there are many talented Thai songwriters with strong potential for global success.’

MBW's World Leaders series speaks to Tatchara Longprasert, General Manager of Sony Music Publishing Thailand

News

SM Entertainment’s revenue surges 21% YoY in Q1 to $192M on strong concert, merch sales

SM’s revenue from concerts surged 56% YoY to KRW 60.8 billion ($42m), driven by tours from SUPER JUNIOR, NCT DREAM, aespa, RIIE and NCT WISH.

News

From Live Nation’s antitrust trial loss to Max Lousada and Julie Greenwald’s 26.2 launch… it’s MBW’s weekly round-up

The biggest headlines from the past few days...