LOEN Entertainment

LOEN Entertainment, Inc.
Native name
 주식회사 로엔엔터테인먼트
(full)
(주)로엔엔터테인먼트
(shortened)
Public Jusikhoesa (J.H.)
Traded as
Industry Entertainment
Genre
Founded 1978
Founder Min Yeong-bin
Headquarters Seoul, South Korea
Key people
 Shin Won-soo, Park Seong-hoon (joint CEOs)[lower-alpha 1][1][2]
Services Entertainment
Revenue Increase US 323.2 million (2014)[3]
Increase KRW 65.9 billion (2015)
KRW 58.4 billion (2014)[3]
Increase KRW 50.6 billion (2015)
KRW 45.7 billion (2014)[3]
Total assets Increase KRW 303.8 billion (2014[3])
Owner Kakao Corp. (76.40%)[4]
Samsung Asset Management (5.00%)[5]
Number of employees
 361 (as of October 2016 (2016-10))[3]
Parent YBM Group (1978-2005)
SK Group (2005-2016)
Affinity Equity Partners (2013-2016)[6]
Kakao Corp. (2016-present)[4][7]
Divisions Melon
Subsidiaries Starship Entertainment[8] (70%)
WS Entertainment (100%)
Plan A Entertainment[9] (70%)
Website iloen.com
LOEN Entertainment
Hangul 로엔 엔터테인먼트
Revised Romanization Roen Enteoteinmeonteu
McCune–Reischauer Rŏen Ent'ŏt'einmŏnt'ŭ
Seoul Records
Hangul 서울 음반
Revised Romanization Seoul Eumban
McCune–Reischauer Sŏul Ŭmban

LOEN Entertainment (Hangul: 로엔 엔터테인먼트), formerly Seoul Records (Hangul: 서울 음반), is a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It is headquartered in Tehran Boulevard, Gangnam, Seoul. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house.

As of 2015, LOEN is 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 is also the second leading company in terms of album sales (25.4%).[10] Since January 2016 LOEN has been a subsidiary of Kakao.[4]

Online music sales account for most of the company's profit, with 93.9% of revenue coming from online music sales. The label also distributes CDs of some other entertainment agencies in South Korea through its branch LOEN Music, but makes less than 5% of its revenue through them.[11]

History

LOEN Entertainment was founded as Seoul Records in 1978 by Min Yeong-bin as a subsidiary of YBM Sisa, a company mainly involved in creating language-learning tapes.[12] The company was officially registered in 1982, and in 1984 it began to produce and distribute records of classical and traditional music. It was registered as a venture capital company in 1999, when it began to sell albums while operating an online shop. In 2000, the company's name was changed to YBM Seoul Records and it began to operate on KOSDAQ. The company joined the IFPI in 2003. Korean conglomerate SK Telecom bought a 60% share of the company in 2005, and YBM Seoul Records subsequently became part of SK Group.[13] As of 2008, the company has been known as LOEN Entertainment.

LOEN took charge of SK Telecom's online music distribution service, MelOn, in 2009. MelOn is currently the most used online music sales site in South Korea.[14][15]

In 2012, the company signed a deal with streaming site Viki so that content from their artists (such as IU, Brown Eyed Girls and Drunken Tiger) would be featured on their site.[16]

In August 2012, the recording artists under LOEN collaborated to release a collaborative EP titled LOEN Tree Summer Story under the collective title 'LOEN Tree'.[17]

On July 18, 2013, Affinity Equity Partners, through its subsidiary Star Invest Holdings Ltd., bought 52.56% of LOEN's shares, leaving SK Group with only 15%.[6] Five months later, Star Invest Holdings acquired RealNetworks, Inc.'s 8.83% stake in the company.[18] The company was reorganized to include two labels: "LOEN Tree" (Jo Yeong-cheol) and "Collabodadi" (Shinsadong Tiger).[19]

On December 18, 2013, LOEN acquired 70% of shares in Starship Entertainment, making it as an independent subsidiary of LOEN.[8]

On January 11, 2016, LOEN was acquired by Kakao Corporation.[4][7]

Corporate identity

Company name

The name LOEN stands for:

Logos

One of the company's former logos as YBM Seoul Records

The company's first logo was the two small letters s and r (SR, for Seoul Records) combined. At the bottom of the logo was the English name (SEOUL RECORDS), while the Korean name ((주)서울음반) was at its right corner.[20]

Catalog numbers

As of 2015, LOEN currently uses two types of catalog number codes for its releases: the L10000**** series (now at the -5000 suffix) and the L20000**** series (now at the -1000 suffix).

Controversies

Price fixing

2011
LOEN, along with then-parent SK Telecom, was one of the 15 companies fined and sued by the Korean FTC for price rigging in 2011. The company was fined $9.6 million for its role in the scheme.[21]

2016
On October 9, 2016, the Supreme Court of South Korea handed out a 100 million-won fine each to LOEN and its closest competitor KT Music for colluding in price fixing, dating back to a case filed in 2008. Co-CEO Shin Won-soo, who was the sole CEO at the time being, was also sentenced to pay 10 million won.[22]

Incredible promotion conflict

In 2013, LOEN made a deal with C-JeS Entertainment to promote and distribute Junsu's second studio album Incredible. Days before the album's release, C-JeS was reportedly notified by LOEN that they would distribute the album but had scrapped plans for promotional marketing and broadcasting Junsu's upcoming showcase on MelOn, although they would be able to broadcast it on LOEN TV. Promotional banners regarding the album's release on MelOn also disappeared from LOEN's social media accounts. C-JeS subsequently threatened to remove mentions of LOEN from Junsu's upcoming showcase and to file for a civil appeal to the Fair Trade Commission and Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.[23]

In response, LOEN stated that they were still in discussions regarding the album's promotion and that nothing had been confirmed prior to the relevant article's release. They pointed to the showcase event page on MelOn's homepage still being up as evidence that promotions were going ahead as planned. C-JeS responded saying that they had begun receiving pre-orders for the album and entries for the showcase event without response from LOEN.[24][25]

Following media attention, the two companies met on July 8 and resolved the dispute. Incredible was promoted and distributed by LOEN as planned.[26]

Divisions

MelOn Biz

MelOn Biz is LOEN's online music service division, operating MelOn, short for 'melody on'.[27][28] MelOn is the most popular music service in Korea, with 59% of all users in South Korea as of November 2013. That year Soompi ranked MelOn as the third most influential entity in the K-pop industry.[29]

Contents Biz

The logos of LOEN Music and 1theK

Contents Biz is responsible for LOEN's content production division 1theK, which was known as LOEN Music before February 2014.[30] The name '1theK' indicates its aim of creating one source for worldwide K-pop content.[31] According to LOEN it distributes over 300 titles per year, working with independent agencies to invest in music production.

As of 2016, 1theK's official YouTube channel[lower-alpha 2] has more than five million subscribers,[32][33] while it has over 1.7 million likes on Facebook[34] and over 570,000 followers on Twitter.[35]

Artist Biz

Artist Biz is LOEN's artist management division, also known as LOEN Artist. Starship Entertainment, Plan A Entertainment now also belongs to this division, as well as King Kong Entertainment (which Starship acquired in 2015).

Artists

Since September 2013, all artists under LOEN Entertainment have been known under the collective name of LOEN Tree currently FAVE Entertainment, similarly to SM Town, YG Family, or JYP Nation. Throughout the 2010s, the company made a number of significant acquisitions by purchasing a number of record labels home to some of South Korea's biggest artists and making them subsidiaries under the LOEN tree.

Musicians

Groups

Soloists

Actors and actresses

Studio artists

Producers

Lyricists

Current trainees

Notes

A ^ Collabodadi label was created in 2013 as part of the multi-label system idea of LOEN, housing Zia, Fiestar and Shinsadong Tiger as producer. The in-house label was later scrapped in September 2015, with all the artists returning to LOEN under management by LOEN Tree.

  • 1Ra.D debuted in 2002 under Stardom Entertainment transferred to Loen Entertainment in 2007.
  • 2Zia debuted in 2007 under Taewon Entertainment transferred to LOEN Entertainment in 2009.
  • 3Sunny Hill debuted as a co-ed group in 2007 under For Everyone Media to be transferred LOEN Entertainment in 2011. The group became as a girl group in 2014, after their leader Janghyun left the group.
  • 4The girl group Melody Day is under Viewga Entertainment, but is also jointly managed by LOEN Entertainment.
  • 5I.B.I is a project girl group composed of five members who participated on the reality girl group survival show Produce 101 which is managed by LOEN Entertainment.

Former Artists and Trainees

Former Artists
Former Trainees

Awards

Year Recipient Award Category Result
2011 MelOn Digital Chosun Ilbo Awards Most Trusted Brand (Online Music Service) Won
App Awards Korea Best Entertainment Application Won
2012 Digital Chosun Ilbo Awards Most Trusted Brand (Online Music Service) Won
LOEN Entertainment Korean Digital Business Innovation Awards Grand Prize (Digital Contents) Won
2013 Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards Music Distribution (Online) Won[39]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Park Seong-hoon is also the chief security officer (CSO) of Kakao Corp.
  2. ↑ Unlike the Facebook and Twitter accounts, 1theK's YouTube username remains as LOENENT since it was launched in 2011. The homepage used as official link is LOEN's English homepage.

References

  1. ↑ Kim Joo-a (April 19, 2016). "로엔, 신원수·박성훈 공동대표 체제 변경 (Shin Won-soo, Park Seong-hoon to co-head Loen for a change in (leadership) system)". Newsis. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ Lee Hae-in (April 19, 2016). "카카오·로엔 시너지 본격화…박성훈 CSO 로엔行 (Kakao-Loen synergy goes full-scale... Kakao CSO Park Seong-hoon joins Loen)". Money Today. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Loen Entertainment on the Forbes Asia 200 Best Under A Billion List". Forbes Asia. Forbes Inc. July 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 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. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ Choi Jae-hyuk (February 25, 2016). "카카오, 로엔 인수에 中자본 유치협상... 성사될까 (Kakao closes acquisition deal with Loen... attracts more capital)". eToday. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Private Equity Korea: SK Planet to divest stake in LOEN Entertainment to Affinity
  7. 1 2 Lee Se-young (January 12, 2016). "Kakao to buy South Korea's top music streaming operator for $1.6 billion". Reuters. Thomson Reuters Corp. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  8. 1 2 alim17 (December 18, 2013). "Loen Entertainment takes over majority stake in Starship Entertainment for 15 billion won". allkpop. Retrieved December 19, 2013.
  9. ↑ "LOEN Entertainment buys majority of A Cube Entertainment's shares". Allkpop. November 25, 2015.
  10. ↑ Kim, Jin-woo (December 11, 2015). "2015년 음악시장 결산 (2015 Music Market Closing Review)". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  11. ↑ "SKT, 국내최대 서울음반 인수 (Seoul Records, SKT's largest acquisition)". Kyunghyang Shinmun. 2005-05-27. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  12. ↑ "1978 - Founding of "Seoul Records"". YBM Group.
  13. ↑ "Korean Telco Takes Control Of Seoul Records". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. May 27, 2005. Retrieved August 16, 2013.
  14. ↑ "(주)로엔엔터테인먼트 (LOEN Entertainment, Inc.)". Naver Terms. Naver Corporation. 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2012-11-03.
  15. ↑ "로엔 vs KT뮤직... 음원株 '지각변동' (LOEN versus KT Music... "Music cataclysm")". Chosun Biz. Chosun Ilbo. 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2013-11-13.
  16. ↑ "Video Subtitling Site Viki Puts K-Pop Content in Spotlight". The Chosun Ilbo. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  17. ↑ LOEN Tree Summer Story on Hanteo
  18. ↑ "어피니티, 리얼네트웍스 보유 로엔엔터 지분 인수 (Affinity acquires RealNetworks' stake in Loen Ent)". The Bell. November 17, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
  19. ↑ starsung (September 24, 2013). "LOEN Entertainment undergoes reorganization to become a multi-label system". allkpop. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  20. ↑ "CD의 추억3 - old OSTs (1)". bluo.net.
  21. ↑ "Korea's Fair Trade Commission fines 15 music distributors for collectively rigging prices". allkpop. March 1, 2011. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  22. ↑ Yoon Sung-won (October 9, 2016). "Loen, KT Music fined for music source price-fixing". The Korea Times. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  23. ↑ "씨제스 "로엔, 준수 홍보 파기는 갑의 횡포"- 로엔 "긴급회의 중"". 네이트뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  24. ↑ "김준수 계약파기? 로엔 측 "계약 협의단계일뿐…결정된 사항無"". 네이트뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  25. ↑ "김준수 측, 로엔 해명 재반박 "협의단계일 뿐이었다고?"". 네이트뉴스 (in Korean). Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  26. ↑ "XIA 준수 측, "로엔과 원만한 합의..예정대로"  :: THE STAR". thestar.chosun.com. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
  27. ↑ lordbordem (September 25, 2013). "LOEN Entertainment to Split Their Artist Division into Multiple Labels". Soompi. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  28. ↑ Seung Si-yeon, Park Jong-geun (December 3, 2011). "Shin Won-soo, representing Korea's largest OMS, "MelOn"". JoongAng Ilbo. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  29. ↑ jun2yng (November 3, 2013). "The Top 10 Most Influential Entities of K-Pop". Soompi. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  30. ↑ alim17 (February 17, 2014). "LOEN MUSIC changes its name to 1theK". allkpop. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
  31. ↑ Jeon Ji-yeon (February 20, 2014). "로엔, 글로벌 케이팝 대표 브랜드 `1theK(원더케이)` 론칭 (LOEN launches global K-pop flagship brand 1theK)". Electronic Times. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  32. ↑ Ahn, Hee-jung (October 12, 2016). "(인터넷) 로엔 뉴미디어 채널 원더케이, 유튜브 구독자 500만 돌파 ((INTERNET) LOEN's new media channel 1theK surpasses 5M subscriber mark on YouTube)". ZDNet Korea. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  33. ↑ 1theK's channel on YouTube
  34. ↑ 1theK on Facebook
  35. ↑ 1theK on Twitter
  36. ↑ Suk, Monica (28 February 2012). "Jo Han-sun, Kim Suk Hoon join IU's agency". 10Asia. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
  37. ↑ "Lee Jung Hyuk's Profile". LOEN Website. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  38. ↑ "Kang Bok-eum's Profile". Nate. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
  39. ↑ jnkm (February 13, 2013). "Winners & Best Moments of the 2nd Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards". Soompi. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
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