JULY 17, 2024, SEOUL – Kakao Entertainment will focus on expanding its music business into global markets in the second half of 2024, accelerating relevant initiatives to this end. It recently announced plan to further enhance its multi-label system in the music division through systematic support, directing its core competence towards conceiving and producing global IP. In the first half, the company concentrated on the world tours of various artists under its labels to expand its fans worldwide, a move that will continue in the second half. It will continue to promote global activities of artists such as the world tours and the release of albums, the establishment of robust partnerships with renowned entertainment firms, and focus on expansion of music distribution networks.

In addition to its existing partnerships with Columbia Records and Billboard, Kakao Entertainment is poised to reinforce its collaboration with major entertainment companies, aiming for a wider and more robust business network in the industry. In particular, it plans to build strong partnerships with global music platforms and a variety of local platforms, expanding music distribution network to lead the global spread of K-pop.

Global IP production will also be in full swing through the SM Entertainment & Kakao Entertainment America. The North American subsidiary will unveil a project to debut a new British boy band that has been working on in collaboration with global entertainment Moon&Back Media to make stronger inroads into global markets including Europe and the U.S. This group is the result of combining Kakao Entertainment’s business experience and global networks with SM’s expertise in developing and producing music and artists. This summer, the six-part series titled “Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience”, showing their journey will be aired on BBC for BBC One and iPlayer. This series shows the boys immersed into K-pop culture and put through the original K-pop training process for 100 days. This vivid portrayal of their experience as trainees is expected to captivate global music fans’ attention.

Building on the momentum from the first half of this year, the global activities of label artists will continue into the second half. IU’s concerts in the Americas kicked off in July as part of her world tour HEREH, which began earlier this year. IU meets with fans across six U.S. cities: Newark, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Rosemont, Oakland, and Los Angeles. In the first half of the year, she received rave reviews from fans and the local media alike for each of her concerts in regions such as Asia and Europe, where she boasted her unique vocal and performances. She solidifies her distinct style as an artist, establishing her genre of music, and demonstrates her prowess as a veteran artist in the global music scene.

IVE will perform at world-renowned music festivals in August: Lollapalooza Chicago in the U.S. and Summer Sonic 2024 in Japan to establish themselves as a formidable presence. Following their first world tour Show What I Have spanning 27 cities in 19 countries since last year, IVE plans to expand their fan base across the globe through these large-scale festivals. They will hold a concert at the Tokyo Dome in September where they plan to showcase upgraded performances. IVE has demonstrated tremendous global ticketing power selling out every show on their world tour.

THE BOYZ will kick off their third world tour Generation II in the second half of the year. From last year through the first half of this year, they released their second regular album Phantasy in three installments, showing their distinctive music and performances. In the second half, they will start a large-scale world tour that covers Asia, the Americas, and Europe connecting with fans through concerts. In addition, the group reached No. 1 on the Oricon Chart last year and the third Japanese full album Gibberish will be released in July, as part of their efforts to solidify their fan base in Japan.

“In the second half, we plan to leverage our global management system to diversify the activities of artists, expand and reinforce our network with various partners in the global entertainment industry, and produce global IP in collaboration with SM,” said Joseph Chang, Co-CEO of Kakao Entertainment. “This will enable us to further strengthen the competitiveness of the music business on the global stage and solidify our position as a key player in K-pop.”