Globalization of Korean Contents

Case Study 

SM Entertainment

-The K-Pop fanbase has been growing rapidly in the past 5 years.

-Japan, America and SEA countries has been a major target of K-Pop 

SM's strategies for global expansion:

1. Creating songs in different languages (ex: NCT Dream released their Japanese debut album in 2023 along with a title track in Japanese, Best Friend Ever)
2. Including english lyrics in songs
3. Releasing entertaining contents through global streaming platforms (Instagram and Youtube)
4. Providing subtitles in different languages to minimize language barrier
5. Recruiting artists from all over the world through 'SM Global Audition'
6. establishing a joint venture with local companies (ex: SM True is a joint venture established by True Group (broadcasting and distribution company) and SM Ent in 2011. They manage all the concerts, promotions and music&contents distribution of SM artists in Thailand.)
7. Creating global groups (ex: WayV is a Chinese boygroup that is a part of SM's K-Pop group NCT, dedicated for the Chinese market)
8. Creating social media mobile applications for artists and fans to interact which includes a translation feature. (ex: LYSN and KWANGYA app) 
9. Cross media convergence - collaborating with Dalcomsoft Inc. (a game developing company) to converge The Superstar (online rhythm game) with SM artists's music creating SMTown Superstar. This creates synergy as the two companies are able to gain profits and it can help SM to promote their music

Vertical integration - SM Entertainment (creates artists and their music) -> SM Culture&Contents (creates and distribute promotion contents) -> SM USA/SM Japan/SMTrue (translates contents and distribute them to local audiences) -> SM Brand Marketing (creates social media platforms for distributing contents) 

Horizontal integration - SM Entertainment (creates&distributes music and music videos) - SM Culture&Contents (creates and distributes web dramas or entertainment contents) - Dream Maker Entertainment (creates and broadcasts online concerts)

 

HYBE Labels

Essay: 

An example of media consolidation is the acquisition of a small Kpop agency by Hybe Corporation. After the massive success of the Kpop group, BTS, Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd. rebranded and restructured in 2021. After only one year they have acquired and created 7 different entertainment agencies. This is considered as Horizontal Integration as Hybe owns many companies in the same stage of production. This year Hybe Labels debuted 2 different girl groups from 2 of their Kpop labels. Le sserafim from Source Music and NewJeans from ADOR. This created an illusion of choice, in which, when audiences consider that they have a huge variety of media choices where in reality, their choices came from the same umbrella company. Le sserafim and NewJeans have encountered immediate success after their debut song release and we can’t deny that it’s partly because of the high funding and how Hybe helps them to reach a larger audience just by its brand name. However due to these cases of big companies growing bigger by acquiring small companies, independent entertainment agencies can’t compete with the production quality. Other than that, VLive has been reported to acquire Naver’s live streaming platform in 2022 to integrate the platform with Hybe’s own social platform, Weverse. These online platforms serve as a medium for Hybe’s artists to connect with their fans and allow Hybe to distribute their own content to maximise profit. 

Netflix

- In 2023, it's reported that Netflix will be investing $2.5 billion on Korean contents (including TV series, movies and unscripted shows) for the platform for the next 4 years. 

- The announcement was made by Netflix's co-CEO, Ted Sarandos on a meeting with the South Korean president

- Netflix decided to deepen their partnership with the Korean media industry after producing global hits such as 'Squid Game' and 'The Glory'

- In Jan 2023, Netflix announced that they are bringing 34 Korean shows into the platform which includes Netflix Original Productions.

- Netflix plays a big role in the development of K-wave

[ The Korean Wave or Hallyu is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s.]

- Netflix started creating Korean originals contents back in 2018 -> their first original series was Love Alarm which was released in over 190 countries. The series quickly became an international hit.

- Due to technological convergence international audiences are able to enjoy contents in the Korean language with the help of subtitles and dubbing (which is one of the features in Netflix mobile app/website)

- Korean Netflix Series such as 'Money Heist: Joint Economic Area' uses cultural codes (Roland Barthes's 5 Narrative Codes) to introduce Korean cultural context to international viewers.