[비즈엔터 윤준필 기자]Create country-specific strategies for Japan, US, UK, and more

▲aespa(SM Entertainment)

SM(041510) will accelerate its global business expansion in 2024.

In the second half of last year, the amount of K-pop albums consumed in the Chinese market seems to have dropped significantly. Some interpreted it as a midnight move against the overheated competition of joint purchases. However, there are also many who believe that the invisible hand of the Chinese authorities may have been at work.

But it was said that crisis is opportunity. SM has turned its attention to Japan, the U.S., and Europe to explore new avenues.

▲NCT WISH(SM Entertainment)

Japan is where SM paved the way for the K-pop genre and wrote the "Myth of Invincibility". Bands such as BOA and TVXQ! have been steadily gaining popularity in Japan since their debut.

NCT WISH will be making their debut at Tokyo Dome on February 21. The local group consists of Shion, Riku, Yuushi, DaeYoung, Ryo, and Sakuya, all of whom are Japanese. They released their pre-debut single last October and stood out with their refreshing energy. Prior to their full debut, they held 24 concerts in nine Japanese cities including Tokyo, Kobe, Osaka, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, and Hokkaido at the end of last year on their "Pre-Debut Tour," and are considered to be ready to make waves with their debut.

Rookie boy group RIIZE's single "Love 119," which was released on the 5th, has been gaining global recognition by reaching the top of Japan's Line Music Real-Time Song Top 100 chart. On April 24, the group will release the Japanese version of "Love 119" and a music video.

▲RIIZE(SM Entertainment)

Even before Rise officially debuted in Japan, they received a lot of local interest in the Japanese version of "Love 119" in time for its release. On the 27th, the group will perform on NHK's music broadcast "Venue 101" and on the 28th, they will perform at the music festival "GMO SONIC 2024" held at the Saitama Super Arena.

The group will also be holding a pop-up store at Miyashita Park in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, until the 30th to reward fans for their love. There will be a photo zone with photos of each member and an MD zone with fashion items and accessories.

NCT 127's second Japanese dome tour, which mobilized a total of 220,000 fans in three cities, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Osaka, in 2022, has also begun. On July 7-8, NCT 127 returned to Bantearin Dome Nagoya for the first time in about a year and eight months, and the venue was packed to capacity.

NCT 127 will be performing at Kyocera Dome Osaka and Tokyo Dome, two of Japan's "big three domes," in February and March alongside Banterrin Dome Nagoya. In addition, the group will hold solo performances at large-scale venues in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Macau to demonstrate its strong popularity in Asia.

▲RIIZE(SM Entertainment)

SM's growing presence in the streaming-driven US music market is encouraging. The U.S. music market is expected to reach KRW 18 trillion by 2022, nearly 10 times the size of the vinyl market. Globally, streaming accounts for 67% of the market, so doing well in the music market has long-term implications.

SM's K-pop IP surpassed 36 million monthly listeners on Spotify last November. That's a 53.5% year-over-year increase. Such a steep rise within Spotify is expected to boost SM's music streaming earnings in 2024, as it is common for songs that gain recognition on Spotify to break into the Billboard charts.

"If we take a conservative view and assume that the average number of monthly listeners in the second half of last year will be maintained annually in 2024, the music streaming segment's earnings growth could be 5.3% YoY," said Lee Hwan-wook, a researcher at Yuanta Securities. "Considering the natural growth of 10.7% in the streaming market, the annual growth could be as high as 16.0%."

SM also formed a joint venture with Kakao Enter to create a unified entity in North America in August last year. The goal was to create synergies by combining the strengths of both companies' global IP, production capabilities, and music distribution networks. From this point, aespa and RIIZE will begin global music distribution and local marketing. We plan to expand the presence of K-pop in the United States, the 'home of pop'.

▲SM and M&B Forge Strategic Partnership for the Creation of a UK Boy Group.(SM Entertainment)

Not only in the US, but also in the UK. SM will partner with M&B, a production company specializing in TV reality shows, to produce a boy group that will dominate the global market in the second half of this year. M&B will handpick the members who will debut as a boy group in the UK, while SM will provide K-Pop know-how, including music, music videos, and choreography. The songs the group will sing will be overseen by SM's music publishing subsidiary, Kreation Music Rights (KMR).

"This year, several of SM's artists will be active not only in Korea but also overseas," said SM, "including NCT 127's third world tour, the 'SM Town Live' concert at Tokyo Dome in February, and NCT Ten's fan concert Asia tour in Bangkok and Hong Kong, Thailand, and Jakarta, Indonesia in March and April."