SM Entertainment, represented by co-CEOs Lee Sung Soo and Tak Young Joo, will join hands with Naver spearheaded by CEO Han Sung Sook to strengthen the production of global fan club services and contents.
In order to expand its global fan club service, online concerts, and next-generation video business, SM has attracted a total of 100 billion won worth of investment from Naver to SMEJ Plus, Mystic Story, and Content Fund, which are affiliates of the label.
In particular, SM plans to unify its fan club service as Naver's V Live's global community membership platform "Fanship," expand and strengthen its global fan club service capabilities, and promote music-related video contents, and performances like the world's first online customized concert "Beyond Live."
In addition, the two companies will discuss business cooperation for video-streaming services, specializing in next-generation music content.
Through this investment, Naver will invest in SM Group in various ways to expand the global market for V Live's "Fanship" and discover digital video contents and cooperate with SM to create a production fund to discover next-generation video contents.
Han Sung Sook, CEO of Naver, said, "Naver is building a new competitive edge in the non-face-to-face digital performance market with advanced live and community platform technologies and big data-based paid business models. Through this investment, we will increase the competitiveness of Fanship and show new innovations in the global market."
"We are looking forward to the synergy between the two companies as we will join hands with Naver, which is competitive in non-face-to-face content platforms in the era of On-Tact," said Lee Sung Soo, CEO of SM.
"SM will open a new era of entertainment by providing differentiated contents to global fans," he added.
Meanwhile, in April, the two companies formed a strategic alliance to promote the joint global business to strengthen their global entertainment.
SM Entertainment is one of the biggest entertainment companies in South Korea, which houses various successful K-pop groups. SNSD, Super Junior, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT, TVXQ, and many more have become powerhouses, representing the label's prominent triumph in establishing in their brand.
