The K-pop giant SM Entertainment has created a joint venture with the Chinese music giant Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) to debut a new Chinese idol group.
STE, the new joint venture, was created as part of efforts to establish a cooperation framework based on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by SM Entertainment and TME in May of last year.
The Chinese singer ZHOUMI, who is a member of SUPER JUNIOR-M, the China-based sub-unit of the boy group SUPER JUNIOR, will serve as the general manager of STE, according to SM Entertainment.
“ZHOUMI possesses nearly two decades of experience as a member of SUPER JUNIOR-M and as a solo artist, giving him immense knowledge and expertise in the K-pop production system. He has also gained practical management experience as a director within SM Entertainment’s Chinese subsidiary, as well as a fine understanding of local trends,” stated SM Entertainment.
STE will hold auditions to debut a new idol group in China within two to three years. The company will also manage the group after its debut.
The newly launched company will also support SM Entertainment artists from Greater China, including RENJUN of NCT DREAM as well as YANGYANG and XIAOJUN of WAYV, indicated SM Entertainment. It plans to offer more personalized local promotions and support for their entertainment activities.
“By combining SM Entertainment’s strengths in intellectual property [IP] and content production with a deep understanding of the Greater China market, we will offer unique content and achieve meaningful results by serving as a bridge between the two companies,” said ZHOUMI.
SM Entertainment and TME signed the memorandum of understanding on May 29 of last year to launch a Chinese girl group within two to three years. According to the agreement, SM Entertainment will recruit and train the members of the new group and supervise music production, while TME will handle promotions and album and music sales.
Both parties also agreed to collaborate to create merchandise, produce video content, and open pop-up stores using SM Entertainment‘s intellectual property for the Chinese market.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: SM Entertainment
