SM Entertainment Launches New Boy Group..'SM NEXT 3.0' Strategy Announced

*This content was translated by AI.

SM Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as SM) unveiled a blueprint for a new leap beyond its 30th anniversary on the 20th.

SM (CEO Jang Chul-hyuk and Tak Young-joon) released a total of two videos on its official YouTube channel and announced its vision to evolve into a "multi-creative" system centered on "people" and "artists" based on the system of "SM 3.0" that has been settled over the past three years. It also presented key agendas to lead the company's future, including IP strategies, business and global strategies, management and investment strategies, and co-CEO Jang Chul-hyuk, Tak Young-joon, and Chief A&R Officer (CAO) Lee Sung-soo came forward to explain the company-wide future direction to shareholders and fans.

Based on the performance of the existing five multi-production systems, SM declared the introduction of a 'multi-creative' system that took it to the next level. CEO Tak Young-joon said, "We want to achieve growth and change at the same time by exploring and allocating the optimal creator with the artist at the center. As the world view of the artist evolves, new artistic grammar is required accordingly, so we will flexibly build a creative lineup optimized for the project's orientation to achieve the most complete artist change."

In addition, the debut of a new boy group in 2026 was officially announced, saying, "A team of boy groups is scheduled to debut in 2026. Members of SMTR25, a male trainee team, will also be targeted, and they will be introduced in stages through an entertainment show called "Reply High School" earlier this year.

In addition, the global local IP strategy has also been specified. CEO Tak Young-joon said, "We will focus on SM's creative capabilities, but we will develop production and marketing through active cooperation with strong local partners," adding, "China is in discussion with Tencent Music Entertainment, Thailand is True, and Japan is in discussion with multiple partners."

SM has established an A&R system optimized for each artist and has strengthened its A&R global infrastructure through organic collaboration and synergy with its music publishing subsidiary "KMR (Creative Music Rights)."

CAO Lee Sung-soo has been continuously strengthening SM's A&R system and network by utilizing KMR, and said, "KMR has secured the foundation for global repertoire by entering the U.S. in 2025 after Korea and Europe, and has signed exclusive or sub-publication contracts with more than 370 composers to have more than 7,000 core K-Pop catalogs." "SM will have Asia's largest and best publishing company in the next five years through KMR and grow it into an intellectual property (IP) hub based on this," he said.

In addition, AI analyzed the data of tens of thousands of songs accumulated by SM over the past 30 years and suggested to fans a sound source with high suitability for each artist, mentioning the direction of upgrading the A&R system using AI technology.

SM also mentioned policies to protect artists and improve fan satisfaction. CEO Jang Chul-hyuk said, "We have received 300,000 reports in about two years since the implementation of KWANGYA 119, recording a 99.8% response rate, and from 2026, we will prepare to share the status of responses such as complaints and reports to fans on a quarterly basis," and added, "We plan to promote measures to strengthen the fan experience step by step."

SM also explained its business and investment strategies to cope with the changing consumption patterns of fandom. CEO Jang Chul-hyuk said, "Performance is playing a very important role in the changing K-Pop industry trend, and we are trying to provide an optimized performance experience for each region's fandom," and added, "At a time when the secondary business based on artist IP continues to grow, SM is planning and leading new trends so that MD can become a medium to experience the world view of artists, not just products, and will expand it to lifestyle MD areas in the future."

He also mentioned, "We will not only incorporate Dear U, which operates the fan communication platform 'Bubble', as a consolidated subsidiary, but also provide a variety of K-content experiences to fandom through collaboration with global platforms."

In particular, on how to use AI, a key engine in the future, CEO Jang Chul-hyuk said, "SM has the strength of leveraging the AI technology capabilities of its parent company, Kakao, so we expect strong synergy at the rapidly changing point of connection between K-Pop and AI," adding, "We will actively seek M&A opportunities in music and related industries than in the past three years and accelerate growth by investing capital."

"SM NEXT 3.0 combines technology, platform, and people-centered creative innovation on top of SM's best musical essence to achieve borderless expansion," said co-CEO Jang Chul-hyuk and Tak Young-joon at the end of the video. "We will prove our position as a global leading company through reliable growth and investment."

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*This content was translated by AI.