Kakao Entertainment

South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company

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Kakao Entertainment Corp.

Native name

| 주식회사 카카오엔터테인먼트
Company type| Private subsidiary
Industry|

* Entertainment
* Mass Media
* Publishing

Predecessor|

* KakaoPage Corp.
* Kakao M

(as separate companies)
Founded| March 2, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-03-02)[1]
Headquarters|

South Korea

Key people

| Joseph Chang(CEO) Gisu Kwon(CEO)
Products|

* Webtoons
* Web novels
* Music
* Dramas
* Movies
* Other entertainment-related products

Services|

* Web development
* Talent management
* Production and Distribution

Owner|

* Kakao (63.50%)
* Podo Asia B.V. (15.33%)
* Joy Lee (0.96%)
* Others (20.21%)

Parent| Kakao
Divisions|

* Page Company
* M Company

Subsidiaries| see list
Website| KakaoEnt.com

Kakao Entertainment Corp. (Korean: 주식회사 카카오엔터테인먼트; stylized as kakao ENTERTAINMENT) , is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the Internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries KakaoPage and Kakao M.[2][3][4]

## History[edit]

### KakaoPage Corp.[edit]

Main article: KakaoPage

Podotree Co, Ltd. was founded on July 20, 2010, as a subsidiary of Kakao, and launched KakaoPage three years later. On August 1, 2018, the company changed its corporate name to KakaoPage Corp.

### Kakao M[edit]

Main article: Kakao M

Seoul Records, Inc. was established in October 1978 by Min Young-bin [ko], the founder of South Korea's leading educational company YBM Group [ko] (formerly Sisa English). In 2005, the company was acquired by SK Telecom and relaunched as LOEN Entertainment, Inc. three years later, before being sold to Star Invest Holdings (a subsidiary of Affinity Equity Partners).

In January 2016, it was taken over by Kakao and renamed again as Kakao M Corp. in December 2017.

In October 2020, the company expanded in Asia by launching a Thailand-based subsidiary called Kakao M Asia (Private) Co., Ltd. (currently Kakao Entertainment Asia Co., Ltd.).[5]

### Merger as Kakao Entertainment (2021–present)[edit]

In December 2020, KakaoPage Corp. proposed a merger with Kakao M Corp. as a unified company.[6] It was seen as an action by their parent company against US-based Google’s new policy for its app market place users, which would've affected Kakao M, which KakaoTV platform was starting to become popular in South Korea.

Both companies announced the plans and timeline for their merger, as well as the proposed name for the unified company Kakao Entertainment Corp on January 25, 2021.[7] Under the plans, KakaoPage Corp. is the surviving entity.

The merger was completed on March 1, and Kakao Entertainment was formally founded a day later.

On July 15, it was announced that Kakao Entertainment and Melon Company would be merging, with the merger expected to be complete in September 2021.[8]

On September 17, Kakao Entertainment announced that Play M Entertainment and Cre.ker Entertainment would be merging in the future.[9] On November 12, it was announced that the company's new corporate name would be IST Entertainment, which took effect on November 1.[10]

## Divisions[edit]

### Page Company[edit]

Headed by co-CEO Joy Lee, the Kakao Entertainment's Page Company is in charge of the company's web fiction publishing and web development business. It is situated in Pangyo, Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province.

### M Company[edit]

Headed by co-CEO Stephan Kim [ko], the Kakao Entertainment's M Company is in charge of the company's entertainment and mass media business. Its headquarters is in Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu in Seoul.

## Subsidiaries[edit]

### Under the Page Company[edit]

* AdPage[a]
* Daon Creative
* KW Books
* Kiwi Vine
* RS Media
* Radish Media
* Samyang C&C
* Soundist Entertainment
* Tapas Media
* Yeondam

### Under the M Company[edit]

#### Entertainment companies[edit]

* Antenna Music
* EDAM Entertainment
* IST Entertainment
* Starship Entertainment
* Starship X
* Highline Entertainment

#### Talent companies[edit]

* Awesome ENT
* BH Entertainment
* Bluedot Entertainment
* GRAYGO
* Maison de Baja
* High Up Entertainment
* J.Wide Company
* King Kong by Starship
* Management SOOP
* Moonlight Film
* Ready Entertainment
* Shownote
* Studio K11O
* VAST Entertainment & Media

#### Production companies[edit]

* Baram Pictures
* Dolphiners Films
* Kross Pictures
* Logos Film
* Mega Monster
* Sanai Pictures
* Story & Pictures Media
* Zip Cinema

## Assets[edit]

### Buildings[edit]

* Jungsuck Building (Seoul) - headquarters of the Kakao Entertainment M Company
* The Kakao Entertainment M Company also owns a building at Samseong-dong in Seoul, where the headquarters of IST Entertainment and Flex M are located.

### Internet properties[edit]

* 1theK[11]
* 1theK Live
* 1theK Originals
* 1theK Style (coming soon)
* KakaoPage
* KakaoPage Indonesia (formerly Neobazar) (Indonesia)
* KakaoTV
* Kakao Webtoon
* Kakao Webtoon (South Korea) (formerly Daum Webtoon)[12]
* Kakao Webtoon (Indonesia)
* Kakao Webtoon (Taiwan)
* Kakao Webtoon (Thailand)
* Melon
* Muse (mobile audition application)
* Radish (US)
* Wuxiaworld (US)[13]
* Tapas (US)

## Locations[edit]

* Kakao Entertainment Page Company: Twosun World Building 8/F, 221, Pangyoyeok-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea[1]
* Kakao Entertainment M Company: Jungsuck Building, 17, Teheran-ro 103-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea[1]

## Notes[edit]

1. ^ joint venture with Kakao Games

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Kakao Entertainment". Kakao Entertainment Corp. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
2. ^ Song, Kyoung-son (March 4, 2021). "Kakao M and Kakao Page merged into Kakao Entertainment". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
3. ^ Park, Sae-jin (January 25, 2021). "Kakao units merged into entertainment company targeting global market". Aju Business Daily. Archived from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
4. ^ Leesa-Nguansuk, Suchit (January 26, 2021). "South Korea's Kakao affiliates to merge". Bangkok Post. Archived from the original on August 5, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
5. ^ "Kakao Entertainment Asia Co., Ltd". Match Link Asia. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
6. ^ Kang, Doo-soon; Oh, Dae-seok; Kang, Woo-seok; Kang, Young-woon; Cho, Jeehyun (December 3, 2020). "Kakao Page close to merging with Kakao M before IPO". Maeil Business News Korea. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
7. ^ "Launch of KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT through strategic merger of Kakao Page and Kakao M". KakaoPage Corp. (Press release). Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021 - via PR Newswire.
8. ^ Jo, Ji-young (July 15, 2021). "[공식] 카카오엔터, 음악 플랫폼 멜론 품는다..9월 합병" [[Official] Kakao Entertainment embraces music platform Melon..September merger]. Sports Chosun (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021 - via Naver.
9. ^ Kwak, Hyeon-su (September 17, 2021). "플레이엠·크래커 엔터 통합…에이핑크·더보이즈 한 식구 된다" [PlayM and Creker Enter integration… Apink and The Boyz become one family]. YTN (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2021 - via Naver.
10. ^ Kim, Ye-ji (November 12, 2021). 에이핑크 '플레이엠'·더보이즈 '크래커', IST로 통합 [Apink's 'PlayM' and The Boyz's 'Cracker' merged into IST]. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 12, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2021 - via Naver.
11. ^ "About Us". 1theK. Kakao Entertainment. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
12. ^ "Kakao Entertainment sets a new global standard with the launch of 'KAKAO WEBTOON'". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021 - via Yahoo! Finance.
13. ^ Frater, Patrick (December 16, 2021). "Kakao Entertainment Buys Wuxiaworld Online Fiction Platform". Variety. PMC. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2022.

## External links[edit]

* Official website (in Korean)

* Companies portal
* South Korea portal

* v
* t
* e

Kakao

Web assets|

* Daum
* KakaoBank
* KakaoGroup
* KakaoMusic
* KakaoPage
* KakaoStory
* KakaoStyle
* KakaoTalk
* KakaoPay
* Kakao T
* KakaoTV
* Kakao Webtoon
* MelOn
* Piccoma
* Tistory
* tvPot

Subsidiaries|

* Kakao Entertainment
* Kakao Games
* Kakao Japan

People|

* Brian Kim

Other|

* Kakao Friends
* PotPlayer
* Global World Encyclopedia
* Path (social network)

* v
* t
* e

K-pop

* Korean Wave
* Korean ballad
* Korean hip hop
* Korean rock
* Trot

Terminology|

* Cultural technology
* Fan rice
* Sasaeng fan
* Idols
* Slave contract
* Sexualization and sexual exploitation
* Virtual concert

Artists|

* Individual artists
* Idol groups
* Girl groups
* Boy groups

Events|

* Dream Concert
* KCON
* K-pop Cover Dance Festival
* K-Pop World Festival

Websites|

* Allkpop
* Billboard K-Town
* Timeline
* 2020s
* Eat Your Kimchi
* Soompi

Music shows|

* Inkigayo (SBS)
* M Countdown (Mnet)
* Music Bank (KBS2)
* Music Universe K-909 (JTBC)
* Music on Top (JTBC)
* Pops in Seoul (Arirang TV)
* Show Champion (MBC M)
* Show! Music Core (MBC)
* The Show (SBS M)
* Simply K-Pop (Arirang TV)

Music charts|

* List of K-pop on the Billboard charts
* Albums
* Songs
* World Digital Song Sales
* Year-end
* Circle Chart
* albums
* singles
* Billboard K-pop Hot 100
* South Korea Songs
* RIAK/MIAK

Notable labels
and publishers|

| Agencies|

* 8D Creative
* Attrakt
* B2M Entertainment
* BPM Entertainment
* Brand New Music
* Brave Entertainment
* C9 Entertainment
* CJ ENM
* Amoeba Culture
* AOMG
* H1ghr Music
* Swing Entertainment
* Wake One Entertainment
* Coridel Entertainment
* Cube Entertainment
* DR Music
* Fantagio
* FNC Entertainment
* Hybe Corporation
* Big Hit Music
* Pledis Entertainment
* Source Music
* Imagine Asia
* Dreamcatcher Company
* Jellyfish Entertainment
* JYP Entertainment
* Kakao Entertainment
* Antenna
* IST Entertainment
* Starship Entertainment
* Konnect Entertainment
* Maroo Entertainment
* MLD Entertainment
* MNH Entertainment
* Oui Entertainment
* P Nation
* Polaris Entertainment
* Blockberry Creative
* RBW
* DSP Media
* WM Entertainment
* SM Entertainment
* Label SJ
* Mystic Story
* Woollim Entertainment
* Star Empire Entertainment
* TOP Media
* YG Entertainment
* The Black Label
* Yuehua Entertainment

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Publishers|

* Genie Music
* iMBC
* Interpark Music
* Kakao Entertainment
* Music&New
* NHN Bugs
* Pony Canyon Korea
* SBS Contents Hub
* SK Group
* Dreamus
* SK Communications
* Sony Music Korea
* Soribada
* Stone Music Entertainment
* Universal Music Korea
* Warner Music Korea
* YG Plus

Music award shows

Major|

* APAN Music Awards
* Asia Artist Awards
* Asia Song Festival
* Circle Chart Music Awards
* Genie Music Awards
* Golden Disc Awards
* KBS Gayo Daechukje
* Korean Music Awards
* Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards
* MAMA Awards
* MBC Gayo Daejejeon
* Mnet 20's Choice Awards
* SBS Gayo Daejeon
* Seoul Music Awards
* Soribada Best K-Music Awards
* The Fact Music Awards

Digital music|

* Cyworld Digital Music Awards
* Melon Music Awards

* v
* t
* e

Television production companies of South Korea

* AStory
* Big Hit Entertainment
* Blossom Entertainment
* CJ ENM
* JS Pictures
* Studio Dragon
* Culture Depot
* Hwa&Dam Pictures
* C-JeS Studios
* Celltrion Entertainment
* Channel A
* Chorokbaem Media
* Doremi Entertainment
* DSP Media
* ESA
* Kim Jong-hak Production
* FNC Entertainment
* Fantagio
* Gold Medalist
* Hidden Sequence
* Huayi Brothers Korea
* iHQ
* IOK Media
* Imagine Asia
* iWill Media
* JTBC
* SLL
* JYP Entertainment
* KBS
* KBS Media
* KBS N
* Monster Union
* Kakao Entertainment
* Kross Pictures
* Logos Film
* Mega Monster
* Story & Pictures Media
* Kim Jong-hak Production
* Lezhin Entertainment
* Lotte Cultureworks
* MBC
* MBC C&I
* MBN
* Naver
* PlayList Global
* Webtoon
* Studio N
* Next Entertainment World
* Pan Entertainment
* SBS
* SBS Plus
* Studio S
* SM Entertainment
* SM Studios
* KeyEast
* Mystic Story
* SM Culture & Contents
* SM Life Design Group
* Samhwa Networks
* Shinsegae
* Showbox
* Signal Entertainment Group
* Story TV
* TV Chosun
* Urban Works Media
* Victory Contents
* YG Entertainment

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz label

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