LOEN Entertainment, formerly Seoul Records, is a South Korean record label.
It is headquartered in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
As of 2013, it is the leading record company in South Korea in terms of revenue according
to the statistics compiled by the Korea Music Content Industry Association through the Gaon
Music Chart; it is the second leading company in terms of album sales according to the same
statistics.
About the company History
The company was founded as a subsidiary of YBM Sisa, whose main business was creating
language learning tapes, in 1978 by Min Yeong-bin.
In 1982, the company was officially registered and in 1984 they began distributing and producing
classic and traditional music records.
Seoul Records was registered as a venture capital company in 1999 and began to sell
albums while also operating an internet shopping site.
In 2000, the company changed its name to YBM Seoul Records and began to sell shares on
KOSDAQ.
The company would then move on to join the International Federation of the Phonographic
Industry in 2003.
Korean conglomerate SK Telecom bought 60 percent of the company in 2005, making them the company's
largest shareholder.
YBM Seoul Records also became a part of SK Group as a result.
As of 2008, Seoul Records has been known by its current name, LOEN Entertainment.
LOEN was put in charge of operating SK Telecom's online music distribution service, MelOn,
in 2009.
MelOn is currently the most used online music sales site in South Korea.
In 2012, the company signed a deal with crowd-sourced internet television and movie website Viki,
to feature music videos, interview clips, concert performances, of their artists such
as IU, Brown Eyed Girls and Drunken Tiger.
In August 2012, all the artists signed with LOEN Entertainment were compiled into a special
artist group, called LOEN Tree.
The group released its first EP, "LOEN Tree Summer Story", on August 2.
On July 18, 2013, Affinity Equity Partners, through its subsidiary Star Invest Holdings
Ltd., bought 52.56 percent of LOEN's shares.
SK Group now owns only 15 percent after the deal with AEP.
The company was reorganized to include two labels: "LOEN Tree" and "Collabodadi".
On December 18, 2013, LOEN acquired 70% of shares in Starship Entertainment, making it
as an independent subsidiary of LOEN.
Business Online music sales account for most of the
company's profit, with 93.9% of revenue coming from online music sales.
The label also distributes CDs of some other entertainment agencies in South Korea through
its branch LOEN Music, but less than 5% revenue is made from them.
Corporate identity Company name
The name LOEN stands for: Live On Entertainment Networks
LOve + ENtertainment Logos
The company's first logo was the two small letters s and r combined.
At the bottom of the logo was the English name, while the Korean name서울음반) was
at its right corner.
Controversies 2011 price fixing
LOEN, along with parent SK Telecom, was one of the 15 companies fined and sued by the
Korean FTC for price rigging in 2011.
The company was slapped with a $9.6 million fine for its role in the scheme.
Incredible promotion conflict C-JeS Entertainment and LOEN agreed for a
deal in the promotion and distribution of Junsu's second studio album Incredible.
But days before the album's release, C-JeS received a message from LOEN: "We will distribute
XIA's album online and offline, but we have decided to scrap the plans for promotional
marketing...
This is the decision coming from within the executives, so we ask for your understanding.
For the showcase inviting MelOn customers, we will broadcast live through LOEN TV, but
we will not be able to show it through MelOn."
Promotional banners regarding Junsu's new release on MelOn after his pre-release 11am
on the 2nd also disappeared from LOEN's social media accounts.
As a result, C-JeS threatened to leave LOEN's name completely out of the upcoming showcase
as well as to file for a civil appeal to the Fair Trade Commission and Anti-Corruption
and Civil Rights Commission.
LOEN's response and C-JeS' answer LOEN responded, "Right now, we're still in
the stages of discussing the terms of Junsu's album promotion contracts.
We haven't signed the contract, and there's nothing confirmed.
Since there's nothing confirmed, we can't reveal the details.
But one thing that is definite is that the article was released before anything was fully
decided."
They added, "Junsu's label said that we closed all the events, but they're still all going
on.
During the contract signing stages, opinions can go back and forth all the time during
the negotiation process.
We could have talked this out, and we're shocked that they said we broke the contract.
If it's like C-JeS said, Junsu's showcase event page on MelOn's homepage should have
been taken down, but it's still open and functioning normally.
We're also going to reveal the chosen fans to attend the showcase on the 11th, as scheduled".
However, C-JeS Entertainment responded, "We sent our statement after receiving the sudden
news 6 days before the showcase.
We also told them that if they did not answer, we'd be spreading this to the media.
But we had no answer.
LOEN Entertainment says that we were still in the stages of negotiating and that we hadn't
signed the contract, but we started the pre-orders and even started receiving entries for the
showcase event.
If we didn't have the contract, shouldn't none of this happened?"
They added, "Junsu is busy with international CF filming and his Thailand schedule.
The reason he planned this showcase is that he wanted to show himself to the public.
Since he can't come out freely on broadcast, we prepared a free showcase to show his stage
through MelOn TV.
Since the label is paying for the showcase, if MelOn TV will not air it, there's no reason
to just have this exclusively for MelOn customers.
We've currently asked LOEN Entertainment to answer until the afternoon of the 9th.
If this doesn't get fixed, the label will invite the fans, and the event will be canceled."
Aftermath After C-JeS lashed out and brought media attention,
LOEN held a meeting to discuss the matter and the two companies have worked out their
differences to reach an understanding.
C-JeS Entertainment stated on July 9, "The dispute with LOEN Entertainment which occurred
yesterday has now been smoothly resolved.
Last night, we met with the LOEN representative and received the official word that they'll
carry out all of XIA's promotional activities as previously discussed.
XIA's showcase, which many fans have been waiting for all this time, will be live-streamed
through MelOn TV.
Also, the online promotions for XIA's 2nd full-length album have been confirmed so we
will be able to distribute his music and performances for fans of XIA's music.
We sincerely thank the various media outlets for taking interest in the affairs of our
agency and the public for showing their support.
XIA will return the love and support with the release of his 2nd album on the 15th and
an Asia tour and more."
Incredible was released on July 15, 2013, distributed by LOEN.
Divisions MelOn Biz
It refers to MelOn, the online music service operated by LOEN.
The name MelOn stands for "melody on".
MelOn is the most popular OMS in South Korea with 59 percent of all OMS users as of November
2013.
Soompi ranked MelOn as the 3rd most influential entity in the K-pop industry.
Contents Biz
Formerly known as LOEN Music, it became 1theK on February 2014.
It is the content production arm of LOEN, responsible for assisting agencies with album
production - whether that be cash investment, CD production, album distribution and anything
else required to get an album from the recording booth on to the shelves.
According to LOEN, "it distributes over 300 titles per year and works with capable agencies
to discover good albums and invest in the production of music content.”
Artist Biz
This is LOEN's internal artist management arm, also known as LOEN Artist.
It has two sub-divisions, LOEN Tree and Collabodadi.
Starship Entertainment now also belongs to this division.
Awards Artist Management
LOEN Tree Singers
IU Sunny Hill
History Actors
Kim Suk-hoon Jo Han-sun
Lee Jung-hyuk Kang Bok-eum
Producers Won Taeyeon
G.Gorilla Lee Minsoo
Hwang Sooah Ra.D
KZ Lyricists
Kim Yi-na G.Gorilla
Lee Minsoo Ra.D
Collabodadi Label Singers
Fiestar Zia
Lyricist / Producer Shinsadong Tiger
Trainees Yoon Hyun-sang
Shin Ji-soo Park So-yeon
Chan.Tracee Vann Zion Rhee,이시온
Former Artists Singers
Run Gain
Cheska Trainees
Park Sang-hyun of MBLAQ) Kim Boa
Park Juhyun Cho Hyung Woo
See also List of LOEN Entertainment labels
MelOn Music Awards, an awarding event organized by the company.
SK Group References
External links Official website
Official website 1theK on Facebook
1theK on Twitter 1theK on Google+
LOEN Entertainment's channel on YouTube LOEN Entertainment's channel on Ustream