"The Producing of Sweden and the Talent of Korean Artists Are a Perfect Combination"

Epidemic Sound Tom Hugeland CBDO Interview
Recently Signed 5 Korean Artists for Full-Scale Entry
"Perfect Combination of Swedish Producing and Korean Talent"

"Combining our producing capabilities with the talents of Korean artists will create the perfect synergy."

Tom Høglund, CBDO (Chief Business Development Officer) of Epidemic Sound, whom I recently met in Seoul, was full of confidence. Epidemic Sound has signed five Korean artists. Following the establishment of its Korean subsidiary in 2020, it has become one of the rare overseas music companies to directly manage Korean artists. Høglund said, "Korea has large corporations like Samsung and LG, tech-based platform companies like Kakao, and global stars like BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) that Sweden could never produce," adding, "For these various reasons, we chose Korea." The ambition is to target the global music market based in Korea.

Tom Hugland, CBDO of Epidemic Sound, who announced the recruitment of five Korean artists last month (Photo by Epidemic Sound)

Founded in 2009, Epidemic Sound is a Swedish company operating a soundtrack platform of the same name. It is a subscription-based platform. It holds over 40,000 soundtracks and supplies them to platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. It is especially popular among creators. In 2021, it became a unicorn (a private company valued at over 1 trillion KRW). Earlier this year, the UK Financial Times ranked it as the second fastest-growing IT company in Sweden. Last year, it posted sales of 1.181 billion Swedish kronor (approximately 144 billion KRW). Its headquarters are in Stockholm, Sweden, with offices in New York and LA in the US, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and uniquely in Asia, a subsidiary in Seoul, Korea.

Epidemic Sound has focused on the growing influence of K-pop. Høglund said, "On the Epidemic Sound platform, K-pop has rapidly risen from the 100th most popular genre to the top 20," adding, "Because there is explosive demand for K-pop outside Korea as well, investing in Korea was a natural choice." He also praised Korea by saying, "In terms of music, Korea is like Sweden in Asia." He further explained that Sweden, though a small European country, possesses formidable strength in music.

The YouTube channel 'PewDiePie,' with over 100 million subscribers, uses Epidemic Sound (Photo capture from PewDiePie YouTube).

In fact, Sweden is a traditional music powerhouse. Spotify, the world's number one global music platform, is a Swedish company. Sweden has produced famous artists such as ABBA, Roxette, Avicii, and world-renowned composers like Max Martin, known as the 'God of songwriting.' Martin has more than 20 songs that reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This year’s K-pop song that stayed the longest on the Billboard Hot 100 (25 consecutive weeks), "Cupid," was also created by Swedish university students. Epidemic Sound also has many highly skilled producers. Høglund said, "We can be the perfect partner for Korea in the music industry," adding, "By recruiting artists based in the Seoul office and generating revenue, a virtuous cycle benefiting the Korean music ecosystem will occur."

Epidemic Sound supports artist growth in a unique way. Unlike typical labels, it 'advances' a portion of copyright revenue. Additionally, the company and artists split copyright income 50/50, whereas the usual practice is 75% for the company and 25% for the artist. Høglund said, "The average (copyright) income of our signed artists is about $50,000 annually, and some artists earn over $200,000." As a co-founder of Epidemic Sound, he holds the philosophy that emerging artists can fully express their talents only when supported by financial stability.

Starting with five artists, Epidemic Sound plans to sign more Korean artists in the future. It is also building partnerships across various fields including entertainment, broadcasting, production, advertising, and sports. Partners include Kakao Entertainment, Studio Discovery Korea, Gaudio Lab, K League, and Lezhin Entertainment. Høglund said, "We will soon release music from the signed artists," adding, "We will also launch localized services exclusively for Korea soon."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.