SM to Debut 4 Groups This Year... "500 Billion Investment in 4 Sectors by Next Year"

by Kim Heeyun

Published 08 Feb.2024 11:10(KST)

SM Entertainment will debut a total of four new teams this year, including the final NCT team, NCT Wish.

NCT Wish, who is set to debut on the 21st at Tokyo Dome in Japan. <br>[Photo by SM Entertainment]

NCT Wish, who is set to debut on the 21st at Tokyo Dome in Japan.
[Photo by SM Entertainment]

On the 8th, SM announced that it will introduce four teams as new IPs (intellectual property), including NCT Wish, which will debut at Tokyo Dome in Japan on the 21st of this month, a rookie girl group, Naevis, a helper character in the aespa universe, and a British boy group.

Last year, SM revealed plans to produce a Korea-UK joint boy group in partnership with the British entertainment company MOON&BACK (hereafter M&B). M&B is an entertainment and TV program production company headquartered in London, UK, and SM and M&B will create and air a six-episode TV series documenting the growth process of this boy group.

In particular, SM is accelerating the entry of its artists into the U.S. market through the American corporation 'SM & Kakao Entertainment America' (tentative name), established with Kakao, and is expanding local partnerships. To support this, SM has significantly increased the number of its affiliated composers.

Through its subsidiary KMR (Creation Music Rights), which operates the publishing business, SM recruited 84 composers by last month. In December last year, SM also established KMR Europe to recruit European composers who have composed famous K-pop songs.

SM announced plans to establish a local corporation in the U.S. this year to recruit North American composers. Additionally, SM explained that it plans to maximize KMR's production capabilities through collaboration between SM artists and KMR producers and hold at least two large-scale song camps this year.

Through five production centers this year, SM will release NCT Wish's debut (February), solo albums of NCT Ten and Taeyong (February), Red Velvet Wendy's mini-album (March), and NCT Dream's mini-album (March), among others.

SM stated that the number of album and digital music releases last year was 64, a 12% increase compared to the previous year. New album sales reached a record high of 20.1 million copies, up 67% from the previous year, and concerts were held 340 times, a sharp increase of 224% compared to the previous year.

In the second quarter of this year, SM will release aespa's first full-length album, and unveil BoA's single, EXO's Suho's mini-album, Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon's single, and NCT Doyoung's solo work. Mini-albums from SHINee, Red Velvet, and WayV are also in preparation. NCT Dream, aespa, Super Junior, Super Junior L.S.S., and NCT Ten are scheduled to perform in the second quarter.

SM CEO Jang Cheol-hyuk said, "We expect separate sales revenue of 703 billion KRW in 2024, an approximately 14% growth compared to the previous year," adding, "With the goal of achieving this plan, we will execute investments totaling 500 billion KRW across four areas?expanding publishing capabilities, label acquisitions, global expansion, and virtual IP?by 2025."