SM Entertainment

History

1989–2000: Creation and first-generation artists

After graduating from California State University, Northridge in the United States, Lee Soo-man returned to Korea and in 1989 established what was then known as "SM Studio" in the Apgujeong neighborhood of Gangnam, Seoul and signed hip hop singer Hyun Jin-young. While Hyun's music was well received, he was later arrested on charges of marijuana and methamphetamine use, from which his career never fully recovered. SM lost more money when the company that distributed Hyun's albums went bankrupt. Lee subsequently decided to focus on debuting Japanese-style idols, ensuring that his artists, nurtured by a training system, had a clean image, in addition to singing and dancing skills. In February 1995, the company changed its name to SM Entertainment and set up its capital fund. SM developed an in-house system that looked after all aspects of its artists' careers. Lee's approach was targeted at teenage audiences, and took a holistic view of the qualities needed to become a successful entertainer. SM launched a string of successful artists, including boy band H.O.T. in 1996, girl group S.E.S. in 1997, boy band Shinhwa in 1998, R&B duo Fly to the Sky in 1999, and soloist BoA in 2000.

Jung Hae-ik was CEO during this period, and was succeeded by Kim Kyung-wook in 1998.

2000–2005: Affiliations and second-generation artists

In 2000, SM became the first entertainment company to be listed on KOSDAQ, and established an affiliate company called Fandango Korea to operate its online business. The early 2000s saw the disbandment of both H.O.T (in 2001) and S.E.S (in 2002). Shinhwa departed to a new agency, and new acts like the girl group M.I.L.K. and the boy band Black Beat failed to attain the popularity of previous SM artists. As the domestic music market experienced a slump, SM shifted its focus to international expansion. In January 2001, the company founded an overseas division, SM Entertainment Japan, in collaboration with Japanese record label Avex Trax and television production company Yoshimoto Kogyo, to promote BoA in the Japanese market.

In 2003, SM became affiliated with Starlight Academy System, a private academy that trained aspiring singers and actors. That same year, the company debuted five-member boy group TVXQ. The following years saw the debuts of artists such as TRAX (2004), The Grace (2005), and Super Junior (2005).

2005–2010: Expansion and international artists

In 2005, Kim Young-min became the company's third CEO, under whom several artists debuted with a view to promoting outside of South Korea. Artists produced by SM during this period included Chinese-born soloist Zhang Liyin (2006), Japanese-language soloist J-Min (2007), Girls' Generation (2007), Shinee (2008), and f(x) (2009). In April 2008, SM debuted a Mandarin-language sub-unit of Super Junior, named Super Junior-M. In September 2008, SM announced plans for BoA's debut in the American market, under a newly formed subsidiary label named SM Entertainment USA.

In May 2008, the SM Art Company opened under co-CEO Pyo In-bong, with a focus on producing theatrical works. The company's first venture was a production of the American musical comedy Xanadu, starring Super Junior members Heechul and Kangin.

2010–2012: Joint and further ventures

In February 2010, after two decades on SM's board of directors, founder Lee Soo-man resigned from his position in order to "focus more energy on SM's overseas business, new business management, and artist development." In March of the same year, KMP Holdings was established as a joint venture between SM, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, Star Empire, Medialine, CAN Entertainment, and Music Factory. The firm's first release from SM was Super Junior's fifth studio album, Mr. Simple, which marked the end of SM's self-distribution.

In April 2011, SM, YG, JYP, KeyEast, AMENT, and Star J Entertainment came together to form United Asia Management, a joint investment agency geared towards advancing Asian music worldwide. That August, SM joined with Thai media company TrueVisions to create an international joint venture, SM True.

In 2012, SM debuted the large-scale boy group Exo, split into two units in order to promote in Korea and China simultaneously. In February, SM acquired Hawaiian travel firm Happy Hawaii and launched SMTown Travel, a new business initiative specializing in travel and tourism under Kang Jung-hyun. Later that year, SMTown Travel offered package deals for overseas fans attending Super Junior's Super Show 4 Tour encore concerts in Seoul. In March, 47 of SM's recording artists became stockholders of the company. Kangta, BoA, and most members of Super Junior and Girls' Generation received 680 shares each (with a value of approximately US$27,200 per person), while members of more recent groups like Shinee and f(x) received 340 shares each (with a value of around US$13,600 per person). In August, SM held an art exhibition at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center, and collaborated with Visa and KB Kookmin Card to begin printing SM artist cards. That same month, Korean TV personalities Kang Ho-dong and Shin Dong-yup announced that they had signed exclusive contracts with SM's new broadcasting subsidiary, SM Culture & Contents (SM C&C), marking SM's expansion into television. The next month, in September, SM C&C merged with AM Entertainment (which then represented top actors such as Jang Dong-gun, Kim Ha-neul, and Han Ji-min), and two other TV personalities, Lee Su-geun and Kim Byung-man, announced that they had also signed with SM. In November, KMP Holdings was acquired by KT Music, and in June 2013, KT Music absorbed KMP's distribution network.

2013–2016: Third-generation artists and new music ventures

In 2013, SM C&C acquired Hoon Media (a production company led by Lee Hoon-hee, responsible for KBS serials 1 vs 100, Heroines 6, Qualifications of Men, and Music Bank) and Woollim Entertainment, a record label responsible for artists such as Infinite.

In January 2014, SM and the other six talent agencies behind KMP Holdings formed a collective bond partnership and bought 13.48% of KT Music's stocks, leaving parent KT Corporation with 49.99%. In February, SM acquired a share in Baljunso, an indie record label founded in 1991 by Kang Byung-yong. On August 1, SM debuted Red Velvet, its first girl group since f(x) five years prior.

In August 2015, SM partnered with sports marketing company IB Worldwide to create Galaxia SM, responsible for golfer Park In-bee, gymnast Son Yeon-jae, and Choo Shin-soo, right fielder for the Texas Rangers. On November 6, the 10th anniversary of Super Junior's debut, SM announced the creation of the group's own sub-label, Label SJ. In late 2015, SM partnered with modeling company ESteem to promote self-owned content and network. The venture later expanded its acting division through the acting debuts of models Ki Do-hoon and Lee Cheol-woo. In 2015, SM had reported revenues of KR₩325 billion (approximately US$287 million) and a net income of KR₩21.7 billion (US$19 million).

In January 2016, founder Lee Soo-man held a conference at the SM Coex Artium, announcing plans for a new boy group, NCT, an acronym for Neo Culture Technology, with "unlimited members". Its first sub-unit, NCT U, released two debut singles in April 2016. NCT added two more units that year – NCT 127 in July 2016 and NCT Dream in August 2016.

At the beginning of 2016, the company opened a restaurant, SMT Seoul, and also established a series of stores selling branded foods under the name SUM Market. On February 11, 2016, the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group acquired a 4% minority stake in SM Entertainment for US$30 million. On May 5, 2016, SM released the first single under its newly established EDM label ScreaM Records, "Wave", featuring f(x) members Amber and Luna and produced by Xavi & Gi and E-mart's Electro Mart. ScreaM Records opened as part of SM's New Culture Technology 2016 project, under which SM also initiated the digital music channel SM Station and a number of mobile apps. In late 2016, SM began organizing a League of Legends tournament, called SM Super Celeb League, in which SM artists Heechul and Baekhyun played against both professional gamers and fans from South Korea and China.

2017–2022: NCT expansion, business expansion and the end of "SM 2.0" era

In March 2017, SM acquired the independent record label Mystic Entertainment, becoming the label's largest shareholder. In March 2018, SM acquired entertainment agency KeyEast and drama production company FNC Add Culture, a subsidiary of FNC Entertainment. Two months later, FNC Add Culture changed their name to SM Life Design Group. On October 2, 2018, it was revealed SM had acquired Million Market, home to singer-songwriters, rappers and R&B singers. In October 2018, SM partnered up with Trans Media of Indonesia, which was owned by CT Corp. In February 2019, Trans Media and SM signed their Heads of Joint Venture Agreement together. Later, on the same month, SM opened its Indonesian office in Jakarta.

In January 2019, SM debuted NCT's China unit, boy group band WayV, managed by the sub-label Label V. On August 8, 2019, SM and Capitol Music Group – which earlier signed NCT 127 in April 2019 – announced SuperM, a supergroup consisting of Taemin from Shinee, Baekhyun and Kai from Exo, and Taeyong, Ten, Lucas and Mark from NCT units NCT 127, NCT Dream and WayV, in the 2019 Capitol Congress event in Los Angeles. The group debuted in October 2019. The group's self-titled EP entered the Billboard 200 albums chart at number one, making SuperM the first Asian artist in history to top the US album chart with a debut release. In November 2019, SM signed with Creative Artists Agency for representation in all areas. In March 2020, SM appointed production head Lee Sung-soo as the company's CEO, as well as Tak Young-jun as SM's chief marketing officer (CMO).

In April 2020, SM and Naver signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the purpose of expanding the global reach of concerts. The joint effort led to the creation of Beyond Live, a series of online live concerts, which were created in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The concerts were hosted on Naver's V Live app and made available to audiences from more than 200 countries. On August 3, Naver invested ₩100 billion in SM, intended for their subsidiaries SMEJ Plus and Mystic Story, as well as Beyond Live. SM also integrated its fan club service into V Live's Fanship platform. A day later, SM announced its partnership with JYP Entertainment to establish Beyond Live Corporation, a joint company for producing Beyond Live concerts. SM Coex Artium closed in June 2020. On June 12, it was announced that SM partnered with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to release orchestral versions of their artists' most popular songs under the label SM Classics. Aespa, SM's first new girl group in six years, debuted with their digital single "Black Mamba" on November 17.

2023–present: Announcing "SM 3.0" era and major adjustments

On February 3, 2023, SM released a video titled "SM 3.0: Producing Strategy Multi 'Production Center/Label' System" on its official YouTube channel, in which co-CEOs Lee Sung-soo and Tak Young-jun revealed that the label was passing from its "2.0" era to the "3.0 era", with major adjustments to come concerning the label's operations. These included shifting from a one-man production system led by founder and executive producer Lee Soo-man to a system under which multiple production teams, both internal and external, would supervise music production and artist promotions. A goal of the new system was to avoid production delays. On February 6, it was announced that Kakao had purchased a 9.05% stake of SM Entertainment, becoming the company's second-largest shareholder at the time. The next day, Lee Soo-man filed an injunction against SM Entertainment for its issuance of new shares and convertible bonds to Kakao, stating the deal between the companies was "illegal" without his permission as the largest shareholder. Two days later, it was announced that Hybe Corporation had become SM Entertainment's largest shareholder after acquiring a 14.8% stake from Lee Soo-man for approximately 422.8 billion won, with the company subsequently acquiring Galaxia SM's 1% stake on March 3, increasing their share to 15.8%.

On March 3, 2023, a South Korean court issued an injunction against SM Entertainment's deal with Kakao. On March 6, 2023, Kakao launched a tender offer bid, in which it sought to acquire 35% of SM Entertainment's shares, in addition to the 4.9% stake already owned by the company. On March 12, 2023, Hybe announced that it no longer planned to acquire a majority stake in SM Entertainment, saying that the bidding war with Kakao could "damage shareholder value". On March 24, 2023, Hybe announced that it would sell its entire stake in SM Entertainment to Kakao by participating in its tender offer. On March 28, 2023, Kakao announced that it had successfully acquired a 35% stake in SM Entertainment through its tender offer bid, resulting in a combined 39.87% stake between Kakao and its subsidiary, Kakao Entertainment, making it the largest shareholder. Hybe sold half of its stake in SM to Kakao, leaving it with 8.81%. On March 31, 2023, during the shareholders' meeting, SM Entertainment appointed chief financial officer (CFO) Jang Cheol-hyuk as its new CEO. Former co-CEO Lee Sung-soo returned to his role in A&R as chief A&R officer (CAO). Lee Soo-man declared the meeting "the end of an era" for the company he founded, stating he was "moving toward the future".

On August 1, 2023, SM Entertainment announced that they would form a joint venture division with Kakao Entertainment in North America. The following day, SM announced the establishment of its music publishing subsidiary, Kreation Music Rights. SM debuted its new boy group Riize in early September, featuring former NCT members Sungchan and Shotaro. The final NCT sub-unit, NCT Wish, made their debut in February 2024. On March 18, SM's music publishing subsidiary Kreation Music Rights launched new production label Kustomade as part of SM's multi-label strategy, managing soloist Kim Woo-jin and Yelo, a member of the production team MonoTree. Hearts2Hearts, an eight-member girl group and SM's first since Aespa in 2020, debuted in February 2025.

Board and Executive Composition

As of December 31, 2025, SM Entertainment was led by co-CEOs Jang Cheol-hyuk and Tak Young-jun. The company's registered directors included the co-CEOs and Choi Jung-min, with Park Ji-ho serving as auditor. The board also included six outside directors, who provide independent oversight, and several non-executive directors contributing strategic guidance. In addition, a number of unregistered executives—such as Lee Sung-soo (Chief Administrative Officer) and Park Jun-young (Creative Fellow) - held senior operational and creative roles within the company.

Executive shareholding in SM Entertainment was concentrated among senior management, with Tak Young-jun and Choi Jung-min each holding approximately 10,000 shares, while other executives, including Park Jun-young and Kim Ji-won, also maintained notable stakes. These holdings reflect both leadership commitment and alignment with shareholder interests.

In March 2026, SM Entertainment restructured part of its board, appointing or reappointing three outside directors. Following this change, the board consisted of seven registered directors, four of whom were independent, slightly increasing the proportion of outside oversight. This adjustment coincided with the expiration of terms for five outside directors originally appointed in 2023, with Moon Jung-bin being reappointed. The newly appointed or reappointed outside directors—Moon Jung-bin, Lim Jung-ha, and Lee Jong-seop—each commenced a three-year term, underscoring the company's continued emphasis on governance and independent oversight.

Executive Remuneration

At the 2025 annual general meeting, shareholders approved a maximum remuneration of ₩6 billion (US$5.24 million) for the company's registered directors and ₩200 million (US$174,832.82) for the auditor. Actual compensation during the reporting period totaled approximately ₩2.73 billion (US$2.39 million) across directors and auditors, reflecting the company's remuneration framework that balances fixed salaries with performance-based bonuses. Notably, co-CEOs Jang Cheol-hyuk and Tak Young-jun, alongside Chief Administrative Officer Lee Sung-soo, received remuneration exceeding ₩500 million (US$437,082.04), illustrating the financial recognition of executive leadership responsibilities and contributions.

SM Entertainment's compensation policies are guided by internal executive remuneration regulations and reviewed by a compensation committee. Factors influencing remuneration include tenure, leadership role, professional expertise, and measurable contributions to the company's performance. In addition, twelve unregistered executives received a combined annual remuneration of ₩3.77 billion (US$3.3 million), highlighting the company's broader investment in operational and creative leadership beyond its registered directors.

Subsidiaries

Dream Maker Entertainment (2006)

Beyond Live (2020)

SM Brand Marketing (2008)

SM C&C (since 2012)

SM Town Planner (2017)

Dear U (2017)

KeyEast (since 2018)

SM Life Design Group (2018)

SM Culture Partners (2022)

Studio Realive (2022)

Kreation Music Rights (2023)

Kustomade (2024)

Studio White (2023)

Investment

ESteem (since 2015)

Galaxia SM (since 2015)

Dreamus (since 2017)

Branches

SM Japan (2001)

SM USA (2008)

SM True (2011), joint venture with True Corporation of Thailand

SM Entertainment Beijing (2012)

SM Entertainment Indonesia (2019), joint venture with Trans Media of Indonesia

SM Entertainment Vietnam (2020)

Disputes and legal actions

Contractual disputes

In late July 2009, three of the five original members of SM boy group TVXQ – Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, and Kim Junsu – applied to the Seoul Central District Court to investigate the validity of their contract with SM, as they felt the thirteen-year contract was excessively long and that earnings were not fairly distributed to the members, but contract destruction, they shall be compensated to the Employer by three times the total investment amount and two times the ordinary profit during the remaining contract period. The news of this dispute caused SM's KOSPI stock price to drop by 10.06%. In addition, 120,000 fans of TVXQ filed a petition against SM's long-term contracts to the Seoul Central District Court, and also filed for compensation for an SMTown Live Concert that was canceled a week before its scheduled date.

Their statement read, "(They) have had health problems and finally reached their physical limits, but SM continued to send them abroad and plan excessive activities. Thus, the three members have started to hope they will be able to continue their careers as they wish, instead of being used as tools for the agency's profits."

The court ruled in the favour of the three ex-members. In response, SM held a press conference claiming that the lawsuit was fraudulent, and filed an injunction. In early May 2010, it was announced that Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu would return to the stage as JYJ under a new management agency, C-JeS Entertainment. The injunction was dismissed by the Seoul Central District Court on February 17, 2011, and the final decision on the case was postponed indefinitely for mediation under the justice department.

On November 28, 2012, during a voluntary arbitration at the Seoul Central District Court, SM and JYJ reached a mutual agreement to terminate all contracts between the two parties and not to interfere with each other's activities in the future, concluding the lawsuit. SM reportedly stated that they had decided to end the litigation "to avoid bringing additional harm to U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin, who are active as TVXQ, and to avoid making any more unneeded issues."

On December 21, 2009, five months after the three former TVXQ members filed their lawsuit and while the dispute was still active, Han Geng, the only Chinese member of Super Junior, also filed a lawsuit against SM. Han Geng filed for similar reasons: unfair profit distribution, and an unfair thirteen-year contract that contained provisions in SM's favor that he was not allowed to revise or end. The artist's friend and later manager Sun Le also submitted a statement to the Korean courts citing SM's violation of Han Geng's rights, which was later leaked via the internet. The statement argued that SM had discriminated against Han Geng financially as well as in terms of management.

2009 MAMA Awards boycott

On November 21, 2009, SM boycotted the Mnet Asian Music Awards event, claiming reservations regarding the standard of fairness and the criteria used in Mnet's selections for award recipients. The company specifically mentioned Girls' Generation, who had topped Korean music charts for nine consecutive weeks and had won numerous awards for their single "Gee", but had never won on Mnet's weekly M Countdown show, and had only appeared on their charts a month after the album release. SM also cited the fact that voters had to pay a fee, saying that they "did not want to see fans suffer any damage from the poll, which has commercial intentions."

Fair Trade Commission scrutiny

In 2010, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) undertook an investigation into SM's policies, especially regarding artists' contract terms, and concluded that they were unfair. Artist contracts were subsequently reduced by a length of three years, and there was a reduction in the penalties for breach-of-contract violations. All the artists signed under SM at the time re-contracted with the agency under the new terms.

SM was also one of fifteen companies sued and fined by the KFTC for price rigging in 2011.

In 2012, SM was accused of colluding with music distributors, but was cleared of the charge. On August 16, the Seoul High Court revealed their verdict on the issue: "The KFTC has canceled all corrective orders against SM, and the lawsuit costs will be paid by the defendant."

In July 2023, the Korea Fair Trade Commission launched an investigation into several entertainment agencies, including SM Entertainment, over suspicions of engaging in unfair photocard sale practices. The case involved entertainment agencies creating multiple different merchandise items and inserting photocards of their idols to influence buyers' purchasing decisions. Additionally, these agencies manipulated production supplies, encouraging fans to purchase large quantities of merchandise.

Philanthropy

On February 13, 2023, SM donated 200 million won to help in 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake through Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association.

In November 2025, SM pledged HK$1 million (US$128,000) to the Hong Kong Red Cross to aid firefighting, rescue and relief efforts following the 2025 Tai Po apartment fire.