Kakao M (카카오엠) was a South Korean entertainment company. It was originally founded in 1978 as Seoul Records (서울음반) by Min Yeong-bin. It was renamed to YBM Seoul Records in 2000, Seoul Records in 2005, and LOEN Entertainment (로엔엔터테인먼트) in 2008.
In 2016, the company was acquired by Kakao Corp. after buying 76.4% of the company's stocks for $1.9 trillion won ($1.6 billion USD).[1]
On January 25, 2021, it was announced that the company would be merging into Kakao Page to form Kakao Entertainment.[2] The merger was finalized on March 2, 2021 with Kakao Page as the surviving company and Kakao M as the defunct company.[3]
Divisions & subsidiaries[]
- Melon
- Music Contents
- 1theK
- Multi-Label
- IST Entertainment
- E&T Story Entertainment
- Starship Entertainment
- King Kong by Starship Entertainment
- EDAM Entertainment
- FLEX M
- IST Entertainment
- Video Contents
- Krispy Studio
- Mega Monster
Former[]
- Starkim Entertainment (2007–2016)
- FAVE Entertainment (LOEN Tree) (2012–2019)
- Collabodadi (2013–2015)
- Plan A Entertainment (2015–2019)
- Mun Hwa In (2016–2020)