S.M. Entertainment is a multinational entertainment company founded by Lee Soo Man in 1995.
Part of prolific" Big Three", alongside YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, S.M Entertainment is considered one of the most long-lasting, successful, famous and powerful record labels in South Korea, being early pioneers of the Korean Wave and managing several popular and influential K-pop singers and groups such as Shinhwa, Fly To The Sky, S.E.S, Black Beat, Boa, Super Junior, The Grace, Girls Generation, Shinee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT and Aespa. Aside from their presence in the musical industry, SM also hold various subsidiaries and agencies which manage models, actors, MCs, influencers and athletes.
History[]
Lee Soo Man was inspired to create his record label, after witnessing the "superstars of the MTV generation", such as Michael Jackson, so in 1985 he returned to South Korea "with a vision of what the Korean music industry could be." To raise funds to create his vision, Lee ventured into the entertainment world by working as a DJ and presenter and once he had felt confident enough with experience set up his first company, SM Studio in 1989 in the Apgujeong neighborhood of Seoul, and signed singer Hyun Jin-young. During the 1990s, SM Studio 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. The company was renamed SM Entertainment in 1995. During the 90's SM debuted their first wave of K-pop Idols, boy band H.O.T. in 1996, girl group S.E.S. in 1997, the boy band Shinhwa in 1998, R&B duo Fly to the Sky in 1999, and soloist BoA in 2000, which all became staples of "first generation K-pop".
As well as managing singers and musicians, SM Entertainment has grown out to manage influencers, models, comedians, MCs and athletes, some being of non-Korean nationality under their different subsidiaries and agencies, of course producing content for all of these. SM has furthermore extended out into the food, travel and tech industries too, an example being the restaurant line SMT House, which began in 2016
SM Entertainment is currently managed by Lee Sung-Soo as the CEO and Tak Young-Joon as the CMO.
Subsidiaries[]
Smaller companies and sub companies ran by SM Entertainment are:
Agencies[]
Musical Artists[]
Active S.M. Entertainment Groups[]
- Kang Ta
- BoA
- TVXQ! | 동방신기 / (Dong Bang Shin Ki)
- Members: U-Know, Max
- Former Members: Hero, Micky, Xiah
- Zhang Li Yin
- Chun Sang Ji Hee
- Members: DANA, LINA, Sunday, Stephanie
- TraxX
- Members: Jay, Jungmo, Ginjo
- Former Members: Rose, Attack
- Super Junior
- Members: Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Siwon, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun
- Inactive: Sungmin
- Former Members: Hangeng, Kibum, Kangin
- KANGTA & VANNESS
- Girls' Generation | 소녀시대 / (SoNyuhShiDae)
- SHINee
- Members: Onew, Key, Minho, Taemin
- Former Members: Jonghyun
- f(x)
- Members: Victoria, Amber, Luna, Krystal
- Former Members: Sulli
- EXO
- EXO-K
- Members: Suho, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Sehun
- EXO-M
- Members: Xiumin, Lay, Chen
- Former Members: Luhan, Kris, Tao
- EXO-K
- Henry Lau
- Red Velvet | 레드벨벳 / (ReDeuBelBet)
- Members: Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy, Yeri
- Irene and Seulgi (Red Velvet's First Sub-group)
- Members: Irene and Seulgi
- NCT( Neo Culture Technology)
- Members: Taeil, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Taeyong, Ten, Mark, Yuta, Winwin, Haechan, Renjun, Jeno, Jaemin, Chenle, Jisung, Johnny, Jungwoo and Lucas.
- Way-V ( NCT's Chinese subgroup)
- Members: Kun, Ten, Winwin, Lucas, Xiaojun, Hendery, and Yangyang
- NCT U ( An NCT subgroup, abbreviation of Neo Culture Technology United)
- Members: Taeil, Taeyong, Ten, Doyoung, Winwin, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Lucas, Haechan, Mark, Shotaro, and Sungchan.
- NCT127 (NCT subgroup)
- Members: Taeil, Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Winwin, Mark, and Haechan.
- NCT Dream (NCT Subgroup)
- Members: Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Chenle, Jaemin and Jisung.
- Aespa
- Members: Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning.
- Girls On Top
- GOT the Beat (Girls On Top's first sub-unit)
- Members: Boa, Taeyeon, Hyoyeon, Seulgi, Wendy, Karina and Winter.
Active Soloists[]
- Taemin
- Kyuhyun
- Taeyeon
- Hyoyeon
- Yuri
- Yoona
- Wendy
- Joy
Former Soloists[]
- Jonghyun
- Amber
- Luna
- Sulli
- Tiffany
- Seohyun
- Sooyoung
Disbanded/on Hiatus Bands[]
- H.O.T.
- S.E.S
- Black Beat
- Isak N Jiyeon
- S
- The Grace
Former SM Artists Now Managed by a Different Company[]
- Hero (Jaejoong) - CJeS Entertainment
- Micky (Yoochun) - CJeS Entertainment
- Xiah (Junsu) - CJeS Entertainment
- Bada - UuongJinKoWare Entertainment
- Eugene - PFull Entertainment
- Moon Hee Jun - PS Entertainment
- Fly to the Sky - PFull Entertainment
- Shinhwa - Good Entertainment
Former SM Promoted[]
- M.I.L.K.
- Shinvi
Status Unknown[]
- Yoo Young Jin
- Song Kwang Shik
- Choo Ga Yul
Actors/Actresses[]
Active Actors/Actresses[]
- Lee Yeon Hee
- Ara
- Kim Bomi
- Park Hee Bon
- Shoo
Former Actors/Actresses[]
- Kim Ji Hoon
Other S.M. Associated[]
Active/In Training[]
- Kim Young Woon
- Choi Jong Yoon
- Seo Hyun Jin
- Kim Moon Kyu
- Kim Joon Myeon
- Kim Jong Hyun
- Kim Sang Hoon
- Han Kyu Wan
- Kang Jun Young
- Yoon Do Yeon
- Kim Hee Soo
- Stella Kim
- Jang Hajin
- Henry Lau
Former[]
- Hyun Gyoo
- Shin Dae Sung
- Baek Min Hyun
- Ahyoomee
- So Yeon