Kakao Entertainment and CJ ENM – Korea’s leading entertainment powerhouses – have joined forces to produce a global K-band to define a new era in music.
Kakao Entertainment announced on Sept. 30 that it has signed a partnership with CJ ENM to kick off a new K-band-making project through the launch of “Steal Heart Club” on Mnet. Kakao Entertainment will distribute the music from the upcoming survival show, plan and produce the album for the new band, and handle its management. CJ ENM will plan and produce “Steal Heart Club,” vividly portraying the survival journey of the contestants. By combining Kakao Entertainment’s expertise in music/artist IP business with CJ ENM’s content production prowess, the two companies plan to showcase an iconic band to continue the global K-band boom and spearhead the next generation.
Mnet’s “Steal Heart Club,” scheduled to premiere on Oct. 21., is a global band-making project that brings together players in key band roles, including guitar, drums, bass, vocals and keyboard. The participants, each with their unique musical style, emotional depth, and youthful energy, will go head-to-head to become the “final headliner band.” The program will follow the adventure leading to the birth of a global band armed with star power, musicality and passion. The MC is actor Moon Ga-young, and the directors are Jung Yong-hwa, Lee Jang-won, Sunwoo Jung-a and Ha Sung-woon, who will offer diverse perspectives beyond their genres to help create a game-changing band.
Kakao Entertainment – the world’s largest K-pop music distribution company with a catalog of 120,000 tracks and the operator of Korea’s No. 1 music platform Melon – will not only distribute the music by the contestants, but also plan and produce the upcoming band’s album and handle its management. Backed by its expansive global K-pop distribution network and robust multi-label system, Kakao Entertainment has overseen album planning/production, distribution and marketing for a diverse range of artists from idols to singer-songwriters to bands, achieving remarkable success at home and abroad. By delivering the passionate, energetic music of the contestants across multiple platforms both domestically and internationally, the company aims to guide music fans through the journey toward the birth of a promising rookie band.
Moreover, after “Steal Heart Club” concludes, Kakao Entertainment plans to help the band members showcase their musical identities and grow as a global act through its all-encompassing management system, supporting them in album releases, performances, and more.
CJ ENM, renowned for its distinctive content-producing capabilities, will plan and produce “Steal Heart Club.” Mnet, which has pioneered trends in the K-pop market by producing successful audition projects such as “Superstar K,” “Show Me The Money,” “BOYS PLANET,” and “I-LAND,” is widening its scope to the band genre with “Steal Heart Club.” With this new interactive survival format, where fans worldwide directly create the band line-up, CJ ENM aims to contribute to the diversification of K-pop genres while amplifying the global band market.
“With ‘Steal Heart Club,’ CJ ENM’s matchless K-content creative capabilities will meet Kakao Entertainment’s rich music IP business knowledge and experience to create great synergy, blowing a new wind into the global K-band scene,” said Kakao Entertainment. “Please give your love and support to the birth of a rookie K-band that will steal the hearts of music fans worldwide.”
Source: Press Release
