S.M. Entertainment is one of the top three K-Pop music labels founded in South Korea in 1995. It is a talent agency and music production company that is home to some of the biggest stars in the Korean entertainment industry such as Girls' Generation, EXO, Red Velvet, Super Junior, and Shinee. S.M. Entertainment has faced controversies over unfairly long contracts for artists and discriminatory treatment of some members, leading some groups like TVXQ to split up.

1. RESEARCH INTO MUSIC LABELS

2. S.M. Entertainment is a South-Korean entertainment company founded in 1995 by Lee Soo-
Man and is known to be one of the top three K-Pop music labels in the industry. It is also a
talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production
company, and music publishing house and so it also has actors, entertainers and models
under its name. It is home to some of the biggest stars in the Korean entertainment industry.
The founder of S.M. Lee Soo-Man established ‘S.M. Studio’ after returning from the US in the
capital city Seoul in 1989. The name was later changed to ‘S.M. Entertainment and set up its
capital fund in 1995 having Jung Hae-Ik as the CEO. The agency started to gain success after
developing an ‘in-house’ production system and being responsible for producing influential
artists like boy group H.O.T in 1996, girl group S.E.S in 1997 and Shinhwa (the longest
standing K-Pop group in history) in 1998. Kim Kyung-Wook became CEO of the company in
1998.
BACKGROUND INFO

3. ARTISTS
AS I HAVE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, S.M. ENTERTAINMENT HAS SOME OF THE TOP ARTISTS THAT HAVE SIGNED
CONTRACTS THAT LAST FOR 7 YEARS AND ARE USUALLY RENEWED AFTER THE CONTRACT ENDS. S.M.
ENTERTAINMENT ALSO ARE HOME TO OTHER ENTERTAINERS RANGING FROM ACTORS/ACTRESSES, COMEDIANS,
ATHLETES AND TV HOSTS.
SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS INCLUDE:
GROUPS
• GIRLS GENERATION
• EXO
• RED VELVET
• SUPER JUNIOR
• SHINEE
SOLOISTS:
• BOA
• KANGTA

4. CONTROVERSIES
• S.M. ENTERTAINMENT HAVE ENCOUNTERED NUMEROUS ‘SCANDALS’ SINCE 2009 MAINLY DUE TO UNFAIR
CONTRACTS THAT LAST 13 YEARS. THE FIRST PROBLEM THEY FACED WAS WHEN THREE OF THE FIVE MEMBERS OF
THE GROUP TVXQ WANTED TO LEAVE THEIR GROUP AND THEIR COMPANY AS A RESULT OF THE EXCESSIVELY LONG
CONTRACTS AND UNFAIR DISTRIBUTION OF EARNINGS AMONG THE GROUP. THE MEMBERS WENT TO COURT AND
EVERYTHING WAS FINALISED WHEN HE COURT RULED IN FAVOUR OF THE 3 MEMBERS AND THEIR CONTRACTS WERE
TERMINATED.
• THE MOST KNOWN CONTROVERSY WAS WHEN 3 MEMBERS OF THE BOY GROUP EXO FILED A LAWSUIT (2014-2015)
TO TERMINATE HIS CONTRACT DUE TO THE DISCRIMINATORY BEHAVIOUR THEY HAD TO DEAL WITH DUE TO BEING
THE CHINESE MEMBERS OF A KOREAN GROUP.
• WHEN S.M. RELEASED THE DEBUT SONG FOR THEIR NEWEST GIRL GROUP RED VELVET - JAPANESE MEDIA REPORTED
THAT IMAGES REFERENCING THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, AS WELL AS THE 9/11 ATTACKS, WERE
SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE VIDEO. S.M. THEN RESPONDED BY CLAIMING THAT THE DIRECTOR OF THE
MUSIC VIDEO HAD USED A COLLAGE SOURCE FOR THE IMAGES AND THAT THERE WAS NO OTHER INTENTION
BEHIND THIS, AFTER THIS, THEY TOOK DOWN THE MUSIC VIDEO AND RE-UPLOADED A NEW VERSION WITHOUT THE
REFERENCES TO THESE EVENTS.