April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] CJ E&M has become the first major distributor in Korea to provide music content to Apple Music, according to Chosun Biz on May 22. 

Its music streaming service Mnet.com acknowledged that it has been providing music to Apple’s subscription streaming service since April 27 to expand its distribution.

This will strengthen the position of Apple Music that has failed to cinch deals with major Korean music distributors, as it maintained a high commission rate. It was officially launched here in August last year but despite a catalogue of over 30 million songs the number of subscribers fell significantly after the three-month free trial campaign, according to an industry source. 

CJ E&M did not provide any specifics regarding the partnership but is gearing up to tackle the 1 trillion won (US$ 895.06 billion) digital music market that is currently dominated by Loen Entertainment’s Melon with 3.6 million subscribers. CJ’s Mnet has 1 million estimated subscribers. 

In addition to a streaming platform, the music and entertainment arm of CJ also has cable television channels and could create synergy across sectors. It concluded that it will be more profitable to join hands with Apple Music rather than compete to rein in market dominators Melon and Kakao, noted an industry watcher.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)