KMR appoints Hong Young-a as new CEO to lead music publishing efforts

SM Entertainment (hereinafter 'SM') announced through its March shareholders' meeting that it appointed Hong Young-a as the representative director of its music publishing subsidiary, KREATION Music Rights (hereinafter 'KMR').

Hong Young-a, the newly appointed representative director, has served as the head of Sony Music Publishing’s Korean branch and worked as a music copyright expert with copyright organizations such as the Korean Music Copyright Association and the global content companies Netflix and Walt Disney Company Korea. She is known to possess practical capabilities in managing and promoting the use of music copyright and protecting the rights of music copyright holders, as well as having rich knowledge and experience in the overall global music publishing industry.

KMR plans to maximize the management and protection of copyright rights held by its authors and clients through the appointment of Hong. The company noted that "this appointment is an important step for KMR to grow into a publishing company that matches the reputation of K-Pop and SM and to leap forward as a leader in the Asian publishing market."

Hong said, "KMR is the company that has been the most aggressive in expanding its business in the domestic music publishing industry," adding that "in the short term, we plan to enhance trust among copyright holders and clients by improving the publishing management system, while in the medium to long term, we will establish and execute creative strategies suitable for local markets around the world."

A company official said, "Given that Hong has been a veteran of the music publishing industry for 25 years on the global stage, we expect her to establish concrete strategies for entering global markets and to make accurate and quick decisions."

Meanwhile, KMR has rapidly expanded its presence in the national and international music publishing markets by signing publishing contracts with more than 200 authors through M&A and the establishment of the KMR European subsidiary, about 1 year and 6 months after its establishment in September 2023.

[Photo] KMR

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