“With their innovative approach to developing artists and embracing new technology, Big Hit has become one of the most dynamic companies in music entertainment,” said Lucian Grainge, chairman & CEO of UMG. “We’re thrilled to be working together as we launch a new joint venture between our companies that will further accelerate K-pop as a global cultural phenomenon.” UMG also announced that more ...

Local over-the-top media services gathered at Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday to express their anger at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s approval in December of an increase in the music copyright fee levied on local streaming services. Watcha, Tving and Wavve formed the OTT Music Copyright Committee in July after the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) attempted to increase the music ...

Winner Lee Seung-yoon, runner-up Jeong Hong-il and third-place contestant Lee Mu-jin of JTBC’s audition program “Sing Again” shared their thoughts on going from nameless singers to famous singers during an online press conference Tuesday. “Sing Again,” which aired its final episode Feb. 7, captured the audience by giving a second chance to 71 singers who had released albums in the past but never...

Actor Song Joong-ki is returning to the small screen as a lawyer and an Italian mafia consigliere in the tvN drama “Vincenzo” this Saturday. “Vincenzo” centers on the story of an antihero named Vincenzo Cassano, who fights against the villains of society with veteran lawyer Hong Cha-young, played by actress Jeon Yeo-been. Vincenzo takes on villains who have escaped the clutches of the law by bei...

“Bohemian Rhapsody” reached the highest viewership share of all movies shown on TV during the Seollal holidays, but terrestrial broadcaster SBS faced criticism for deleting the film’s homosexual scenes. With gatherings restricted due to COVID-19, the broadcasters paid special attention to their movie selections to capture viewers stuck at home. SBS aired “Bohemian Rhapsody” at 8:40 p.m. on Satur...

Meanwhile, veterans Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok of T1 and Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu of Hanwha Life Esports set LCK records last week, with Faker reaching both his 600th game and his 400th win in the LCK, the first player to do both, while Deft achieved his 300th LCK win, the only active player to do so other than Faker despite playing in the Chinese league for two years. When Faker and Deft -- who, coincid...

Local video streaming platform Wavve announced that it is providing 140 movies for free as compensation for network failures this year. Wavve, which has the highest number of users of all Korean OTTs, faced network problems on Jan. 27 that lasted over a week and prevented users from viewing much of its content. Another network failure on Jan. 29 led to adult content being shown for several secon...

VenewLive aims to use cutting-edge technology to deliver artists’ unique content in the best way possible, and to provide a revolutionary concert experience for fans. The technology has already been proven through several Big Hit concerts last year. Streaming stability and high-quality video and audio were demonstrated through online BTS concerts “Bang Bang Con The Live” in June and “Map of the ...

Praised by the judges as a groundbreaking singer, Lee Seung-yoon, who has released a number as a soloist and is also the lead vocalist for the band Alary-Kanson, sang Lee Juck’s “Water” and received 100 million won ($89,647) in prize money. Rocker Jeong Hong-il came in second place, and Lee Mu-jin was third. “Ironically, the name of a singer, who obsessively refused to sing cover songs because h...

While a stock investing artificial intelligence system was able to make steady profit compared to South Korea’s main bourse Kospi and Kosdaq, it still wasn’t enough to surpass legendary stock investor Mach Seven. With only two competitions remaining in SBS’ reality show “Battle of the Century: AI vs Human,” the most recent episode on Saturday showed the stock investing AI battling it out with th...

While the movie excelled in many areas, though, it lacks in character and plot development. Many recent Western sci-fi films in space, such as “Interstellar,” “Gravity,” “Ad Astra,” “The Martian” and others, have delved deeply into the science behind space adventures, along with incredible visual and sound effects to mesmerize the audience. “Space Sweepers” is not a movie with supernatural hero...

The Korea Creative Content Agency is making headway in helping small and medium-sized Korean game companies expand to the global market with its Game Global Service Platform Plus project. While previous years saw KOCCA assigning selected gaming companies with service companies to help them reach the global market, the agency reorganized the project last year to allow gaming companies to directly...

Another player, Jeong “Mireu” Jo-bin of T1’s Challengers League team, posted a written apology on Facebook as he joined T1 in December for badmouthing T1’s Kim “Roach” Gang-hee in a game the previous year. In addition, coach Han Earl of Afreeca Freecs and Seong “Flawless” Yeon-jun of Gen.G Esports received 800,000 won fines from Riot Games for inappropriate behavior in a game in December. Meanw...

Park Hyatt Busan presents ‘Just 4 Fun’ The Park Hyatt Busan provides a comfortable and safe staycation for four guests with its new package Just 4 Fun, until the end of the year. The package includes a one-night stay in one of its family suites with extra beds. A complimentary breakfast at the hotel restaurant, welcome amenities including one bottle of red wine and fruit, and late checkout are ...

Terrestrial broadcaster KBS has denied claims that it intentionally aired the aria “Song to the Moon” during one of its shows on President Moon Jae-in’s birthday to gain approval from the nation’s leader. On Tuesday, KBS’ music program “Open Concert” released an official statement in response to a controversy over soprano Kang Hye-jung’s performance of the “Song to the Moon” during the program w...