The Korea Herald

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Beyond Music, the Korean version of Hipgnosis, to conquer the global music IP market by taking over a large-scale music catalog management company

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Published : March 14, 2022 - 21:21

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  • Beyond Music is the largest management company for music intellectual properties (IPs) in S. Korea
  • They have taken over 'FNC Investment', the second largest music IP management company in S. Korea, and made a strategic partnership with Dreamus Company, a subsidiary of SK Square
  • They have over 23,000 songs of music catalog in total worth KRW 130 billion after obtaining over 400 songs including OSTs of 'Hotel Del Luna', a hit tv series
  • Focusing on obtaining both Korean and foreign music IPs, Beyond Music will become the ASIA's largest management company for IPs

SEOUL, South Korea, March 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Beyond Music, an investment and management company focusing on music IP aggregation, has successfully acquired the second-largest music IP holding company in S. Korea and marked its dominant presence in the country. The Company will also launch a partnership with a prominent music content/service provider in S. Korea to preoccupy overseas markets.

Beyond Music announced the acquisition of FNC Investment, a music IP holding company under FNC, for KRW 47 billion. The deal includes all of FNC Entertainment's common shares and all of the convertible bonds that Dreamus Company invested in May 2021.

Also, Beyond Music has decided to make a strategic partnership with Dreamus Company (CEO: Giyoung Lee), a distinguished streaming service provider (FLO) and a subsidiary of SK Square, to cooperate on music IP business on a global scale. Beyond Music will acquire FNC Investment's convertible bonds Dreamus Company had; Dreamus Company, as a strategic partner of Beyond Music, is to manage distribution of music IPs the Company owns and to participate in their global investment business in the future.

From the deal, Beyond Music is to obtain neighboring rights of copyright for over 400 songs, including a series of on-chart hit OSTs of 'Hotel Del Luna' and 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart', which will be added to Beyond Music's music catalogs of about 23,000 songs worth KRW 130 billion.

Beyond Music CEO Jangwon Lee has revealed his ambition, saying, "we will expand Beyond Music's IP portfolio by adding a new list of music IPs including famous tv series' OSTs with high demands. Subsequent to the purchase of new IPs and the partnership with Dreamus Company, we will focus on obtaining more high-quality music IPs on a global scale and become the ASIA's largest IP management company beyond the market leader in S. Korea."

Established in January 2021 as a music IP management company with investment focus on neighboring rights of music catalogs, Beyond Music was co-founded by CEO Jangwon Lee, who co-founded Mapiacompany of the ASIA's largest digital music sheet contents platform company, and by Composer Geuntae Park, a maker of hit songs. Through investment attraction in December of the last year, Beyond Music has 270 billion won in total of music file IPs' Asset Under Management (AUM), leading the industry as the largest management company for music file IPs in S. Korea.

Having many IPs of great songs having been popular between 1990s and 2010s by Soo Young Lee, Hyo Shin Park, Urban Zakapa, Hyun-sik Kim and others, Beyond Music is maximizing the stability and profitability through structured financing. Also, they are conducting aggressive marketing activities to allow their music files bought to be used to other fields including remakes and BGMs of movies and entertainments, and are contributing to building the ecosystem for music creation with virtuous circulation structures by supporting production companies and composers having secured funds by selling IPs to concentrate on creative activities.