Three mobile carriers are clashing in the music market with music platform. All three companies are expected to hit the market more heavily in the market, expanding into the content business, a future food service in addition to cash casinos.

It is SK Telecom which opened up the wake of the music platform war. SK Telecom announced that it will release a new music platform in January of this year. SK Telecom plans to introduce new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and block chain to the new music platform.

One thing that attracts attention is that SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Big Hit Entertainment have decided to cooperate with the music business. According to the agreement, iRiver, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, will take charge of the B2B distribution operation for the music of the three entertainment companies.

Meanwhile, given that KT and LG U Plus are currently offering contracts for SM Entertainment and JYP, it is unavoidable to compete with carriers.

The fact that SK Telecom has returned to the music market in five years also attracts attention. SK Planet, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, owns Loen Entertainment, which currently owns the platform Melon, which is the number-one player in the music market. However, in 2013, due to the restriction of the holding company, Loen Entertainment was sold for 265.9 billion won at that time.

SK Telecom representative stated, "We will provide music services different from existing music platforms." We will provide music contents based on AI capabilities and utilize voice recognition speakers and vehicle infotainment to enhance user convenience. "

KT and LG U Plus are also planning to resume growth of SK Telecom.

Genie Music, which currently occupies the second largest music platform market following Melon, is also growing rapidly, attracting users of LG U Plus, which is the main shareholder, with a 15% stake in Genie Music last March with KT users. According to the financial information company F & G guide, it is expected that Genie Music will record sales of KRW 44.8 billion and operating profit of KRW 1.3 billion in the fourth quarter, and sales should increase by 37% from the fourth quarter.

The fact that Genie Music is not one of the AI platforms that can be linked is a big strength. Currently, KT`s voice recognition speakers GiGa Genie` and LG Uplus voice recognition speaker `Friends +` support the content of Genie music. Genie Music has penetrated into the living room of the home through AI speakers, which are rapidly growing in popularity. Currently, KT and LG U Plus are actively using `Ginny Music` for their plan related events.

"As the music content business is the most familiar content for users, there will be more and more people trying to leverage their technology and distribution networks," one industry expert said.

By Jong Ye Rin yeslin@


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