SM Entertainment and Tencent Music form STE joint venture

SM Entertainment and Tencent Music Entertainment Group (TME) have officially launched a Beijing-based joint venture named SMTME Entertainment (STE). The partnership follows a memorandum of understanding signed in May, aimed at expanding SM Entertainment's influence within Chinese-speaking markets.

Zhoumi, a member of Super Junior-M with nearly 20 years of experience in the K-pop production system and a former director at SM’s Chinese subsidiary, has been appointed as the CEO of the new venture. STE intends to manage the entire process of developing new Chinese idol groups, including auditions and management, with plans to launch a new group within two to three years.

The venture will also provide localized support for existing SM artists from Chinese-speaking regions, such as Renjun of NCT Dream and WayV members Yangyang and Xiaojun. Zhoumi stated that the company aims to combine SM’s intellectual property and content production strengths with an understanding of local market trends to create differentiated content.