Genie's overseas sales of music sources surge with K-pop boom
Seung-Woo Lee
Jan 19, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
K-pop band ONF's metaverse concert, hosted by Genie Music in 2021 (Courtesy of Genie Music) Genie Music Corp., a music content distributor of South Korean telecommunication giant KT Corp., said on Jan. 19 that its overseas sales of music sources showed a 62% increase on average each year from 2018 to 2022, thanks to the growing popularity of K-pop.
Genie's overseas revenue in music sources rose to 24.1 billion won ($19.5 million) in 2021 from 3.5 billion won in 2018. Between the first and the third quarters of 2022, the revenue amounted to 21.4 billion won, up 21.7% from the same period in 2021.
"The overseas sales are increasing in line with the K-pop boom," said Lee Hae-il, head of content at Genie Music. "We are boosting revenue in K-pop music sources by expanding global networks," the head added.
The KT subsidiary is providing Korean music sources to around 50 platforms worldwide, including US music streaming service company Tidal and Anghami of the Middle East.
The Korean music content provider also closed deals with Tencent Music Entertainment Group and Huawei Music in 2021 and signed an agreement with TikTok last year to distribute K-pop worldwide.