SM and Tencent Music Are Building a New Idol Company in China

SM Entertainment and Tencent Music Entertainment Group are turning their China partnership into something considerably more concrete.

The two companies have established STE, a new joint venture based in Beijing that will develop and manage artists for the Chinese market. Super Junior-M member Zhoumi has been appointed CEO.

At the center of STE’s plans is a new Chinese girl group targeted to debut within the next two to three years.

The venture will oversee auditions and local management in China following the group’s debut. Under the original partnership announced by SM and Tencent Music, SM is expected to handle member recruitment, training and music production, while Tencent Music will bring its local infrastructure to promotion and music distribution.

STE won’t only be focused on a future group.

The company will also support the Chinese activities of artists already under the SM umbrella, including NCT DREAM’s Renjun and WayV members Yangyang and Xiaojun, with localized promotions and management.

That makes STE more substantial than a simple distribution agreement or another memorandum between entertainment companies. SM and Tencent Music now have an operating company on the ground in Beijing, a CEO, artist-management responsibilities and a concrete plan to develop a new act together.

Zhoumi’s appointment is notable in its own right.

He has spent nearly two decades working within SM’s ecosystem as a member of Super Junior-M and a solo artist, while also gaining management experience as a director of SM’s Chinese subsidiary. He now moves from artist to executive at a company designed specifically to connect SM’s production system with the Chinese entertainment market.

There are still plenty of unknowns around STE’s first new group. A lineup, concept and exact debut date have not been announced, and it remains to be seen how closely the eventual act will be presented under the SM name.

What is clear is that SM’s latest push into China now has considerably more structure behind it.

Instead of simply exporting an existing K-pop act into the market, SM and Tencent Music are building the infrastructure to develop and manage one there.