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Business News Deals Digital
South Korean messaging app owner takes control of local music service
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 12 January 2016
The integration of content services into messaging apps remains an interesting evolution in digital entertainment, even if dabblings in this space in Western markets have so far been limited.
In the Asian market, we had the launch of Line Music in Thailand and Japan last year, a joint venture between messaging app Line and various record companies. Meanwhile major Chinese messaging app WeChat, from web firm TenCent, also has a music service.
Now the maker of KakaoTalk, the most popular mobile messaging app in South Korea, has taken a majority stake in Loen Entertainment, which operates local digital music service MelOn, seemingly with a plan to integrate the two services, both domestically and worldwide.
Confirming the deal, which will see Kakoa take 76.4% of Loen Entertainment, the former’s CEO Jimmy Rim said: “By combining Kakao’s various platforms and content services and Loen’s leading music content, we expect tremendous synergy that could establish a strong foundation for global expansion”.
