CJ ENM and Hakuhodo Announce Joint Venture

- Aims to Leverage Each Company’s Core Strengths to Create Innovative Content and Unlock New Opportunities in Global Music Industry Through JV 

- First Collaborative Project to be Co-Production Survival Show ‘Unpretty Rapstar: HIP POP Princess,’ Set to Premiere in October

Leading entertainment company CJ ENM today announced the establishment of a joint venture with Hakuhodo Inc., a leading integrated marketing and innovation company headquartered in Tokyo. 

The joint venture, named ‘Chapter-I,’ will focus on creating new music intellectual properties with global reach, expanding beyond Asia. The name represents the first chapter where dreams begin, symbolizing a fresh start for both companies and reflecting the new direction the two partners aim to pursue together through this partnership.

Through the planned joint venture, the two companies will leverage each company’s core strengths to create content and unlock new possibilities in the global music industry. CJ ENM brings its expertise in creating music content and developing talent through its MCS (Music Creative eco-System), which encompasses IP planning, platforms, and management, whereas Hakuhodo contributes its data-driven market solutions and marketing capabilities. This project aims to lead industry trends through innovative audition formats that meet evolving audience needs and appeal to diverse audiences. 

Under the partnership, the first collaborative project will be the Korea-Japan co-production survival show Unpretty Rapstar: HIP POP Princess, scheduled to premiere in October this year. This will be the global version of Mnet’s groundbreaking female rapper survival program Unpretty Rapstar, which first aired in 2015 as Korea’s first-ever female rapper competition series. This new global version brings together teams behind Unpretty Rapstar and Street Woman Fighter, along with Hakuhodo’s marketing expertise, to discover new versatile global artists with skills across rap, dance and music production.  

The joint venture will also extend beyond program production. This will include talent development, music production and content distribution, live performances and merchandising. This partnership is a testament to both companies to redefine how global music content is created, distributed and consumed in the rapidly evolving global music landscape. 

The joint venture comes as a part of CJ ENM’s global music business roadmap for 2025, focusing on three key pillars — Global Label, Global Content and Global Platforms, for its music business. This strategy aims to strengthen its position in the global music industry and spearhead global expansion of K-pop.