SM Entertainment has partnered up with Binance. 

In an announcement made on 23 February, the Korean entertainment powerhouse has revealed that their subsidiary SM Brand Marketing (SMBM) has established a strategic partnership with the cryptocurrency company as they begin their venture into NFTs and blockchain markets. 

#SM Brand Marketing signs strategic partnership with world’s leading cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, Binance.
Conceptualized by SM’s Chief Producer #SOOMANLEE, a global Play2Create (P2C) ecosystem is established!
Participatory Creation Culture based on Blockchain! pic.twitter.com/xE82m1GoMM

— SMTOWN (@SMTOWNGLOBAL) February 23, 2022

As part of their partnership, the two companies will be launching a play-to-create (P2C) ecosystem, based on a participatory creation culture model conceptualised by SM Entertainment's Chief Producer Lee Sooman. Within this system, users will be able to re-produce SM Entertainment content—including releases from EXO, Red Velvet, NCT, aespa, and more—into games, music, dance, and products, and later convert them into NFTs. 

Through this platform, SMBM and Binance hope to allow users to gain profit from their creations while claiming ownership of their work. 

#Binance announces its partnership with SM Brand Marketing, a subsidiary of South Korea's leading entertainment company @SMTOWNGLOBAL.

SM manages favored K-pop artists such as aespa, Girls Generation and Super Junior.https://t.co/8gdJEuQplU

— Binance (@binance) February 23, 2022

"SM is creating various metaverse-oriented content IPs through SMCU (SM Culture Universe) which includes Metaversal Origin Stories. By combining together SM’s production capabilities, SMBM’s e-commerce platform capabilities, and Binance’s technology infrastructure, we expect this comprehensive partnership will bring great innovation in the establishment of the P2C ecosystem and expansion of businesses in the blockchain industry," said SMBM CEO Lee Sung-su.

"Binance is happy to be working with SMBM to advance the current P2E ecosystem into a P2C ecosystem. We would like to provide SMBM with the robust technology that can support the numerous Kpop global fans who enjoy recreating content based on their favourite Korean celebrities and want to earn passive income through their hobbies," said Global Head of Binance NFT Helen Hai.

Asian music NFTs, cryptocurrency artists, blockchain marketplaces — is this the future of music?

In the last year, in spite of divisive issues and unauthorised platforms in the NFT space, a number of music entities have ventured into blockchain technology. 

Beyond SM Entertainment, Binance has also recently partnered with YG Entertainment, which houses acts like BIGBANG and BLACKPINK, to power their own NFT ecosystem. While HYBE and JYP Entertainment partnered with Korean cryptocurrency company Dunamu to establish their own NFT efforts.