Korea, Britain set up joint entertainment company

SEOUL, July 5 (Yonhap) -- A famous South Korean songwriter and a British law firm have together founded an entertainment firm in London in a bid to discover young Asian talent and help them advance into the British music industry, the pop music composer said Tuesday.

Shin Jae-hong, who has written many popular Korean songs over the decades, joined with New Media Law, a London-based law firm specializing in the entertainment and media industry, to set up MTree Music Limited Co. in London.

"The company will serve as a regional hub where we nurture talent like musicians, songwriters and producers, and help them break into the regional market,” Shin said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seoul.

Shin said it was a pure accident that he got to work with the British firm on this project.

"I met people who were working in the British music industry when I went to the country to attend a music camp," he said. "We found common ground soon and we agreed time was ripe (to open such a company).” The company's office is located in the same building as the law firm.

But why in Britain?

"Since I studied overseas, I had wished our music would sell globally. K-pop has been doing well so far, but it is still hard to break into the British market. I wanted to set up a channel to publicize our music through collaboration and cooperation with the locals," he said.

He also emphasized that the firm would help, through well-established networking, musicians particularly from small and medium sized companies in their efforts to work on the global stage.

"The British music industry is always looking for fresh talent and they are very interested in Asian musicians especially from Korea and Japan," he pointed out.

"We have a vast pool of artists who can sing well and speak the language. So I am sure we can produce some interesting outcomes through collaboration between local artists and British producers."

In October, the company plans to open a camp in Britain where music producers from Korean and Britain can work together, record and publish music in collaboration with Abbey Road Studio.

Eco Bridge and King Clap, among other Korean musicians, will participate in the camp, Shin said.

Moreover, he plans to hold a peace-themed concert on Korean unification with globally popular musicians.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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