Chrome Entertainment is a record label and talent agency founded by Hwang Hyun-chang in 2011, based in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Since 2014, Chrome Entertainment is a

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

under

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

History

Hwang Hyun-chang, a commercial photographer, was inspired to create a girl group after seeing T-ara's " Roly Poly" on television. Before that, he had never paid attention to pop idols and only listened to classical music. After an initial investment of 10 million

won Won may refer to: *The Korean won from 1902–1910 *South Korean won, the currency of the Republic of Korea *North Korean won, the currency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea * Won (Korean surname) * Won (Korean given name) * Won Buddhis ...

, he converted his photography studio, Chrome Creative, into Chrome Entertainment. To finance this venture, Hwang sold his camera gear, used up all his savings, and went into debt. He later said, "If I had known how much it would cost, I would never have done it." The first group that Chrome Entertainment formed and managed was

Crayon Pop Crayon Pop (Hangul: 크레용팝) is a South Korean girl group formed under Chrome Entertainment in 2012. The group consisted of four members: Geummi, Ellin, Choa, and Way. Their fifth member, Soyul, left the group in 2017. Crayon Pop officia ...

, who debuted in July 2012. After the success of Crayon Pop's " Bar Bar Bar", which earned the company US$2 million, Chrome was able to debut more groups. Boy band K-Much debuted in January 2014, and two more groups debuted in June 2014: girl group

Bob Girls Bob Girls () was a South Korean girl group under the management of Chrome Entertainment. The group consisted of four members, Dahye, Yujeong, Jina and Danbi. They debuted on June 10, 2014 with the single "No Way" from ''The 1st Single Album''. ...

and male duo Zan Zan (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...

: 짠짠). On 2 December 2014, male trot singer Her Min-young signed a contract with Chrome Entertainment. On February 24, 2015, it was announced that Bob Girls had disbanded. Later that year, Zan Zan and Her Min-young left the agency. In 2016, Chrome Entertainment had major changes in management, with founder Hwang Hyun-chang leaving the agency. Kim Jeong-tae replaced him as CEO.

Partnership with Sony Music

On 13 August 2013, Chrome Entertainment signed a strategic partnership contract with

, which gave Sony international distribution rights to Chrome's music and albums. On 7 July 2014, Chrome Entertainment signed a label contract which made Chrome an independent label under Sony Music Entertainment. With this new contract, Chrome has the ability to distribute music from other agencies. In August 2014, it was reported that K-pop trio Lip Service had signed a contract with Chrome Entertainment. The company was subsequently credited under "manufacture" (as Chrome Entertainment Sony Music) on Lip Service's single album, ''Upgrade'', released 20 August 2014.

Concerts

Chrome Entertainment has held several concerts for their artists. The first such concert was on 21 June 2014, called Chrome Happy Concert in

Cheongju Cheongju () is the capital and largest city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. History Cheongju has been an important provincial town since ancient times. In the Cheongju Mountains, specifically in the one where Sangdang Sanseong is ...

. On 4 October, the First Chrome Family in Japan Concert was held in Shinagawa, Tokyo. On 3 December, Chrome Family released a single album, ''2014 Chrome Family – A Very Special Christmas'', with the single "Love Christmas".

Artists

Recording artists

* Be.A (''Mix9'' contestant) *Bz-Boys

Actors

* Cho Hyung-joon * Lee Geun-hwa * Lee Ho-suck

Former artists

* Loki (K-Much, 2014) *

(2014–2015) * Zan Zan (2014–2015) * Her Min-young (2014–2015) *

(2012–2017) * Be.A (2014–2018)

Discography

References

External links

* {{Authority control Talent agencies of South Korea Record labels established in 2011 South Korean record labels