Dreamus is an

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

and

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

company founded in 1999 originally as ReignCom. Currently headquartered in South Korea (and formerly in the United States), it is the parent company of South Korean-based iRiver, Astell & Kern and FLO, as well as Yurion and Funcake Entertainment Services. Since 2014, it has been a subsidiary of

SK Telecom SK Telecom Co., Ltd., abbreviated as SKT ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 perce ...

when it was formerly known as iRiver.

History

Seven former

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

executives created the company in 1999 and made its

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

on the

KOSDAQ The Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ; ) is a trading board of Korea Exchange (KRX) in South Korea established in 1996. Initially set up by Korea Financial Investment Association as an independent stock market from the Korean ...

, a Korean stock exchange, in 2003. Duk-Jun Yang, one of the founders, became the CEO of the company. ReignCom announced in May 2006 that it would adjust its focus toward handheld mobile gaming. It has reported sluggish sales for its music player business, including a loss of 35.58 billion (US$36.68 million) in 2005, compared with a net profit of 43.46 billion in 2004. In 2009, ReignCom was renamed as iRiver. In August 2014, SK Telecom acquired iRiver for 30 billion won.

Entry into music

In January 2015, music streaming platform Music Mate was launched. On July 17, 2017 SM Entertainment acquired a stake in iRiver and became the second largest shareholder. On January 31, 2018, it was announced that, parent company SK Telecom along with entertainment agencies

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1997 by Park Jin-young, J. Y. Park. Operating as a record label, talent ...

, and

Hybe Corporation Hybe Co., Ltd. (; stylized as Hybe Corporation; commonly known as simply Hybe) is a South Korean multinational entertainment company established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk as Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd. The company operates as a record l ...

(formerly known as Bighit Entertainment) would collaborate and launch a B2B music distribution and a

B2C Direct-to-consumer (DTC or D2C) or business-to-consumer (B2C) is the business model of selling products directly to customers and thereby bypassing any third-party retailers, wholesalers, or middlemen. Direct-to-consumer sales are usually transa ...

music service platform. As part of this agreement, beginning from February 1, iRiver would distribute JYP and Big Hit’s album and digital music contents. HYBE would later go on to strike a distribution deal with YG Plus in January 27, 2021 hence no longer partnering with Dreamus. On December 11, 2018 it was announced that the company will update and rename the existing music streaming service 'Music Mate' to the new music platform 'FLO'. On March 28, 2019, iRiver announced that they would rename to Dreamus Company. On November 18, 2021 Dreamus partnered with entertainment agency RBW and FLO and signed an exclusive performance partnership contract, with this Dreamus owns a 2.04% stake in RBW. On November 29, 2021 SK Telecom, originally Dreamus' parent company, created and spun off SK Square, with Dreamus becoming a subsidiary of SK Square.

Distributed labels

Current

;South Korea As of 2024: * Company Soosoo * INB100 * ODE Entertainment *

(co-distributed with

Kakao Entertainment Kakao Entertainment Corp. () is a South Korean entertainment, mass media, and publishing company founded in 2021. A subsidiary of the Internet company Kakao, it was established subsequent to the merger of the latter's two subsidiaries KakaoPa ...

) ** Label SJ (co-distributed with

) ** Million Market (co-distributed with

) ** Mystic Story (select releases only; co-distributed with

) **

Woollim Entertainment Woollim Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded in 2003 by Lee Jung-yeop. The label is home to artists such as Golden Child, Drippin, and Kwon Eun-bi. It has previously handled artists Epik High, Infinite, Lovelyz ...

(select releases only; co-distributed with

) *

** Studio J ** SQU4D *

P Nation P Nation () is a South Korean entertainment company. The company operates as a record label, entertainment agency, and concert production company founded in 2018 by singer Psy. As of November 2022, the label had ten artists signed to the label. ...

(co-distributed with

Genie Music Genie Music (), a subsidiary of KT Corporation, is a South Korean company that specializes in the production and distribution of music content. Its music streaming service is the second most used in South Korea with 2.5 million subscribers as ...

Stone Music Entertainment Stone Music Entertainment (Hangul: 스톤 뮤직 엔터테인먼트), is a South Korean music distribution company under CJ ENM, as part of a partnership with the music streaming store Genie Music since 2021. It was one of the largest co-publish ...

and Warner Music Korea) * MODHAUS * NUPLAY * Blue Vinyl * Biscuit Entertainment * IOK Music * 131 Label * Moss Music ;International * Avex Inc. *

Johnny & Associates was a Japanese talent agency formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which managed groups of male idols known as The company had a significant impact on pop culture with male idols and boy bands in Japan since the 1980s. Until 2019, the company w ...

J Storm currently known as Storm Labels is a Japanese music and film company owned by Smile Up, formerly known as Johnny & Associates. It was established on November 12, 2001, initially as a label for the Johnny's group, Arashi, after which it was nam ...

** Label V

Former

(2018-2021, moved to YG Plus) **

Big Hit Music Big Hit Music (, stylized in all caps), formerly Big Hit Entertainment (), is a South Korean record label established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. It was re-branded and re-structured into an independent label under Hybe Corporation (formerly Big Hi ...

Pledis Entertainment Pledis Entertainment () is a South Korean entertainment company founded by Han Sung-Soo in 2007. The label is home to Bumzu, Hwang Min-hyun, and groups Seventeen and TWS. Its name originates from the Pleiades, a star cluster in the constellat ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Electronics companies of South Korea Entertainment companies of South Korea South Korean record labels SK Group subsidiaries