Konnect Entertainment (; stylized as KONNECT Entertainment) was an independent South Korean entertainment company founded on June 5, 2019 by

Kang Daniel Kang Daniel (; born Kang Eui-geon, December 10, 1996), stylized as KANGDANIEL, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, television host, and businessman who rose to fame in early 2017 as the first-place winner of the Produce 101 Season 2, s ...

. The company was based in the Gangnam District of Seoul in South Korea. It previously managed solo artists Kang Daniel,

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

, and Yuju. It was also home to dance crew We Dem Boyz (WDBZ).

History

2019–2020: Founding and beginnings

Konnect Entertainment was founded on June 5, 2019 as a one-man agency for and by Kang Daniel. The name "Konnect" is a fusion of the words "Korea" and "connect", which reveals his goal to connect Korea to the rest of the world through his future activities. Immediately after the disbandment of temporary boy group Wanna One, it was revealed that Kang was in a legal dispute with his former agency due to the transfer of his exclusive contract rights to third parties without his prior consent. This dispute resulted in his six-month hiatus from the entertainment industry until the Seoul Central District Court ruled in his favor, allowing the suspension of his contract. This ruling meant that he could pursue individual entertainment activities without any interference from his former agency. After receiving help from multiple experts as well as his lawyers, Kang established both KD Corporation Ltd. and Konnect Entertainment. A representative from the agency revealed that:

"Kang decided to go in the direction of establishing a one-man agency after considering every possible angle in terms of what agency structure would best suit his long-term activities. His decision was also heavily influenced by the fact that he wanted to return to his fans, who had waited for a long time, as quickly as possible."

During the comeback show for his second EP that aired on Mnet and M2 channels, Kang revealed that his dance team at Konnect Entertainment partially consists of friends that he has known since before his debut. As for KD Corporation Ltd., plans to branch out into various business directions in the future were announced. In February 2020, a cafe on the first floor of Konnect Entertainment's building in the Gangnam District of Seoul called Cafe de Konnect officially opened for business. It held a fan-only event on February 19 and 20 before opening to the public on the following day. The fan event allowed 100 fans to claim a free drink after showing their membership card from Kang's official fancafe on a first-come, first-served basis. In the same month,

Kakao Friends Kakao Friends (stylized as KAKAO FRIENDS; ) are featured characters based on KakaoTalk emoticons released in November 2012 by Kakao. The copyrights of the characters are currently owned and managed by Kakao's subsidiary Kakao IX, which was for ...

released a limited-edition beverage and dessert menu as part of its collaboration line with Kang for three cafes including Cafe de Konnect.

2021–2022: Business expansion

In February 2021, Konnect Entertainment announced that it would launch a

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

lication for Kang's official fancafe which had previously been located on the company's official website. The app was released for free for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

on the

Apple App Store The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be download ...

and for Android on the Google Play Store on March 30, 2021. This marked the first time an artist in Korea had ever released their own app. Developed by Konnect and titled "Kang Daniel", the

social networking service A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interest ...

has an automatic translation function with 10 translatable languages including: Korean, English,

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

Traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

, Japanese, Indonesian, Malay, Spanish, Portuguese, and Thai. In August 2021, it was announced that singer-songwriter and producer

had signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment. The agency confirmed this and said "we will spare no effort to support him so that he can showcase his full potential as a producer and artist". Following her departure from Source Music and the disbandment of South Korean girl group

GFriend GFriend (stylized in all caps; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by Source Music in 2015. The group consists of six members: Kim So-won, Sowon, Yerin (entertainer), Yerin, Eunha (singer), Eunha, Yuju (singer), Yuju, SinB, and Umji. They deb ...

, former member Yuju signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment in September 2021. In June 2022, Cafe de Konnect launched a beverage and dessert menu to commemorate the collaboration line between Kang and ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

''. In the same year, the agency won the APAN K-pop Label Award for "leading the

Korean wave The Korean Wave, or ''hallyu'' (; ), is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K-p ...

" as it promotes the development of K-pop and is active in various fields. Kang, Chancellor, and Yuju each held a special performance at the 2022 APAN Star Awards to commemorate this award as artists of the agency. Following their placement as runner-up on Mnet's '' Street Man Fighter'' and their long-standing relationship with the agency as Kang's dance team, dance crew We Dem Boyz (WDBZ) officially signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment in November 2022. In the same month, they were featured on Kang's lead single "Nirvana" from his repackaged album '' The Story: Retold''.

2023–2024: Shareholder dispute, artists' departures, and business closure

On May 20, 2024, news broke that Kang Daniel had filed a criminal complaint to the

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA; ) is the primary police force for the South Korean capital city of Seoul. The agency is not an independent police force in of itself, but is one of 16 provincial sub-divisions of the National Police Age ...

against A,

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

for the

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

of Konnect Entertainment who held approximately 70% of its

shares In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...

. The charges included

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...

of private documents,

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

, breach of trust, infringement on information and communications network, and computer

fraud In law, fraud is intent (law), intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate Civil law (common law), civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrato ...

. The major shareholder reportedly used Kang's name and

company seal A company seal (sometimes referred to as the corporate seal or common seal) is an official seal used by a company. Company seals were predominantly used by companies in common law jurisdictions, although in modern times, most countries have done ...

without approval to sign an advance distribution contract worth over

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean Empire won, Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike ...

10 billion (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

$7.4 million) in December 2022. Kang only discovered the contract in January 2023 and made efforts for over a year to minimize damages. Additionally, A was accused of embezzling ₩2 billion ($1.5 million) from the company's accounts, using corporate credit cards unethically, and withdrawing ₩1.7 billion ($1.3 million) from Kang's personal account without his consent. Meanwhile, We Dem Boyz, Yuju, and Chancellor left Konnect after not renewing their contracts. We Dem Boyz’s contract ended in November 2023, while Yuju's expired mid-April 2024. Kang did not renew his artist contract when it ended in early June and resigned as CEO. Furthermore, all Konnect employees left the company and the office building was vacated. On June 9, Kang Daniel released a statement announcing that KONNECT Entertainment had closed down after five years.

Partnerships

In July 2019, Sony Music Korea confirmed that it would take charge as both the investor and distributor of Kang's solo debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

(EP), '' Color on Me''. Since then, the company has continued distributing Kang's subsequent works including his three-part color series: ''

Cyan Cyan () is the color between blue and green on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 500 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK c ...

'', ''

Magenta Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...

'', and ''

Yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

''. In June 2022, he started Japanese activities in partnership with Warner Music Japan. In April 2021, South Korean game development company Dalcomsoft revealed its next

rhythm game Rhythm game or rhythm action is a genre of music-themed action video game that challenges a player's sense of rhythm. Games in the genre typically focus on dance or the simulated performance of musical instruments, and require players to pres ...

app featuring music from Kang Daniel. Developed by Dalcomsoft Inc. and in collaboration with Konnect Entertainment, the app was released on April 29, 2021 for

on the

and for Android on the Google Play Store. ''Superstar Kang Daniel'' is the first version of the app series exclusively made for a solo artist. Two months later, it was announced that CL had signed a domestic management contract with Konnect Entertainment. The agency confirmed that it would be responsible for CL's domestic activities and said "we will actively support CL so that she can carry out her music activities as a top-tier musician". The

partnership agreement Articles of partnership is a voluntary contract between/among two or more persons to place their capital, labor, and skills into a business, with the understanding that there will be a sharing of the profits and losses between/among partners. Outs ...

between Konnect Entertainment and CL's own label Very Cherry was effective for two years. In September 2022, South Korean production company Snowballs revealed its next

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...

app featuring Kang Daniel as the main character. Developed by Snowballs Inc. and in collaboration with Konnect Entertainment, ''Starway Kang Daniel'' was released on September 29, 2022 for iOS on the Apple App Store and for Android on the Google Play Store. Aside from business partnerships, Konnect shared in April 2020 it partnered with LIWU Law Group's Clean Internet Center to preemptively take legal action against malicious comments and illegal postings that unfairly violate one's

personal rights Personal rights are the rights that a person has over their own body. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, personal rights are defined as "rights (as of personal security, personal liberty, and private property) appertaining to the person". Among p ...

Philanthropy

In December 2019, it was revealed that Konnect Entertainment donated 31,000 briquettes to 31 briquette banks nationwide to thank fans for helping those in need on Kang's birthday. In December 2020, Kang and all of his agency staff participated in the Holt Children's Services (HCS) campaign "Please Protect Me" by handcrafting and delivering 100 book covers to the humanitarian organization. Proceeds from the book cover kits bought by Konnect would be used to provide mental and medical care, housing, living, and educational support to children in need.

Former artists

(2019–2024) * CL (2021–2023) (co-managed with Very Cherry) * We Dem Boyz (WDBZ) (2022–2023) * Yuju (2021–2024) *

(2021–2024)

Discography

2019 and 2020s

Accolade

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Konnect Entertainment South Korean record labels South Korean independent record labels Talent agencies of South Korea South Korean companies established in 2019 South Korean companies disestablished in 2024 Entertainment companies established in 2019 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2024 Companies based in Seoul K-pop record labels Record labels established in 2019 Record labels disestablished in 2024 Privately held companies of South Korea