SM Studios

SM Studios was a South Korean holding company established and wholly owned by SM Entertainment in 2021 as part of a restructuring of the entertainment group's non-music affiliates. Its creation reflected SM Entertainment's intention to concentrate more directly on its core music business while placing related media and content assets under a coordinated management structure. The new company received SM Entertainment's holdings in several affiliated businesses, including SM Culture & Contents, KeyEast, SM Life Design Group, Dear U, and Mystic Story. The company was designed to manage and coordinate activities spanning scripted drama, television and other entertainment content, production, and new media. The restructuring was also intended to improve group-level management efficiency and encourage cooperation among businesses that operated in adjacent media fields. SM Entertainment presented the arrangement as a way to establish a more integrated studio organization and to strengthen competitiveness in content production and distribution. SM Studios was led by Kim Young-min, who described the development of an integrated broadcasting and content system as a long-standing ambition connected to SM's earlier entertainment-business history. In 2021, the company recruited producers and content specialists from SM Culture & Contents, KeyEast, and Mystic Story to support the creation of original programming under the SM Original concept. This work expanded the group's activities beyond music releases and artist management into broader audiovisual content. The company's first identified global-format content was Welcome to NCT Universe, which premiered in November 2022. The program connected SM's idol ecosystem with unscripted and entertainment programming and served as an example of the type of cross-business content that SM Studios was intended to coordinate. SM Studios did not remain a standalone company permanently. On October 3, 2025, it was merged into SM Entertainment. SM stated that the merger was intended to create synergies through the integration of management resources, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen business competitiveness. As a result, SM Studios is now a defunct corporate entity rather than an active independent brand. Its principal historical significance lies in its role as a temporary holding and coordination structure within SM Entertainment's broader media and content reorganization.

SM Studios was created in 2021 during a restructuring of SM Entertainment's affiliated companies. The parent company announced the new wholly owned subsidiary on April 5, 2021, presenting it as a mechanism for reorganizing businesses connected to drama, entertainment, and new media. The restructuring was intended to let SM Entertainment concentrate on its original and central music business while consolidating related content assets under a more coordinated management structure. SM Entertainment transferred its interests in SM Culture & Contents, KeyEast, SM Life Design Group, Dear U, and Mystic Story to SM Studios. The arrangement placed several businesses with complementary positions in production, entertainment, media services, and content-related activities within one holding structure. SM described the plan as a way to improve management reliability and efficiency and to support cooperation among affiliates operating in overlapping media markets. During SM Congress 2021, chief executive officer Kim Young-min linked the new structure to SM's long-term ambition to build a broader broadcasting and content system. In May 2021, SM Studios recruited producers and content professionals from SM Culture & Contents, KeyEast, and Mystic Story. These personnel were intended to form a production organization capable of developing programming under the SM Original concept. The initiative represented an effort to connect SM's music and artist-management capabilities with drama, television, and digital-media production. The company later expanded into global-oriented entertainment content. On November 16, 2022, it premiered Welcome to NCT Universe, a program associated with SM's NCT artist universe and described as SM Studios' first global content project. The program illustrated the company's role as a bridge between the parent group's music properties and broader audiovisual entertainment. SM Studios ultimately operated as a transitional corporate structure rather than a permanent standalone studio group. On October 3, 2025, it merged with SM Entertainment. The stated purposes of the merger were to create synergies by integrating management resources, improve management efficiency, and reinforce business competitiveness. Following the merger, SM Studios ceased to exist as an independent corporate entity.

• 2025

  SM Studios is merged into SM Entertainment

  [1]SM Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  The standalone holding company was dissolved through a merger intended to integrate management resources and improve group efficiency.

• 2022

  Welcome to NCT Universe premieres

  [1]SM Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  The program premiered on November 16 as the company's first identified global content project.

• 2021

  SM Studios is established

  [1]SM Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  SM Entertainment announced the creation of SM Studios as a wholly owned subsidiary for restructuring and coordinating selected media-related affiliates.

• 2021

  Media and content affiliates are placed under SM Studios

  [1]SM Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  SM Entertainment contributed its interests in SM Culture & Contents, KeyEast, SM Life Design Group, Dear U, and Mystic Story to the new holding company.

• 2021

  SM Original production initiative begins

  [1]SM Studiosen.wikipedia.org

  Producers and content specialists were recruited from affiliated companies to develop original drama, entertainment, and new-media projects.

A group-level media holding and content-coordination platform intended to integrate drama, entertainment, and new-media operations within SM Entertainment.

• Entertainment program · 2022

  Welcome to NCT Universe

  Welcome to NCT Universe was an entertainment program connected to SM Entertainment's NCT artist universe. It premiered on November 16, 2022, and was identified as SM Studios' first global content project. The program demonstrated the company's intended strategy of extending SM's music properties into broader audiovisual and unscripted entertainment content.

• 2025

  Merge SM Studios with SM EntertainmentM&A

  Background

  SM Entertainment determined that integrating management resources could improve efficiency and strengthen the competitiveness of its businesses.

  Action taken

  SM Studios was merged into its parent company on October 3, 2025.

  Aftermath

  SM Studios was dissolved as a separate entity and its functions and assets were absorbed into SM Entertainment.

  Source

• 2021

  Create a centralized media holding structureStrategy

  Background

  SM Entertainment sought to focus more directly on music while coordinating affiliated businesses involved in drama, entertainment, and new media.

  Action taken

  The parent company established SM Studios as a wholly owned subsidiary and transferred several affiliate interests into it.

  Aftermath

  The structure supported integrated content management and the development of SM Original projects, but it was later replaced when SM Studios merged back into SM Entertainment.

  Source

1. 1SM Studiosen.wikipedia.org