SM Entertainment to find Saudi idols with Princess Haifa

South Korea’s entertainment behemoth SM Entertainment Co. will develop Saudi idols with Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud as the kingdom aims to grow the industry as its future growth engine with the strategy of the success of K-pop.

SM is set to export its system to produce K-pop artists to Saudi Arabia, becoming South Korea’s first entertainment company that sells the training platform to a country in the Middle East and joins hands with a foreign government as an official partner to develop the entertainment business in the nation.

The K-pop pioneer label behind global stars such as Red Velvet plans to expand its presence in the Middle East, starting from Saudi Arabia.

LEE SOO-MAN AND PRINCESS HAIFA

SM founder and Chief Producer Lee Soo-man last month visited Riyadh at the invitation of the Saudi government and met Haifa and other officials, according to South Korean entertainment industry sources.

Haifa, assistant minister of tourism of the Ministry of Tourism, reportedly told Lee that she wanted to learn SM’s systems for nurturing K-pop artists, adding the entertainment industry is one of the most important sectors that the kingdom is developing as a future growth engine.

Lee pledged to teach the system as soon as possible as that was an opportunity to dominate the Middle East where the oil-producing rich countries gather.

“We will hold an SMTown concert by all of SM artists, as well as an EDM show in Saudi Arabia within this year,” Lee also vowed, referring to electronic dance music.

Vice Minister for Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez said the kingdom will spare no support for SM.

SAUDI ARABIA DEVELOPS ENTERTAINMENT AS NEW GROWTH ENGINE

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, is investing a huge amount of money in the development of the culture and tourism industries to reduce its reliance on oil. The kingdom is building Qiddiya, a vast entertainment resort, with an investment of more than 100 trillion won ($82.1 billion) by 2035.

SM’s Lee has been an advisor for the project since 2019, prompting expectations that the K-pop powerhouse will secure a large number of entertainment orders from Saudi Arabia, industry sources said.

Saudi Arabia is considered the best place for the South Korean music industry to use as a base for expanding their business in the Middle East as the government is actively fostering the entertainment sector in order to shed its image of Islamic fundamentalism.

The kingdom is rich enough to boost consumption thanks to its oil exports. In addition, about two-thirds of the population is 34 years old or younger while almost all of the people use the internet there, providing good conditions to form K-pop fandoms. K-pop is already popular in the country with tickets for a concert of SM’s boy band Super Junior in 2019 sold out in three hours.

SM aims to develop pop artists in the Middle East through sales of the K-pop platform in order to expand its influence in the local markets and seeks profits from them. It also plans to export K-pop stars to the region.

“The music market in the Middle East grew to 750 billion won last year with an average growth of 30% a year in the recent few years,” said an SM source. “The Middle East that producer Lee penetrated is expected to be SM’s new source of earnings.”

Write to Soo-Young Seong at syoung@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.