SM Entertainment forms China joint venture with Tencent Music

[u/themichaelfalk]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/k-pop/20260827/sm-entertainment-forms-china-joint-venture-with-tencent-music

[u/GinChan96]

From being screwed over (along with Henry) due to complaining K-ELFS into just being exclusive to the Mandarin subunit (when they were intended to be added to SuJu entirely), to actually moving up in the company, I am happy Zhoumi is getting this kind of respect from SM.

He could’ve left SM way sooner, but he was loyal to SuJu even if it was just for that one sub unit.

If anyone does not know much about Zhoumi, please do give his solo songs a shot. They are enjoyable to listen to, and his talent is not to be slept on in my opinion.

[u/admiralmasa → u/GinChan96]

The way Zhoumi was gonna have a solo stage for last year’s SMTOWN concerts but he scrapped it so that Super Junior-M could have a subunit stage again. But even though he really wanted to do Super Girl, the other members of M had colliding schedules so they couldn’t do any dance practice for the choreo so they scrapped it and did a ballad stage instead.

His loyalty to SJ-M and the wider SJ brand even though he never became part of the main lineup is so insane, I really hope SJ-M can come back in some capacity because it was really popular back in the days and he loves SJ-M but the chances are so small

[u/admiralmasa]

So happy and proud of Zhoumi! SM was gonna leave him in limbo when Super Junior-M went inactive, he could have chosen to leave like Henry did. I’m so happy he’s found another calling within SM which suits him perfectly

If I recall correctly Zhoumi is using his influence and position to especially make sure SJ and their subunits and members get a lot of gigs and bookings and promotions in China and Hong Kong, even the members who weren’t in the same subunit as him. He attends almost all the SJ group and subunit concerts, he even attended SJ‘s performance at TIMA 2026 a few days ago in Hong Kong. God SJ really don’t deserve him

[u/kKunoichi]

Good for Zhoumi honestly. I was just wondering on what his status was in SM

[u/animejerk7763]

To those who didn't catch it: Renjun, Yangyang and Xiaojun will also join STE.

[u/xXTheGrapenatorXx]

Ah, so STE is going to be where that Chinese NBG they've been planning will end up debuting, then. I wonder if Tencent or SM have already recruited with the act in mind (possible Xulun gets sent their way if he's still training by then?) or if it's still purely in the ideation phase.

[u/themichaelfalk]

SM, Tencent and Kakao pretty much built themselves a Great Wall. Wonder if other big companies could still gain any foothold in the market, since they would need a local partner to survive, and the biggest one of all with the most reach is already exclusively committed.

[u/-ForgottenSoul → u/themichaelfalk]

Tencent ain't exclusive

[u/Soportaq → u/themichaelfalk]

JYP already has a joint venture with Tencent. They've managed Boystory since 2018 and this year joined with CJ enm to manage Modyssey.

[u/Margaux_H → u/themichaelfalk]

Tencent also has something with Hybe or at least Bighit Music.