Dreamus

Dreamus is an electronics and entertainment 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 when it was formerly known as iRiver.^[5]

Dreamus Company

Native name	(주)드림어스컴퍼니
Formerly	ReignCom iRiver
Company type	Public
Traded as	KRX: 060570
Industry	Consumer electronics Music[1]
Founded	January 20, 1999; 25 years ago (1999-01-20)
Founder	Yang Duk-jun [ko] and six others
Headquarters	iRiver House, 5 Bangbae-ro 18-gil, Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Lee Ki-young (CEO)
Revenue	US$51,649[2]
Operating income	US$280[2] (2015)
Net income	US$589[2] (2015)
Total assets	US$56,081[2] (2015)
Owners	SK Square (51.44%) SM Entertainment (17.77%) JYP Entertainment (0.83%) Others (29.96%)[3]
Parent	SK Square (SK Telecom)
Divisions	iRiver Limited iRiver China Limited [4]
Subsidiaries	Astell & Kern Yurion Funcake Entertainment Services
Website	www.dreamuscompany.com

History

Seven former Samsung executives created the company in 1999 and made its IPO on the KOSDAQ, 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.^[6]

In August 2014, SK Telecom acquired iRiver for 30 billion won.^[7]

Entry into music

In January 2015, music streaming platform Music Mate was launched.^[8]

On July 17, 2017 SM Entertainment acquired a stake in iRiver and became the second largest shareholder.^[9]

On January 31, 2018, it was announced that, parent company SK Telecom along with entertainment agencies SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and Hybe Corporation (formerly known as Bighit Entertainment) would collaborate and launch a B2B music distribution and a B2C music service platform.^[10][11] As part of this agreement, beginning from February 1, iRiver would distribute JYP and Big Hit’s album and digital music contents.^[12] HYBE would later go on to strike a distribution deal with YG Plus in January 27, 2021 hence no longer partnering with Dreamus.^[13]

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'.^[7]

On March 28, 2019, iRiver announced that they would rename to Dreamus Company.^[14]

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.^[15]

On November 29, 2021 SK Telecom, originally Dreamus' parent company, created and spun off SK Square, with Dreamus becoming a subsidiary of SK Square.^[16]

Distributed labels

Current

South Korea

As of 2024:

• Company Soosoo
• INB100
• SM Entertainment (co-distributed with Kakao Entertainment)
  • Label SJ (co-distributed with Kakao Entertainment)
  • Million Market (co-distributed with Kakao Entertainment)
  • Mystic Story (select releases only; co-distributed with Kakao Entertainment)
  • Woollim Entertainment (select releases only; co-distributed with Kakao Entertainment)
• JYP Entertainment

• • Studio J
  • SQU4D
• P Nation^[17] (co-distributed with Kakao Entertainment, Genie Music, Stone Music Entertainment and Warner Music Korea)
• NUPLAY
• Blue Vinyl^[18]
• Biscuit Entertainment
• 143 Entertainment
• KQ Entertainment
• WakeOne
• IOK Music
• 131 Label
• Moss Music^[19]
• Mystic Story^[20]

International

• Avex Inc.^[a]
• Johnny & Associates
  • J Storm
• SM Entertainment
  • Label V

Former

• Hybe Corporation (moved to YG Plus^[21])
  • Big Hit Music
  • Pledis Entertainment

Notes

1. By way of licensing through SM Entertainment.

References

1. "SKT readying new music service with K-pop heavyweights". The Korea Herald. January 31, 2018. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
2. "iRiver". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on September 20, 2016. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
3. "DREAMUS COMPANY (A060570)". July 29, 2023. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
4. "Iriver Global - Contact Info". Iriver Global. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
5. 강, 윤승 (June 25, 2014). "SK Telecom to acquire Iriver for 29.5 bln won". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
6. Silver, Stephen. "iriver's parent company, Reigncom, Ltd., has announced that it will change it name to iriver, Ltd., and also name a new CEO". Dealerscope. Archived from the original on September 3, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
7. "SKT가 인수한 '옛 아이리버' 적자 탈출". The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). May 18, 2021. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
8. "SKT가 인수한 '옛 아이리버' 적자 탈출". The Korea Economic Daily (in Korean). May 18, 2021. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
9. "SM엔터, 아이리버 2대 주주 등극…'글로벌 콘텐츠 시장 본격 공략'". 서울경제 (in Korean). July 17, 2017. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
10. "FLO | 지금 당신의 음악, 플로". www.music-flo.com. Dreamus Company. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
11. 윤, 상근. "SM·JYP·빅히트, 음악콘텐츠 사업 공동 추진한다(공식)". entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
12. "SM, JYP, And Big Hit To Launch Joint Music Enterprise". Soompi. January 31, 2018. Archived from the original on November 8, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
13. Frater, Patrick (January 27, 2021). "BTS Agency Big Hit Entertainment to Invest $63 Million in Rival YG". Variety. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
14. "아이리버, '드림어스컴퍼니'로 사명 변경…새대표에 이기영씨". Naver News. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
15. "플로, RBW와 공연 파트너십 계약 체결…"다양한 협업"". inews24 (in Korean). Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
16. Yonhap (November 1, 2021). "SK Telecom names new CEO following non-telecom spinoff". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
17. ℗ 2019 P NATION, under license to Dreamus (CRUSH - NAPPA Archived September 3, 2019, at the Wayback Machine on Apple Music)
18. "신나라레코드" (in Korean). Synnara.co.kr. July 13, 2015. Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
19. 김수경 (April 9, 2020). "호피폴라, 드림어스컴퍼니·모스뮤직과 손잡고 컴백" (in Korean). 한국경제. Archived from the original on April 12, 2020. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
20. "드림어스컴퍼니". www.dreamuscompany.com (in Korean).
21. Frater, Patrick (January 27, 2021). "BTS Agency Big Hit Entertainment to Invest $63 Million in Rival YG". Variety. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.

External links

• Companies portal

• Official website