Konnect Entertainment

Konnect Entertainment (stylized as KONNECT Entertainment) was an independent South Korean entertainment company founded on June 5, 2019 by Kang Daniel.[4] The company was based in the Gangnam District of Seoul in South Korea. It previously managed solo artists Kang Daniel, Chancellor, 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.[5] 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.[6]

Immediately after the disbandment of temporary boy group Wanna One

2021–2022: Business expansion

In February 2021, Konnect Entertainment announced that it would launch a mobile application for Kang's official fancafe which had previously been located on the company's official website.[20] The app was released for free for iOS on the Apple App Store and for Android on the Google Play Store on March 30, 2021.[21][22] This marked the first time an artist in Korea had ever released their own app.[23] Developed by Konnect and titled "Kang Daniel", the social networking service has an automatic translation function with 10 translatable languages including: Korean, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malay, Spanish, Portuguese, and Thai.[24] In August 2021, it was announced that singer-songwriter and producer Chancellor had signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment.[25] 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".[26] Following her departure from Source Music and the disbandment of South Korean girl group GFriend, former member Yuju signed an exclusive contract with Konnect Entertainment in September 2021.[27][28]

In June 2022, Cafe de Konnect launched a beverage and dessert menu to commemorate the collaboration line between Kang and SpongeBob SquarePants.[29][30] In the same year, the agency won the APAN K-pop Label Award for "leading the Korean wave" 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.[31] 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.[32] In the same month, they were featured on Kang's lead single "Nirvana" from his repackaged album The Story: Retold.[33]

native name	커넥트 엔터테인먼트
native name lang	ko
type	Private
industry	Entertainment Retail
genre	K-pop
services	Music production Publishing Artist management
founder	Kang Daniel
defunct	June 9, 2024
key people	Kang Daniel (CEO) Kim Tae-yeop (Vice president)‡R1R‡ Bong Sae-rom (Director)‡R2R‡
num employees	16 (As of February 14, 2021)
parent	KD Corporation Ltd.
location city	7 Eonju-ro 159-gil, Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
location country	South Korea
foundation	June 5, 2019

Konnect Entertainment

History

2019–2020: Founding and beginnings

2021–2022: Business expansion

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

Partnerships

Philanthropy

Former artists

Discography

2019 and 2020s

Accolade

External links

References