Lee Soo-man Proposes Collaboration with French Music Industry

Lee Soo-man, the key producer and visionary leader of A2O Entertainment and founder of SM Entertainment, met with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss potential collaborations with the local music industry. A2O Entertainment announced on June 22 that Lee attended the France Music Week Summit held in Paris on June 20, where he had a conversation with President Macron.

The meeting took place at the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French President. During the discussion, Lee was introduced as 'the person who created K-pop.' President Macron acknowledged Lee's reputation as an outstanding entrepreneur, creator, and producer, and directly proposed the establishment of a local office in France. He also instructed Rashida Dati, the French Minister of Culture, to facilitate discussions on this initiative. Macron expressed his commitment to enhancing collaboration between creators from Korea and France, to which Lee responded with gratitude.

The France Music Week Summit was attended by over 100 key figures from the global music industry, including Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group, Lyor Cohen, Head of Global Music at YouTube, and Olivier Nusse, CEO of Universal Music France. Lee was the only speaker from Asia at the event, where he emphasized that 'in the future, anyone can be a producer' and highlighted the importance of protecting creators' rights in the era of cultural technology (CT) and AI.

Lee Soo-man, often referred to as the 'father of K-pop,' founded SM Entertainment in 1995 and has been a leading figure in the Korean pop music scene. However, he left SM in 2023 due to a management dispute and established A2O Entertainment in Singapore in May of the previous year to continue his production activities. A2O Entertainment debuted the new girl group A2OMAY at the end of last year and currently has branches in the United States, Japan, and China.