With an increasing amount of Korea's idol groups heading overseas, Youtube has become a strategic focal point for popular entertainment agencies such as YG Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. The three immediately realized the potential of Youtube and created official channels as a new promotion measure. The individual international business teams of the three companies revealed a bit of their thoughts on their Youtube channels and how they're using it to market their idols. [allkpop: Please note that the original articles were written exactly in the format seen below; while YGE and SME's interviews had more of a Q&A format, JYPE's article was written out.] <YG Entertainment> - How did you come to create a Youtube channel? YG: "We first used GOM Player and released music videos, mostly catering to just our fans in Korea. However, with Se7en going overseas in 2008 and Big Bang beginning their Japanese promotions, we decided to use Youtube to promote our company to international fans. Youtube also became quite popular in Korea at the same time anyway, so everything coordinated perfectly." - Does YGE's Youtube channel have its own concept? YG: "There is no special concept, we just matched everything to the hip hop street style that our company is known for. We change the channel layouts for each artist whenever they release a new album. We have also been catering to the international fans by offering a more variety of languages such as Chinese, Japanese, English and many others." - What is the usual age range and location for YGE subscribers? YG: "2NE1 has a lot of international fans in Thailand and the Philippines, and the majority of YGE's channel subscribers consist of female fans in their teens and 20's. The channel also gets a lot of hits from the U.S. as well - YGE has just as much popularity in the U.S. as in Asia, actually." - What are the merits of using Youtube to promote yourselves? YG: "We can easily see the stats for each video since Youtube provides a detailed analysis of which country, age group, or gender the video is most popular with. We're also able to just upload videos without any additional expenses, which gives us a hefty return in advertisement income." - How are you using Youtube to promote yourselves? YG: "We'll release new songs or music videos first on Youtube to give both Korean and international fans a faster chance at sampling them. We can also use Youtube's streaming service for our live concerts. Beginning in the new year, we'll be improving each of our artists' individual channels so that fans can zoom in and focus on content specific to their interests." - Compared to when you first started your channel, how has the way you've been using Youtube changed? YG: "With the release of smartphones, people can search Youtube videos through more various routes. Our company will be attempting to utilize this to our advantage, along with the use of Facebook and individual Twitter accounts." - Is there a limit to using Youtube for promotion? YG: "When artists release a new album and promote it, there's a lot of content to upload and consequently, there's more updates. However, once their promotion cycle is over, they usually take an absence ranging from six months to a year. There's nothing to upload during that time period, so it's difficult to maintain our subscribers. We'll be working on trying to come up with a way to decrease that gap as much as possible." <JYP Entertainment> According to JYPE's promotional team representative, the Wonder Girls earned the most from their Youtube channel - their music videos for "So Hot" and "Nobody" began earning explosive responses. JYPE began their interview by discussing the impact of the Wonder Girls in relation to their Youtube channel. "Just like how Koreans search portal sites for anything they're curious of, foreigners enjoy searching things on Youtube. The Wonder Girls' 'Nobody' music video currently has 10 million hits in views. Youtube was the deciding factor in our decision to enter the U.S. market." The representative continued, "Anyone can upload and watch anything they want on Youtube. It's a great marketing tool for the international audience. We also get immediate feedback by checking replies left by fans." When told that YG Entertainment's representative discussed the limits of using Youtube, the representative agreed by stating, "It's true, there is a limit on updates. That's why we try to upload videos of the stars' daily life or behind-the-scenes videos for CF shootings or backstage concert footage in order to maintain our subscribers and keep our updates consistent." The representative concluded, "And just like YGE, we, too, are trying to actively use Facebook and Twitter in order to expand our promotional opportunities." <SM Entertainment> - How did you come to create a Youtube channel? SME: "The evolving nature of the internet has allowed for a faster exchange of information. Youtube is one of the world's greatest and most active video communities, which is why we thought that it would be an effective tool in promoting the SM brand and its artists to the world." - How are you using Youtube to promote yourselves? SME: "Youtube has become a platform for us without having the need to set up a new international office in every country. It has also solved the problem with the SM Town official homepage needing a media server for online content." - Can you give an example of when you saw the benefits of Youtube? SME: "According to statistical research, SME's channel is ranked first in Korea's overall Youtube channel list, most subscribers, and most views categories. We're also ranked #23 in the worldwide Youtube musicians category. SM Entertainment also has the most amount of views out of all Youtube's Korean entertainment partners." - Which country and age group does your artists have the most fans in? SME: "We can monitor Youtube without having to log on, so it's a perfect data system. We have age groups from teens all the way up to those in their 60's. The most popular fans are girls aged from 13 to 17. SNSD's 'Gee' has garnered 22 million hits and is the most popular in America, Thailand, Taiwan, and Japan. 'Oh' garnered 19 million but is popular in Thailand, the U.S., and Vietnam. Super Junior's 'Sorry Sorry' has 16 million views with a popularity in Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. SHINee's 'Ring Ding Dong' has 12 million hits with a popularity in Thailand, the U.S., Vietnam, and Singapore." - What are the benefits of promoting through Youtube? SME: "We can use the 'admin tool' to check the reactions on SME content from every online viewer as categorized by location, time, gender, and age group. We also receive sponsorship income by partnering with Youtube and allowing them to advertise on our channel. Viewers are able to view our videos for free while Youtube handles the necessary copyright contracts for each country on their end." Source + Photos: Newsen (YG Interview), (SME Interview), (JYPE Interview)