Connection Entertainment

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Connection Entertainment (연결엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean music label and entertainment agency that was founded in 2011. It currently has two active groups.

Artists[]

Groups[]

Korean Groups[]

Pretty Empire (2011–present)
SOMANY (2024 - present)

Japanese Groups[]

Apple Hankouki (2021–present)

Former Groups[]

Friendship (2015 - 2022)
Aspeix (2021–2024)

Soloists[]

YUKI (2022–present)
Kyungmo (2022–present)
Oscines (2022–present)

Trainees[]

Connection Trainees

Staff[]

CEO[]

Zhang Yuling stepped into the role of Connection Entertainment's CEO in 2022. Zhang started in the company as a stylist in 2012, but moved into a marketing role due to the company's lack of staff at the time. She was responsible for the success of Pretty Empire's "Paris" in 2014, acting as the lead marketing director for the release. This led to her promotion to creative director in 2016, a role she held until 2018. Zhang was appointed as the company's COO until Yun Haiki stepped down as CEO in 2022. Zhang is known for her strong creative passion and direction, as well as developing distinct group concepts. As CEO, she works very closely with her artists and their creative directors.

History[]

Connection Entertainment was founded in 2011 by Yun Haiki, a Japanese-Korean businesswoman who was dissatisfied by the state of dance within the South Korean pop music industry. Yun had no experience in dance herself, and worked as an international relations advisor for conglomerates rather than in the entertainment industry, but she had been fascinated by dancers since she was a child. Yun was also not an avid K-pop fan, but there was no escaping the genre. In her opinion, which has been argued against, K-pop choreographies looked unprofessional and awkward, and the idols lacked proper dance training. She used her connections with the various companies she had ties to and leased the bottom floor of a building as Connection Entertainment’s headquarters. The headquarters consisted of a dance practice room, a couple of smaller vocal practice rooms, office space, and a lounge.
Once Yun had hired what she deemed to be enough staff, Connection Entertainment held their first scouting audition. Yun wanted to debut a group in November of that year, so the audition was to look for female trainees who already had dance experience and could become idols in a few months. The audition was promoted to only the Seoul area for girls aged 16 to 21. Lee Rinae, aged 21 and scouted from an underground rap event, was the first definite acceptee from the audition. Park Kyulseong, aged 19, auditioned directly and was accepted almost immediately due to her vocals. Kwon Minbyul, aged 17, was scouted at a performance with the dance crew she was part of. The three girls balanced each other out, and all had some experience in dance. Yun spared no expense on Connection Entertainment’s dance instructor, hiring world-class dancer Hannah Santos. She also outsourced to choreographers who were not known for K-pop choreographies.
RInae, Kyulseong, and Minbyul debuted as Pretty Empire in November 2011. Their debut song, “Fashionista”, promoted a powerful and strong, yet full of pink and femininity, image, and featured impressive choreography. Their debut was met with relative success, considering the size of the company. The group’s success continued to rise with each release and they were labeled “the best female K-pop dance group” of the time.
In 2012, Connection Entertainment began holding regular auditions for their trainee program. The program accepted trainees aged 10 to 20 when it began and part of the criteria for auditioning was either prior dance experience, natural dance skill, or exceptional talent in either vocal or rap.
In 2014, Pretty Empire released the song “Paris”. “Paris” became an instant hit, topping the Gaon Digital Chart for three weeks. Pretty Empire won their first major award with Artist of the Year at the Shining Groove Awards. The win brought in several high-paying sponsorships for both Pretty Empire and Connection Entertainment.
Connection Entertainment debuted their first boy group, Friendship, in July 2015. All seven members of the group had been professionally trained for months by an acrobatics team before their debut preparations. Their concept was bizarre and complex choreographies that involved acrobatic tricks. Although their choreographies went viral, Friendship was overshadowed by Pretty Empire and their music failed to connect with listeners.
Connection Entertainment took several years to evaluate Friendship’s disappointing debut and how the company could improve. During this time, while Pretty Empire was enjoying their popularity as one of the most beloved 2nd generation girl groups, Connection Entertainment turned their focus to their trainee program. 2015 marked the first Connection Entertainment Trainee Festival. The event allowed trainees to compete in vocal, dance, and rap, with the top five female and male trainees of each category announced.
In March 2021, Connection Entertainment debuted their second boy group Aspeix. Aspeix had an image centered around a storyline, but that was not their main draw. The group’s concept was being the strongest dancers, with every member capable of being a main dancer if they were in a different group. Their debut was a success, earning the group two music show wins. The group developed their reputation for being one of the best dance groups out of the 2020 and 2021 debuts.
Also in March 2021, Connection Entertainment signed J-pop girl group Apple Hankouki for the group’s Korean activities.
In January 2022, Yun stepped down as CEO by her own decision and Zhang Yuling was appointed to replace her. Zhang had been in the company since 2012, and had been overseeing most of the artist development throughout 2021. Also around this time, Friendship announced their plans to disband.
YUKI debuted as a soloist in February 2022. YUKI was one of the company’s more popular trainees and Zhang had been crucial in the decision to debut her. Her debut was modest and reached expected numbers considering her competition. What was not expected, however, was the success of YUKI’s “Like Dancing”. “Like Dancing”, similar to Pretty Empire’s “Paris”, took South Korea by storm. The song charted high throughout the entire year, and even received a music show win months after it was released. YUKI won ten awards at award shows that year.
Connection Entertainment’s second girl group, SOMANY, debuted in January 2024. The group’s concept was individuality and self-expression, along with a global image, as five of the seven members were not ethnically South Korean. Their debut was seen as a reflection on Pretty Empire, with a strong focus on female empowerment and a message of being yourself. SOMANY’s debut song “DallaDallaDalla” became popular due to being released at just the right time between popular songs from other artists.
Aspeix announced their disbandment in May 2024. The members made the decision on their own as they all wanted different things.