Watcha Strengthens Music Business Capabilities Through Blending and Merger...

[Asia Economy Reporter Joesulgina] Online video service (OTT) Watcha announced on the 2nd that it will strengthen its music business capabilities by merging Blending, the music business subsidiary of Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), through its subsidiary W Peer.

The merged corporation will be named Blending. Watcha will become the largest shareholder of Blending and will collaborate with MBC, the second largest shareholder, to carry out business operations. Last year, Watcha established W Peer, its music business subsidiary, and has been seeking to expand its business to strengthen Watcha's music platform, including Watcha Music Publishing, a music distribution business for new and indie artists.

Blending has produced and distributed drama OSTs such as "Itaewon Class" and "Start-Up." It also operates Mubeat, a global K-pop fandom platform with 6 million downloads and 2 million monthly users.

Park Taehoon, CEO of Watcha, expressed expectations that "through this partnership, by combining Watcha's excellent personalization technology and digital platform capabilities with Blending's outstanding music production and distribution capabilities, we will be able to accelerate the expansion of the music business."

Do Intae, Head of Media Strategy at MBC, said, "Through a decisive partnership with Watcha's subsidiary, which has excellent data-based recommendation service capabilities, we have established a foothold for entering the music business."