Lee Soo-man

Lee Soo-man (born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean record producer and executive, best known as the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational entertainment company based in Seoul, South Korea.[1] He has also been referred to as the "president of culture", as he pioneered the Korean Wave.[2] Lee debuted as a singer in 1971, while he was a student at Seoul National University. He founded SM Entertainment in 1989, which becomes one of the largest record labels and management companies in South Korea.

Not to be confused with Lee Man-soo.

This is a Korean name; the family name is Lee.
Lee Soo-man
Born (1952-06-18) 18 June 1952
Seoul, South Korea
Alma materCalifornia State University, Northridge (M.S.)
Seoul National University
OccupationRecord producer, record executive
Spouse(s)
Kim Eun-jin
(m. 1984; died 2014)
Musical career
GenresPop
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1972–1989
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationLee Suman
McCune–ReischauerI Suman

Biography

1952–1980: Early years and singing career

Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea on 18 June 1952, and attended Seoul National University on and off between 1971 and 1979.[3][4] He debuted as a singer in 1972, and became known for hit songs such as "행복 (Happiness)" and "한송이 꿈 (A Piece of Dream)". In addition to his career as a musician and his studies in university, he also worked as a radio DJ and TV host during this time.[4]

In 1980, he formed the band 이수만과 365일 (Lee Soo-man and The 365 Days). However, media censorship policies under the Chun Doo-hwan government discouraged him from a career in the Korean music industry.

1980–1985: Studies in the United States

In the early 1980s, Lee decided to leave the entertainment world in order to pursue a career in computer engineering. He went abroad to work on a master's degree at California State University, Northridge,[5] where he witnessed the rise of "superstars of the MTV generation" such as Michael Jackson.[1] Inspired by the heyday of MTV in the United States, Lee set his sights on laying the foundation for the modern Korean pop music industry. In 1985, he returned to Korea "with a vision of what the Korean music industry could be."[4]

1985–present: Founding SM Entertainment

Following his return to Korea, Lee ventured back into the entertainment world by working as a DJ and presenter. In 1989, after four years of saving money and gaining experience in the industry, he established an entertainment company called SM Studio (named after his initials) in the Apgujeong neighborhood of Seoul, and signed singer Hyun Jin-young. During the 1990s, SM Studio developed an in-house system that looked after all aspects of its artists' careers.[4] Lee's approach was targeted at teenage audiences, and took a holistic view of the qualities needed to become a successful entertainer.[6] The company was renamed SM Entertainment in 1995.

In February 2010, Lee resigned from his position as a member of SM's board of directors, but maintained a role in the company's "management and artist development" divisions.[7]

On January 23, 2020, Lee Soo Man was listed by Billboard as one of the world's influential music industry leaders.[8][9]

On February 05, 2020, It was revealed by Jeff Benjamin writing for Forbes that Lee Soo Man worked on Korean Girl Group Loona EP [#] which was his first ever project away from namesake SM Entertainment. [10]

Personal life

Lee's wife, Kim Eunjin, died from cancer on 30 September 2014.[11][12][13] He is also the paternal uncle of Sunny, one of the members of the popular SM group Girls' Generation.[14]

Discography

Albums
  • Lee Soo-man, 1977
  • Lee Soo-man, 1978
  • 애창곡집, 1978
  • Greatest, 1980
  • Lee Soo-man, 1983
  • Lee Soo-man, 1985
  • 끝이 없는 순간, 1986
  • NEW AGE 2, January 1989
  • NEW AGE, November 1989

Awards
  • 1976 MBC Music Festival: 'Top 10 Male Rookie of the Year'
  • 1977 MBC Music Festival: 'Top 10 Artist of Year'
  • 1997 SBS Seoul Music Award for 'Best Record Producer'
  • 2000 Good Deed Artist Prime Minister Commendation Award
  • 2002 Korean Culture Content Exportation Awards in Music
  • 2003 Korean Culture Content Exportation Awards in Music
  • 2004 SBS Music Awards Festival: 'Producer of the Year'
  • 2005 Certificate of Merit as Honorary Ambassador of LA given by the Mayor of LA
    • The Most Influential Person to Drive the Entertainment Industry from the weekly newsmagazine <Sisa Journal>
    • China's South-East Music Chart Awards 'Best Overseas Producer'
    • The 12th Korean Entertainment and Art Awards'Entertainment and Art Development Award'
  • 2007 1st place as “The No.1 Power in the Entertainment Business” in both overall and music industry from the 3rd anniversary survey of Moneytoday Starnews
    • ‘Global Frontier Award’ from the ‘Global CEO Award Winning Company Case Presentation and Awards’ (organized) by the International Business Society
    • ‘Global CEO Award Winning Company Case Presentation and Awards’ (organized) by the International Business Society: 'Global Frontier Award'
  • 2008 Mnet Golden Disk Award for 'Record Producer of the Year'
  • 2009 Château Mouton Rothschild: 'Commanderie de Bontemps'
  • 2011 1st place as “The Power Leader of Popular Culture” selected by The Herald Business
    • Seoul Cultural Arts Awards for 'Best Popular Music Producer'
    • The 2nd Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards: Order of Cultural Merit (the highest honor awarded at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards)
    • 1st place as “The 100 Powerful People in Korean Popular Music” selected by the “SOUND”, a popular music magazine
    • The 13th Academic Conference by Business Released Society: The first “Small but Strong Business Entrepreneur Award“
    • The 2nd Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards: “The Orders of Cultural Merit” (the highest honor awarded at the Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards)
    • The 6th Korea-EU industrial cooperation day: 'Korea-EU Cooperation Award’
    • The 1st Korea Music Copyright Awards: 'The Best Record Producer'
    • The 11th Proud Korean Awards: “National Prestige Award”
  • 2012 The 1st Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards 'Kpop Contribution Award'
    • The Korea Society 55th Anniversary Gala: 'Dinner Culture Award Honoree'
  • 2016 'Best Producer of Asia Award' / Top Chinese Music The Annual Festival
    • First Korean to receive 'Asia Game Changer Award' / Asia Society
    • Ranked #1 in 'Cultural Leaders of the Year' / 2016 e-daily Culture Power
  • 2017 First cultural figure to receive '2016 Youngsang Diplomat Award'
    • 'Best Marketer Award' / 2017 Kotler Awards
    • Selected as "Variety500 2017" by Variety Magazine
  • 2018 Selected as "International Music Leader 2018" by Variety Magazine
    • 2018 Korea-China Management Awards‘Best Marketer’
    • 4th place as “An executive who shows best leadership”
    • 6th place as “An executive who contributes to the nation’s economic development”
    • 10th place as “The best CEO by University students”
  • 2019 Selected as "International Music Leader 2019" by Variety Magazine
  • 2019 Selected as "Variety500 2019" by Variety Magazine
  • 2020 Selected as "2020 Impact List" by Billboard

References
  1. "Lee Soo Man: Taking Korean Pop Culture Global". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  2. "'SM 수장' 이수만, 2017 코틀러 어워드 '최고경영자상' 수상" (in Korean). Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  3. "KPOP NEWS – SM's Lee Soo Man Speaks at Seoul Natl. University as Alumni Speaker | Mwave". mwave.interest.me. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  4. "The History of K-pop, Chapter 4: How Lee Soo Man's First Big Fail Resulted in Korea's Modern Pop Star System | MoonROK". moonrok.com. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  5. Asia, Forbes. "Korea's S.M. Entertainment: The Company That Created K-Pop". Forbes. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  6. Keith Howard Korean pop music: riding the wave 2006– Page 95 "together in 1996 by Lee Soo Man, a graduate of Seoul National University and a product of the campus-led song movement. Lee surveyed teenage girls, then advertised for dancers who most closely fitted what the girls said they wanted."
  7. Kun-ouc, Park (25 February 2010). "Lee Soo-man steps down from SM board of directors". 10 Asia. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  8. Herald, The Korea (27 January 2020). "S.M. Entertainment chief producer makes Billboard's '2020 Impact List'". www.koreaherald.com. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  9. "The 2020 Billboard Impact List Revealed". Billboard. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  10. "K-Pop Industry Legend Lee Soo-Man Works On LOONA Album In First Project Away From Namesake SM Entertainment". Forbes. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  11. "Lee Soo Man's (Former SM CEO) wife dies of cancer" (in Korean). Seoul: newsdaily.co.kr. 5 October 2014.
  12. "SM Entertainment's Lee Soo Man's wife passes away | allkpop.com". www.allkpop.com. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  13. "SM Entertainment Founder Lee Soo Man's Wife Passes Away After 2-Year Battle With Cancer". KpopStarz. 5 October 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  14. lastdance2 (7 September 2017), SNSD Funny Clip #5- When you thought that your teammate is just a small fry..., retrieved 10 February 2018
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