[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]KT (Chairman and CEO Suk-Chae Lee, www.kt.com) announced a grand launch of “Genie K-pop”, the digital music and contents service based on smart phones, in 45 countries across 6 continents including the United States, France and India. This is the first time that a domestic smart phone-only music service was launched as a global service.

“Genie”, established by KT in partnership with KMP Holdings (music distributor of 7 major Korean record labels including SM, YG, JYP, Media Line, Star Empire, Union CAN and Music Factory), made a grand entry to the global markets only 9 months after its domestic launch, delivering its value as the “global music service”.

In Korea, Genie became an industry sensation as it allowed the content right holders to price and value their own products. By increasing the royalties to the right holders to a global standard of 70%, Genie set a new trend in the industry.

With a launch of Genie’ K-Pop, fans around the world with a thirst for “Korean Wave” content can now easily enjoy and purchase various K-POP content, including music, music videos, photos and video clips.

Genie K-pop offers “Full Track Preview”, allowing users to listen to a full length of songs up to three times per each song for free, as a unique promotional program to increase pay-per-download market. Furthermore, exclusive content, previously only available to Korean Genie subscribers, will also be made available to global markets.

Customers can use “Genie K-pop” via a free download from Google Play Store. Furthermore, the full app experience, including “Full Track Preview” can be used without the need to sign up for an additional membership, by logging in with one’s existing Facebook or Twitter account.

The app is currently available for Android devices, and KT plans to continue extension of its service to more countries.

“With Genie K-Pop, fans around the world can now enjoy various K-pop music and contents. We will continue to target the global virtual goods market, riding the rising popularity of Korean Wave globally”, said Terry Ahn, EVP and Head of KT Smart Eco Division.