Big news here is regarding the planned release of a NEW digital single for IU!

In the 2nd quarter, IU, Sistar and other LOEN star singers will begin their promotions. A new boygroup will be debuting, too.

Q&A with LOEN representative:

Q. Your operating profits in the 1st quarter fell short of expectations. Why is that so?

A. A large share of our profits come from Melon and our content production side (album production, distribution, etc.). For Melon, more discounts and promotions increased both our revenue and operating profits.

Our content production side didn't do as well as IU, Sistar and other top stars postponed their comebacks to the 2nd quarter. Last year, in the first quarter, Soyou and Jungigo's 'Some' as well as the drama 'My Love from the Star' OST were highly popular, so in comparison, the decline in the trend looks more significant.

Q. What's the outlook on the 2nd quarter?

A. It looks positive. FIRSTLY, THERE ARE PLANS FOR IU TO RELEASE A DIGITAL SINGLE ALBUM and Sistar will be having their comeback soon as well. When these big stars begin their promotions, the operating profits that were not included in the first quarter will be reflected fully in the 2nd quarter. Melon is showing steady growth as well, so it will not be an issue.

Q. Any plans for the celebrities in your agency to promote overseas?

A. It's true that compared to our competitors, our sales in foreign markets were not as good. In order to penetrate the overseas market, we need a boygroup, so we plan to let a new boygroup, In4mal, have their debut. Their new single album will be released soonest today or tomorrow. We plan to introduce another boygroup in the 2nd half of the year.

We're planning to make our way into the Chinese market as well. Last month, we signed a partnership with China's Yuehua Entertainment. We'll then be able to enter the Chinese market more confidently.

Trans summary source: link

Korean source: link