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Park Suman, CEO, The Beatpacking Company tells e27 more about what the startup is up to

Park Suman, CEO, The Beatpacking Company

With six million users in Korea, The Beatpacking Company’s flagship music streaming app Beat is gearing up for 2016 with goals to improve its advertising system, garner more users, and establish a stronger hold in Southeast Asia, says Park Suman, its CEO in an interview with e27.

Launched in 2014, the mobile app gives users the option to listen to ad-supported music for free. Advertisements on the app comes in the form of either audio, video, or banner content. Users can also switch over to the premium version that comes without the advertisements and lets them play any song available in its database, without being restricted.

There are about 1,000 paid users at the moment, adds Park. The company also generates money through its advertising revenue.

Also Read: How K-Pop is influencing Korea’s startup scene

However, the problem right now is that it does not have a targetted advertising system that sends users relevant advertisements. Someone listening to Chopin on the app may see an advertisement asking them to buy dried fish, for instance.

Doing so will help Beat improve its click-through rate, an important metric when selling its media platform to advertisers. There are about 30 to 40 advertisers on Beat every month, he adds. Currently, the app has a click-through rate of one per cent. “We can improve the targetting solutions [and it will bring us a] three or four times higher click-through rate.”

It has also been running a global version, which only allows playing of Kpop songs. Park notes that the company is working toward providing a more comprehensive catalog for its global audience, one that will showcase both local and international tracks. He expects this to happen by the second quarter of 2016.

“I think we cannot compete in countries they’re (other big competitors) dominant already,” he says, when asked about his plans to compete with big players like Spotify or Deezer. Although various music streaming businesses have entered Southeast Asia in recent years, like Guvera expanding into Indonesia and Singapore, Park believes that there is space for more.

In the past, the startup also received help from the Korean government in expanding overseas, specifically Born2global, a programme to help Korean firms gain international footprint.

“When Beat service was launched in seven versions for seven countries, Born2global’s marketing support in local markets significantly helped us getting a foot ground and we were able to get 150,000 members in a short time,” says Park. He did not specify the number of users the app has garnered overseas, outside of its home country Korea.

The post Meet Korea’s Beat, a music streaming service for Kpop and beyond appeared first on e27.

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