Who owns Melon?
Melon is owned by Kakao (South Korea, KRX: 035720), which has owned the brand since 2015.[1]
Kakao owns 66% of Melon rather than all of it.
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Kakao Company Presentation, February 2026, Kakao Corp, 1 February 2026. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Kakao Corp. (66% stake) reported
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇰🇷 South Korea, Jeju
- Origin
- 🇰🇷 South Korea
- Category
- Internet & digital › Streaming & media › Streaming audio
- Parent ticker
- KRX: 035720
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Melon
Melon is South Korea's largest home-grown music streaming service, with 33 million users and five million paying subscribers at the time it was folded into Kakao Entertainment on 1 September 2021. Kakao reached it by acquiring LOEN Entertainment in 2015 and holds it today through its 66 per cent of Kakao Entertainment. Its lead over Spotify in Korea has narrowed to a few million users.
Ownership timeline of Melon
Where Melon sits in Kakao
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Kakao ownership tree →
See the full Kakao brand portfolio (6) →
Other brands owned by Kakao
Kakao controls 6 brands on Brandtree, 5 of them in internet & digital.
Also in internet & digital
Other brands in streaming audio, and who owns them
The 20 brands in streaming audio on Brandtree belong to 13 owners. The largest is Storytel, with 3.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Audiobooks.com | Storytel | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| Kugou Music | Tencent Music | 🇨🇳 China |
| Deezer | Deezer | 🇫🇷 France |
| LiveOne | LiveOne | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Spotify | Spotify | 🇸🇪 Sweden |
| Apple Music | Apple | 🇺🇸 United States |
| TIDAL | Block | 🇺🇸 United States |
| NetEase Cloud Music | NetEase | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong |
About the owner: Kakao
Kakao is a publicly listed company headquartered in Jeju, South Korea. Brandtree records 6 brands under its control, and it is listed as KRX: 035720.
Kakao is the South Korean internet group built around KakaoTalk, a messaging app with 49 million monthly users in a country of 52 million, and it monetises that position through advertising, gifting and commerce inside the app. Around it sit partly owned subsidiaries covering mobility, payments, banking, music streaming, webtoons and games, most of which Kakao holds well short of outright. Consolidated revenue reached a record 8.1 trillion won in 2025. Its web portal Daum, long the group's second pillar, was separated out as AXZ and left the group; it is absent from Kakao's February 2026 ownership chart.
🇰🇷 Melon and other South Korean brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 185 brands that began in South Korea. 7 of them (4%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; Melon is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Melon?
The parent company of Melon is Kakao, a publicly listed company headquartered in South Korea.
Is Melon South Korean?
Yes. Melon originated in South Korea and its owner, Kakao, is also headquartered in South Korea.
Since when has Kakao owned Melon?
Kakao has owned Melon since 2015.
Is Melon still owned by Kakao?
Yes. As of 28 September 2026, Melon is still owned by Kakao (66% stake). The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Kakao Company Presentation, February 2026 — Kakao Corp., Official document, published 1 February 2026; retrieved 28 September 2026.
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