Korean entertainment companies are beginning to invest heavily in indie artists with the likes of CJ E&M and YG Entertainment backing a crop of promising hip-hop singers and indie bands, reports The Korea Herald.

CJ E&M, the biggest entertainment and media company in the country, has signed a sponsorship deal with the KBS band competition program Top Band 3 to take care of the production and distribution of songs by the contestants.

"As we already had know-how from putting out a rap competition series, 'Show Me the Money,' we will use it to expand the market base of indie and rock bands," a representative from CJ E&M said in a statement, referring to Show Me the Money, a popular rap competition contestants of which have put out songs that have rocked the charts.

CJ E&M also invested in hip-hop label Hi-Lite Records to help them expand internationally.

Meanwhile, YG Entertainment set up in March the indie label HIGHGRND with rapper and longtime agency talent Tablo heading the new venture. In the past months, HIGHGRND has signed top talent, including the chart-topping four-man band Hyukoh.

HIGHGRND also reportedly taken in former K-Pop Star contestant Lee Hi, and will be mounting her next big comeback since debuting in 2012 and a few collaboration projects, which shows the trust in which YG Entertainment has in the producing skills of the newly established indie label.

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Mickey is a writer and digital content creator based in Manila. He is a co-founder of ZAVI App and editor of the small business blog IndieMickey. He has also been bitten by the K-Pop fashion bug - follow him on Instagram @mickjami.