Baby Shark is everywhere, even on the stock market

Can the most addictive song in YouTube history turn its maker into a flourishing, publicly traded firm? Pinkfong is about to find out.

The South Korean studio behind ‘Baby Shark‘ — the most-watched video on YouTube — has completed its initial public offering. Pinkfong is now listed KOSDAQ, a trading board that focuses on small and medium-sized companies.

For Pinkfong, the IPO is a bold move that will determine the market value of family content producers that are most active on platforms like YouTube. At the same time, other players in the creator economy can observe Pinkfong’s KOSDAQ performance to determine how (if at all) they can turn their channels into stock market gold.

Pinkfong’s IPO ambitions date back to 2019, during the heyday of the ‘Baby Shark’ phenomenon. In 2020, the ubiquitous earworm passed the music video for ‘Despacito’ to become YouTube’s most-watched clip. At the time of this post, the YouTube view count for ‘Baby Shark’ sits around 16.4 billion.

The Wall Street Journal notes that Pinkfong’s initial stock market plans never came to fruition, but earlier this year, the Seoul-based outfit indicated that it would resume its KOSDAQ push. Pinkfong was able to raise 76 billion Korean won (about $52 million USD) through its IPO, and its shares enjoyed a 60% uptick after their market debut on November 18.

Those early gains show Pinkfong’s promise, but there are lingering questions related to the company’s earnings. According to WSJ, the ‘Baby Shark’ originator generated about $67 million in annual revenue last year. Even after hauling in hundreds of millions of YouTube views per week, Pinkfong is still contending with policies that limit earnings for kid-friendly digital media studios. Tough laws like COPPA and restrictions on YouTube Kids limit the potential of all-ages advertisements and product lines.

Even amid that tricky landscape, Pinkfong is still catching up to some of its rivals. A WSJ estimate pegged CoComelon’s annual ad revenue at $120 million, and the kidfluencer channel Love, Diana has a reported net worth of about $90 million.

Those numbers go to show that financial prosperity is no guarantee for YouTube-based operators, even when they produce the biggest video in the platform’s history. Pinkfong has looked to diversify its revenue through physical goods, including an apparel line launched in collaboration with Shein.

Pinkfong has a lot of work left to do, but the brand’s early KOSDAQ returns are encouraging. We’ve seen some calamitous creator economy IPOs in recent years (looking at you, FaZe Clan), and Pinkfong has a chance to change that narrative. If it can, it won’t just enrich its own coffers — it will also provide a roadmap for creators like MrBeast as they look to translate their YouTube-based operations into stock market success.