YG hit another home run. Following Blackpink, BABYMONSTER, which rose to YG's flagship girl group, recently surpassed 200 million views on YouTube with the "DRIP" performance video. Considering today's video ecosystem, where content spreads across all kinds of social media platforms, the view count for 'DRIP' is likely to increase exponentially.
The reason YG continues to post unrivaled results and moves in the performance video market is attributable to the focus of chief producer Yang Hyun-suk. So who exactly is Yang Hyun-suk? He is the founder of YG Entertainment, which this year marks its 30th anniversary, and he debuted in 1992 with Seo Taiji and Boys, a 'dancer' who instantly overturned the domestic music market. Is that all? Beyond the limits of music shows, his determination also expanded the essence of the visuals and choreography that artists want to realize into an independent field called "performance video." Going beyond the existing "DANCE PRACTICE," which simply records movements in casual clothes, he built content that delivers overwhelming immersion beyond a music video by adding large groups of dancers and lavish stage effects.
The choreography sense and uncompromising tenacity that he proved since the Seo Taiji and Boys era eventually paid off with the milestone of Blackpink leading to 100 million YouTube subscribers and 7 billion views of performance videos. Even blockbuster artists find it hard to get 100 million views on a music video. Yet YG's 69 performance videos totaling 7 billion views were all directly planned and produced by Chief Yang, and it is known that he entirely handled choreography composition and video editing 100%. He is a born dancer and successful planner combined with the stamina of a triathlon champion.
His passion for domestic performance videos led to the fruit of BABYMONSTER's full-length album title track "DRIP" performance video surpassing 200 million YouTube views at 1:08 a.m. on the 11th. BABYMONSTER released the video in November 2024, and about 1 year and 9 months after that release they added another 200 million-view video, continuing explosive growth. Having set the record for fastest K-pop girl group to reach 10 million subscribers, they are already targeting the 13 million mark. The channel's cumulative views are on the verge of reaching a staggering 10 billion views.
The result of Chief Yang, who is rumored in the industry to tolerate no compromise regarding artists' stages and the quality of their work, personally leading everything from selecting BABYMONSTER to their debut and activities is evident. In fact, BABYMONSTER's remarkable achievements are only a part of YG's success story. This summer, 69 performance videos by YG artists reached the monumental 7 billion views, and Chief Yang stood at the center of it.
About 10 years ago, around the time of Blackpink's debut, Chief Yang recognized the trend that YouTube would become the main platform for the global music market and immediately created a new type of content called performance videos. He demonstrated foresight in using YouTube for artist marketing, and based on the experience gained there, Blackpink actively promoted on a YouTube basis even before debut. The result is as everyone knows.
YG was able to take on the bold challenge of combining performance videos with social media platforms solely because of Chief Yang's leadership. In the early days there was internal pushback from executives because production risk involved investments ranging from several tens of millions of won to hundreds of millions of won for a single work. Nevertheless, Chief Yang produced choreography videos and performance videos for Blackpink's hit songs in-house and targeted YouTube as the main platform. Unlike the practices of the existing music industry or strategies of other agencies, YG minimized appearances on terrestrial music shows to about one episode a week while focusing on improving the completeness of performances and pursuing an upscale strategy.
At the time, terrestrial music shows were blocking YouTube broadcasts to protect their own content, so YG created its own IP content and targeted YouTube. The results of Chief Yang's new challenge are astonishing. Currently, Blackpink's "How You Like That" performance video has 2 billion views, and Lisa's solo song "MONEY" has reached 1.2 billion views. In addition, most of Blackpink's choreography and performance videos are hovering between 300 million and 500 million views. They bore costs exceeding hundreds of millions of won. In the early days there was internal pushback from executives. Nevertheless, Chief Yang produced choreography videos and performance videos for Blackpink's hit songs in-house and targeted YouTube as the main platform. Unlike the practices of the existing music industry or strategies of other agencies, YG minimized appearances on terrestrial music shows to about one episode a week while focusing on improving the completeness of performances and pursuing an upscale strategy.
At the time, terrestrial music shows were blocking YouTube broadcasts to protect their own content, so YG created its own IP content and targeted YouTube. The results of Chief Yang's new challenge are astonishing. Currently, Blackpink's "How You Like That" performance video has 2 billion views, and Lisa's solo song "MONEY" has reached 1.2 billion views. In addition, most of Blackpink's choreography and performance videos are hovering between 300 million and 500 million views.
[Photo] Provided by YG Entertainment.
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