BTS finished its North American tour on the 6th. All 31 shows sold out, and just the four Las Vegas concerts in May generated $49.5 million (about 66 billion won) in ticket sales. The figures show BTS' power in the global music market. In Korea, when BTS holds a concert, nearby spending on dining and lodging follows fans' footsteps. This is the so-called "BTSnomics."
Behind BTS' success is HYBE(352820), which discovered and nurtured them. HYBE, in the process of developing BTS, built the entire entertainment business—from artist discovery and development to music production, content, promotion, and fandom management—into a single system.
HYBE CEO Lee Jaesang described this as the "K-pop approach." Based on fan participation, it consolidates artist support and creation, promotion, and the fan community into one, and applies this system not only to BTS' label BigHit Music but also to other labels at home and abroad, localizing it to fit each market.
If SM, YG, and JYP introduced K-pop to the world and opened the "K-pop 1.0" era, HYBE is assessed to be building "K-pop 2.0," which expands the method of making K-pop overseas. Founded in 2005 by Chair Bang Si-hyuk, HYBE has grown beyond a market centered on the three major domestic agencies into a global entertainment company. Last year's revenue was 2.65 trillion won, the largest ever. ChosunBiz analyzed HYBE's secrets to growth.
① Split labels, raise expertise
HYBE split labels instead of cramming artists into one company. Whereas existing entertainment corporations discovered and managed multiple singers within a single organization, HYBE had each label focus on a small number of artists. Each label was enabled to build capabilities in music, production, and management.
BigHit Music, Pledis Entertainment, Source Music, Belift Lab Inc., and ADOR are representative. Each label nurtures artists while maintaining its own color based on independence and autonomy.
The effect showed up in the artist portfolio. As BTS grew into a global top star, SEVENTEEN (Pledis Entertainment), LE SSERAFIM (Source Music), and ENHYPEN (Belift Lab Inc.) established themselves as new growth pillars. At the same time, the company escaped a structure in which the performance of one team determined overall results.
In the process, HYBE systemized the steps from artist discovery to training, debut, content production, performances, and fandom formation. Labels focus on artists, and HYBE repeatedly runs this system through multiple labels.
② "Multi-home" strategy: grow artists locally
HYBE does not view overseas markets as mere content sales channels. It establishes bases on the ground and discovers and develops artists. This is a "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy that combines local culture and music with the K-pop production and training system. HYBE calls its overseas local subsidiaries "homes." It currently operates 16 labels in Korea, the United States, Latin America, Japan, China, India, and elsewhere.
A representative case of this strategy is KATSEYE, born in the United States. HYBE set up a joint label with Geffen Records under Universal Music Group and handled everything from KATSEYE auditions to training, album production, and management. In 2022, it selected members from about 120,000 applicants and trained them for more than a year. KATSEYE applied the K-pop-style system while presenting music tailored to the local market. After its 2024 debut, it entered the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for this year's Grammy Awards.
In Japan, HYBE has been delivering results by introducing the boy band &TEAM through its sub-label YX Labels. It also moved to target the Indian market. After establishing HYBE India last year, it held its first global girl group audition in India in Mar. and is discovering local artists.
The results are evident in the revenue mix. Last year, Korea accounted for only 36.2% of HYBE's total revenue. Asia accounted for 34.3%, North America 25.2%, and other regions 4.3%. Whereas traditional K-pop grew artists in Korea and exported them overseas, HYBE is pursuing globalization by discovering and developing artists directly in local markets.
③ Tie fandoms together on a platform
Weverse started as a communication space for artists and fans and has expanded into a global fan platform. Launched in 2019, Weverse now connects communities with content, fan clubs, merchandise sales, and digital paid services. In addition to HYBE artists such as BTS, overseas artists including Ariana Grande, Yoasobi, Lauv, and Conan Gray have joined.
Weverse's strength is fandom data. Within the platform, it can identify what content fans watch, what products they buy, and which regions they are active in. The accumulated data is then reused in content planning, product development, and marketing.
HYBE's business structure operates in tandem. It is a virtuous cycle of "artist development → fandom building → fandom data acquisition → content planning." When artists create fandoms and fandoms gather on the platform, the accumulated data becomes the foundation that grows content and the business.
Weverse's revenue last year was about 300 billion won and is steadily growing. HYBE combined a platform with a music- and performance-centered entertainment business to link artist IP with fandoms and create a structure that generates new revenue.
HYBE also faces risks. Because a multi-label structure has autonomy as a strength, it can lead to conflicts between headquarters and labels. The dispute between former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin, who developed NewJeans, and HYBE is a representative example. In addition, Chair Bang Si-hyuk is under prosecution investigation for alleged violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act during HYBE's 2020 initial public offering (IPO) process.
Pop culture critic Jeong Deok-hyun said, "While HYBE's multi-label, multi-home system is meaningful in that it has expanded the globalization of K-pop, it is still hard to see it as a completed system," and added, "Given the trial and error, including the dispute with the former CEO Min Hee-jin, HYBE needs to advance the system as it continues to grow."