Bang Si Hyuk was a producer and songwriter at JYP Entertainment who successfully created several popular songs in South Korea. Some of the popular songs he created include “Like Being Shot by a Bullet” by Baek Ji Young, “Friday Night” by God, and “Bad Guy” by Rain/Jung Ji Hoo. At that time, JYP was one of the “big three” companies dominating the K-Pop industry with artists like Wonder Girls, Ivy, Park Ji Yoon, and Byul. Meanwhile, SM Entertainment found success with Super Junior and SNSD, while YG Entertainment did so through 2NE1 and Big Bang. In 2005, Bang Si Hyuk and JYP CEO Park Jin Young had a disagreement, which ultimately led to Bang Si Hyuk’s resignation and the establishment of Big Hit Entertainment.
It wasn’t easy for Bang Si Hyuk to build his own agency. In its early days, he had to face financial crisis when launching the vocal trio 8Eight, one of Big Hit’s first talents. Fortunately, 8Eight’s debut album managed to reach number 19 on Korean music charts in 2007, selling 3,000 copies, which helped Big Hit survive its initial phase. Entering 2010, Big Hit, which was still considered small at the time, attempted to form the boy band BTS. Big Hit’s efforts to develop BTS were clearly not easy due to various limitations. Before achieving major success through BTS, Big Hit’s facilities and equipment were very limited, forcing their artists to record in a small garage.
Big Hit’s employees at that time were also few in number, sometimes requiring them to multitask, with one employee handling several duties simultaneously. After 3 years of formation, BTS finally debuted with the song “No More Dream.” When first launched around 2013, BTS was indeed an unfamiliar newcomer, but they continued to gain popularity over time. In 2015, BTS began their path to success and won numerous awards, from the World Rookie Award at Gaon Chart Music Award, Disc Bonsang at Golden Disc Awards, to Best World Performer at Mnet Asian Music Awards. In that same year, BTS also managed to secure third position on Billboard World Digital Chart, earning them the opportunity to perform at Billboard Studios in Atlanta, United States.
A year later, BTS managed to climb to the top of Billboard thanks to their album “Wings,” making them the first Korean artist with the highest album sales. A string of BTS songs, such as “DNA,” “Dynamite,” “Fake Love,” and “Boy With Luv” exploded in the market. The English version of “Dynamite” particularly helped BTS gain even more recognition in the global music industry. Their growing popularity across various countries led to BTS appearing on numerous American television shows. Beyond mere popularity, BTS’s musical quality was also acknowledged by global musicians. Therefore, it’s not surprising that BTS could collaborate with famous musicians from other countries like Coldplay, DJ Aukey, Sia, Nicki Minaj, Halsey, Lil Nas X, Becky G, and Zara Larsson.
Time Magazine even crowned BTS as Entertainer of the Year 2020. In subsequent years, BTS regularly received Grammy nominations, such as at the 2023 Grammy Awards, where they were nominated for Best Pop Duo Group Performance for “My Universe,” their collaboration with Coldplay. BTS was also nominated for Best Music Video for “Yet To Come,” competing with Adele (“Easy on Me”), Doja Cat (“Woman”), Harry Styles (“As It Was”), Kendrick Lamar (“The Heart Part 5”), and the winner, Taylor Swift with “All Too Well: The Short Film.” BTS’s success further elevated Big Hit’s status, leading them to confidently pursue an IPO in October 2020 and subsequently change their name to Hybe Corporation.
Hybe Corporation, as a holding company with several subsidiary companies, proved capable of generating massive revenue, resulting in their valuation surpassing the “big three”—SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. Like their talent BTS, Hybe’s achievements were recognized globally. It’s not surprising that Time magazine made HYBE the only Korean entertainment company to make the list of “100 Most Influential Companies” in both 2021 and 2022 editions. Similarly, Fast Company magazine named Big Hit Entertainment as the most innovative company in the world for their ability to discover new ways of producing content, reaching listeners, and building engagement with fans.
Imagine the struggles BTS had to go through to reach the world stage, considering how competitive the K-Pop industry is. A prospective K-Pop idol must endure an exhausting training period lasting 4 to 10 years. Additionally, they must maintain their appearance due to industry demands for perfection. Beyond having an ideal physique, beauty, large eyes, defined cheekbones, a high nose bridge, and ideal body weight, K-Pop idols must face intense competition to maintain their popularity. They must participate in packed, intensive, and exhausting activities, just like Blackpink, EXO, Super Junior, and other K-Pop idols have done. After becoming successful K-Pop idols, artists become valuable assets that must be managed well.
How does Big Hit manage their talents like BTS? Is it different from their competitors? Bang Si Hyuk is someone who is strongly committed to musical quality. When producing music, Bang Si Hyuk would speak louder than usual. All artists who have worked with him surely know about Bang Si Hyuk’s strictness. Jinju, also known as Pearl, who was JYP Entertainment’s first talent in 1997, confirms this. Pearl revealed that she once practiced for hours with Bang Si Hyuk when he was producing her debut album, Sunflower. Pearl describes Bang Si Hyuk as a very sharp listener who wouldn’t hesitate to shout if there were any mistakes during the recording process.
Thanks to Bang Si Hyuk’s perfectionism and golden touch, dozens of BTS songs have become massive market successes. Although Bang Si Hyuk is a perfectionist, he isn’t authoritarian as he still encourages talents to freely express their messages and ideas in their works. In a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone India, BTS leader RM (Kim Nam Joon) explained that all seven BTS members are indeed involved in their songwriting process. Bang Si Hyuk’s attitude stems from his view that making music is about entertaining and moving people’s hearts. Thus, Big Hit Entertainment’s tagline or motto, which is also written in their logo, is “Music & Artist for Healing.”
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BTS’s songs reflect the “Music & Artist for Healing” motto. As RM told Time magazine, the main idea behind BTS’s songs is how to release music that entertains people and serves as a healing medium for those who need it. This became even more apparent during the difficult times of the Covid-19 pandemic recently, when everyone found it challenging to meet and interact physically. Through their work, BTS also tries to raise social issues, such as in “No More Dream,” which contains criticism of society’s pressure on Korean teenagers. Meanwhile, “Am I Wrong” was released when former South Korean president Park Geun Hye’s major corruption scandal was revealed.
BTS’s social awareness is also reflected in their social movements, such as donating 1 million USD to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in 2020. BTS’s donation to BLM apparently inspired ARMY (their fan base name), who managed to collect matching donations totaling the same amount as their idol’s contribution. Long before that, BTS was indeed considered influential in moving the younger generation, leading Time to feature their photo on its 2018 magazine cover with the tagline “Next Generation Leaders.” Even more proudly, BTS has been given the opportunity to speak at the UN General Assembly twice. First in 2018, when they addressed the theme of self-love among young people. Then second in 2021, delivering a speech about the Covid-19 pandemic.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, many industries experienced difficulties, including the entertainment industry. However, Hybe managed to create creative innovations to overcome this difficult situation. They made every effort to keep the business running and stay connected with BTS fans. In October 2020, Big Hit successfully held a virtual BTS concert through their Weverse platform. The concert titled “Map of the Soul ON:E” was not only successful but also broke the Guinness World Records as the live streaming music concert with the most viewers. This virtual concert managed to maintain fans’ love for their idol during the pandemic and helped heal the disappointment after BTS’s tour series was canceled.
One of the keys to Hybe’s success in building fan engagement is fully recognizing that fans are active collaborators who contribute to artists’ development. As expressed by BTS member J-Hope (Jung Ho Seok), fans and artists influence each other and learn through the music-making process and feedback. The reciprocal interaction between ARMY and BTS can occur intensely through the Weverse platform. There, fans can interact directly with artists through membership services, book online concert tickets, learn Korean with BTS, and purchase merchandise. These advantages led Bang Si Hyuk to call Weverse a “great innovation.”
“BTS, Art Revolution” book author Jiyoung Lee describes BTS fandom’s spirit as a horizontality phenomenon. It’s a reciprocal exchange between artists and fans that can build shared values between them. ARMY becomes an internal part that contributes to the values conveyed by BTS. Therefore, in their songs, BTS always brings up important issues, such as “love yourself,” “speak yourself,” and “suicide prevention.” They are able to raise mental health issues that are closely related to the condition of today’s youth. This shows that BTS is a step ahead of other music companies by enhancing fan engagement with their idols and benefiting from the relationships they build.
2021 marked a new chapter for Hybe Corporation as a lifestyle and entertainment platform company. Big Hit Entertainment—their old brand—transformed into Big Hit Music under the Hybe Labels division. Hybe Corporation then acquired several agencies with their talented artists, such as Adore with girl group New Jeans, Source Music with girl group GFriend, Belift Lab with boy band Enhypen, and Coz Entertainment. Hybe Labels is one of three new divisions of Hybe Corporation, with the other two being Hybe Solutions and Hybe Platforms. Hybe Solutions is a business unit focused on producing video content, intellectual property, games, and learning materials.
Hybe Platform focuses on managing Weverse as a hub platform that connects and expands the distribution of Hybe’s content and services. In May 2021, Weverse Company invested in Wave, an F2F Platform for fandoms to strengthen business opportunities in the United States. In the second quarter of 2021, Weverse reported having more than 5.3 million active users spread across more than 100 countries, increasing over 100% compared to 2020 when they only had 2.4 million active users. The Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPU) in Q2 2021 also increased 53% from Q1 2021. Content sales on Weverse continued to rise, and more people were willing to spend money on BTS-related content.
According to Paul Han, founder of K-Pop news site allkpop.com, Big Hit’s success in building the Weverse platform was crucial in creating overall revenue streams. This strategy shows that diversification greatly helps companies when one of their business sectors experiences a decline. Big Hit managed to differentiate itself by making technology an enabler for company growth. While other entertainment label companies focused solely on entertainment, Big Hit could leverage their artists’ influence to promote the use of their own technology applications. Hybe thoroughly understands how to maximize growth potential beyond existing business models.
With a market capitalization reaching 3.4 billion USD in 2021, HYBE has become the largest agency in South Korea. This figure is three times larger than second-placed JYP Entertainment, which has a market capitalization of 1.1 billion USD. SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment occupy the third and fourth positions. HYBE continues to expand in the global music market, as seen in 2021 when they acquired Ithaca Holdings, which manages Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. They have also established partnerships with The Walt Disney Asia Pacific to deliver Korean music and entertainment content to the global market, as well as with Universal for music distribution.
Moving forward, HYBE’s challenge is to reduce their dependency on Jeon Jung Kook and his colleagues in BTS. They need to replicate their massive success from 2013 until now if they don’t want to fade when BTS eventually becomes less popular than they are currently. So far, they have launched other equally talented artists, such as TXT, Seventeen, and Enhypen. As of 2021, the sales proportion of TXT, Seventeen, and N-Hype albums has begun to increase compared to previous periods. In that year, Seventeen sold 3.7 million albums, Enhypen 2.2 million, and TXT 1.8 million. For comparison, in the same year, BTS albums sold 7.4 million copies, or twice the combined album sales of TXT, Seventeen, and Enhypen.