A Simple Summary of HYBE Labels
This note is a memo by Chanko, who is in her 4th year of managing a Korean wave community, as part of her own learning about K-POP odds and ends. I myself learned about K-POP for the first time in my 40s and was truly confused by everything. I am still growing while being taught by those around me.
With the recent boom in fandom activities, I think there are many people who are interested in K-POP and the community but don't know where or how to start.
I hope this is helpful to you.
This time, it is about one of the '4 major agencies' in South KoreaHYBE. It might be easier to understand if I say it's the company that BTS belongs to.I looked into the overall picture of HYBE, which I thought I knew but didn't really understand properly. And the more I looked, the more information there was, and I couldn't summarize it all... so this time I decided to just summarize the labels of the HYBE group simply.
I will write down the pronunciations so that beginners can understand, and I will also post links.
HYBE
First, about the parent company, HYBE. It was established in 2005 as Big Hit Entertainment (former company name) by
Bang Si-hyuk, who was a music producer at JYP Entertainment.Although it suffered from poor management for a long time, the company grew along with the global popularity of BTS.
After that, in March 2021, it moved to its current new headquarters (Yongsan-gu, Seoul) and changed its company name to HYBE.
It was announced that the consolidated financial results for 2023 exceeded 2 trillion won (approximately 200 billion yen) for the first time for a Korean entertainment company.
In addition to the Korean headquarters, there are local branches called HYBE JAPAN and HYBE AMERICA.
Since the representative, Mr. Bang, appears on various programs, I think there are quite a few people who have seen him.
And the labels of the HYBE group are as follows.
I will also include the names of representative artists belonging to each label.
Although the artists belong to different labels, they are generally referred to collectively as HYBE's ~, affiliated with HYBE, or the HYBE group.
BIGHIT MUSIC
A label created by keeping the old company name Big Hit Entertainment when the company name was changed in 2021. Artists who had contracts before becoming HYBE, such as the first singer Lee Hyun and BTS, belong here.
Affiliated: Lee Hyun, BTS, TOMORROW X TOGETHER etc.
BELIFT LAB
A label established jointly with CJ ENM to match ENHYPEN, which was born from the 2020 audition program 'I-LAND'. In 2023, HYBE's stake became 100%, making it a wholly owned subsidiary.
Affiliated: ENHYPEN, ILLIT
SOURCE MUSIC
Established in 2009. An agency specializing in female groups. It has been under the group umbrella since 2019. As LE SSERAFIM's popularity accelerates, they held an offline audition for the first time in 4 years. It is attracting attention as they plan to debut a new girl group.
Affiliated: LE SSERAFIM
PLEDIS Entertainment
Established in 2007. Under the group umbrella since 2020. SEVENTEEN, who is very popular in Japan and set a new record by exceeding 5 million copies in the first week of album sales, belongs here. TWS, which debuted in 2024, is also highly anticipated.
Affiliated: SEVENTEEN, fromis_9, TWS etc.
KOZ ENTERTAINMENT
Established in 2018 by popular artist ZICO. Under the group umbrella since 2020. Personally, I like ZICO's songs since Block B, so I hope they become more well-known in Japan, including BOYNEXTDOOR, who debuted in '23.
Affiliated: ZICO, BOYNEXTDOOR etc.
ADOR
Established in 2021. The CEO is Min Hee-jin, formerly of SM Entertainment. With the global massive hit of NewJeans, the high quality of her production skills is once again in the spotlight. There is nothing but excitement for their future developments.
Affiliated:NewJeans
HYBE JAPAN Labels
HYBE LABELS JAPAN
&TEAM is affiliated here, formed by 4 popular candidates who were not selected as members of ENHYPEN in the audition program 'I-LAND,' plus 5 members chosen through a new audition. Expectations are high for their future global activities.
Affiliated:&TEAM
NAECO
Affiliated: Yurina Hirate
HYBE AMERICA Labels
Big Machine Label Group
QC Music
I am still studying K-POP, so I have only summarized what I have been able to research. It would be helpful if you could let me know if there are any omissions or errors.
I am using the term 'label' here, but since these are also agency names, I would like to explain that in detail, but... there are many differences from the Japanese system, and the various names are difficult to read and hard to remember, aren't they?
You don't have to memorize the labels to enjoy K-POP, so if you are interested, just take a look at it as a general idea.
As you get more into K-POP, you will encounter situations where the relationships between groups are expressed through their label connections, such as brothers, sisters, younger brother groups, or younger sister groups. That might be the time to check or learn about the labels.