BTS has officially signed a deal with Universal Music Group following various Big Three record label collaborations with the K-pop group’s Hybe agency during the first 10 months of 2021. Photo credit: HYBE
K-pop sensation BTS has officially left Sony Music Entertainment’s Columbia Records and signed a deal with Universal Music Group.
Hybe, Big Hit Music, and BTS, which is still extremely popular, if ticket sales, earnings reports, and special music releases are any indication, recently announced the change. The highly frequently aired Map of the Soul: 7 and Be efforts of the seven-piece act were released with the support of Columbia last year, and the financial details (arguably substantial) of the UMG deal have yet to be released. have been publicly revealed.
But the deal comes on the heels of several high-profile collaborations between Universal Music Group and Hybe (which changed its name to Big Hit Entertainment in Q1 2021). In February 2021, the companies collaborated to launch a live streaming platform called VenewLive, for example, and the development was followed shortly after by an “expanded strategic partnership.”
This decidedly ambitious joint venture included the goal of expanding “the global reach of K-pop music and culture around the world,” the parties involved specified, with UMG acts using “enhanced communications” direct to fans “from Hybe’s WeVerse. In addition, the companies established a joint venture label in Los Angeles and outlined plans to form “a new global K-pop boy group.”
Regarding the circumstances surrounding the search for tomorrow’s K-pop stars, BTS received a (controversial) postponement of South Korea’s 18-month mandatory military service to the end of 2020. Allowing group members to delay the enlistment until their respective 30th birthday, the temporary exemption will keep BTS intact until Jin turns 30 in December 2022.
Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how BTS and Hybe (who in April bought Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings for more than $ 1 billion) respond and adapt to this hurdle, as well as the other membership changes that will subsequently come from the army. service obligations.
Universal Music Group (UMG on Euronext Amsterdam) shares ended the day at a flat price of € 25.00 per share ($ 29.13 at the current exchange rate), a small gain from the previous close, while Hybe shares (KRX: 352820) saw a rise of more than 1.5 percent drop, resting at 325,000 KRW / $ 276 when the market closed.
Lastly, Universal Music, which signed an exclusive record deal with Andrea Bocelli about a week ago, is scheduled to release its earnings report for the third quarter of 2021 next Wednesday, October 27, the same day that the performance analysis of the Spotify’s third quarter will be publicly available.
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