Bang Si-Hyuk: Last News

NewJeans’ Hanni has tearfully testified on workplace harassment at South Korea’s National Assembly.Hanni, real name Phạm Ngọc Hân, alleged that the entertainment agency Hybe deliberately undermined the group, while she also accused senior management of deliberately ignoring her.She said, “I came to the realisation that this wasn’t just a feeling.

K-pop music purveyors HYBE today announced an expanded long-term agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG), providing them exclusive distribution rights across HYBE music for the next 10 years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe, the Korean firm behind K-pop’s BTS, has struck an expanded 10-year deal with Universal Music Group (UMG), providing Hybe’s roster of artists and labels access to UMG’s leading global network. UMG will further collaborate with Hybe’s global superfan platform Weverse, bringing more of a direct connection between UMG artists and their fandom. Hybe and UMG will additionally collaborate on artist promotions and marketing activities in North America under the oversight of Scooter Braun – who, in his time as CEO of Hybe America, acquired QC Media Holdings and incorporated SB Projects as well as Big Machine Label Group into the existing roster. Hybe and UMG first teamed up in 2017 on BTS, through a distribution agreement in Japan. In 2021, the companies expanded their relationship with a global strategic agreement which saw collaborations across multiple projects and use of Weverse for fan communication.

Hybe, the label behind Korean supergroup BTS, announced today that its annual sales hit 2.17 trillion won (US$1.6 billion) in 2023, making it the first K-pop agency ever to reach this milestone.

Disney+ has dropped a teaser trailer for BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star, an eight-part documentary series about the global K-pop superstars, as well as announcing a launch date of December 20. 

BTS and Disney+ have announced BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star, a brand-new docu-series featuring the K-pop boyband.BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star will “take audiences on an in-depth journey across the band’s 10-year career, highlighting their highs and lows” over eight episodes through the docu-series format, according to a Disney+ press release.The series is said to feature “never-before-seen interviews, performances and behind-the-scenes moments” with the K-pop boyband, as well as appearances from HYBE founder Bang Si-Hyuk and Myeongseok Kang, the co-author of Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record of BTS. “The upcoming docuseries also shines a spotlight on highly personal moments from their past, including how they felt about meeting each other for the first time; their initial contract renewal process; the difficulties of isolating during COVID,” reads the press release.BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star will premiere December 20 on Disney+ with its first two episodes, with two new episodes released every Wednesday thereafter.The upcoming docu-series will also be the latest collaboration between Disney+ and BTS. The streaming service previously premiered J-hope in the Box, SUGA: Road to D-Day, the concert film BTS: Permission to Dance on Stage – LA and more.In other BTS news, Jungkook has opened up about the boyband’s early days and why he still “can’t watch the footage” from their debut, saying they were “not that cool”.

HYBE and Geffen Records have revealed the contestants of its upcoming audition programme, The Debut: Dream Academy.At a press event in Los Angeles today (August 28 PT), HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk and Interscope Geffen A&M Records CEO John Janick revealed the 20 idol hopefuls who will be competing for a place in an upcoming global girl group.The group of contestants hail from 12 different countries – including Korea, Brazil, the US, Sweden and more – and were picked from a global audition that started in November 2021.The 20 young women will participate in The Debut: Dream Academy, premiering September 1 at 8am PT on YouTube, which will run for 12 weeks and decide the upcoming girl group’s final line-up. In addition, the group’s development process will also be documented in an upcoming as-yet-untitled Netflix series, set to debut in 2024.“I have wanted to form an international group based on K-pop methodology for a while,” Bang Si-Hyuk said at the press event.

In a bold reaction to market trends, Korean entertainment powerhouse HYBE Corporation — best known as the home of K-Pop superstars BTS — is more bullish than ever, expanding out of its core record label, talent management and concert production business into several other areas, and now bills itself as a global entertainment lifestyle platform.

The perfect isolation activity for BTS fans...