Hybe says ‘boundless’ is its future, shares plans for more diversified portfolio

Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind boy band BTS, announced its plan to augment its business portfolio and garner more people to engage in the process.

The label held an online YouTube event Thursday morning to share its futuristic visions and strategies to lead the entertainment industry.

Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of Hybe and founder of the label, said, “Hybe has always used the terms like ‘global’ and ‘connected,’ but now, these words are common and easily found elsewhere. The boundaries have disappeared, so I would like to describe the last six months since we have merged with Ithaca Holdings as ‘boundless.’”

Speaking about what has changed in half a year, Scooter Braun, who leads the agency’s American leg, said the merger had been a “success” so far and that the two sides will continuously strive to make new stories and songs heard.

“Historically, merging has been a challenge because of language and cultural barriers. It has been difficult for such firms to find a common ground and communicate and work together. But music can cut through that boundary and be universal music,” he said.

Hybe America unveiled its plan to launch a global female pop group project under the US-based training system with Hybe and Universal Music Group’s affiliate Geffen Records. The company’s American branch added that it plans to create content that will feature the process leading up to the band’s debut.

Hybe Japan also announced that it would debut a new boy band trained under the Japanese system. Apart from the four members who participated in Mnet’s K-pop reality competition “I-Land” in 2020, the other bandmates will be recruited through “&Audition” next year.

The program, which formed boy band Enhypen, will premier in Japan and on YouTube, respectively.

Bang went on to say that the company plans to expand its presence as an entertainment company and foray into various entertainment lifestyle sectors like webtoons, games and comics to connect people around the globe.

In line with the phrase “beyond country, culture, industry,” the label announced that it plans to expand its original story business under the theme “boundless” by featuring artists in other content through a “story” medium where it will create content like animations, novels and comics online, which will be distributed via multiple platforms.

Shawn Hwangbo, the general manager of Hybe, said the company’s narratives have always been at the core of its music and artists, describing the narrative as a “story that everybody can relate and a story that can touch the heart of people.”

He continued to say that the concept itself is not new because musicians often blend in their thoughts and creeds in their songs, so the company plans to stretch its original stories and content business by introducing web novels and webcomics.

Hybe previewed four of its upcoming webtoons and web novels during the online session, which is part of its original story business.

The first to be released is “7Fates: Chakho,” featuring BTS.

During the online conference, the company teased a snippet of the trailer for an upcoming webtoon where BTS shares their thoughts. The story that revolves around Beom, a character who seeks revenge after losing his loved ones, will be released Jan. 15 via Naver Webtoon’s global platform.

The company’s up-and-coming boy band Tomorrow X Together stars in “The Star Seekers,” a story that delves into how the five bandmates navigate the world with their magical abilities, to be released on Jan. 17.

A new series titled “Dark Moon” will feature rookie band Enhypen and be released Jan. 16. “Crimson Heart,” the last of its original series previewed, will release sometime next year.

Hybe said it plans to develop its intellectual property and present more diverse stories through the original story business.

The K-pop powerhouse also announced its entrance into the finance sector by starting a nonfungible tokens business. Hybe said it would team up with Dunamu, the blockchain company that operates Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange here, and establish a joint corporation that will issue blockchain-based tokens with the intellectual property assets of its artists.

The agency is also set to launch a game BTS participated in developing. The company said the essence of the game is to enjoy interactions between artists and music in various ways, which is why the band participated in the development process. The game will be released in the first half of 2022.

Also, a new version of Weverse, an online fan community, will be launched in the same year and has been integrated with Naver’s V Live. Hybe added that the latest addition will allow fans to actively engage with artists on the platform.

On closing the event, Hybe CEO Park Ji-won said that future for Hybe is “boundless.”

“Music is at the core of Hybe, but what we envision for the future of Hybe is to expand in different areas by not limiting our company as a company in a specific area.”

By Park Jun-hee (junheee@heraldcorp.com)