It has been revealed that HYBE has broken its highest sales record yet again, exceeding 2 trillion won in sales for two consecutive years.

According to data released by HYBE on the 25th, HYBE‘s consolidated sales last year increased by approximately 4% year-on-year to record 2.2545 trillion won. This is the highest figure since the company was founded.

Direct participation sales decreased by 1.8% year-on-year to 1.4453 trillion won, while indirect participation sales for the same period increased by 14.5% to 809.3 billion won. Direct participation sales decreased by 11.3% year-on-year in the album and original categories, which account for a large portion, but the performance category increased by 25.6%, offsetting the decrease in sales. After the end of the pandemic, fans’ consumption patterns seem to have diversified, focusing on offline consumption.

In the album sector, the annual Circle Chart share of domestic artists by HYBE was tallied at 40%, up 2%p from 38% the previous year. SEVENTEEN achieved the record of 10 million cumulative album sales for the second consecutive year, following 2023, by selling over 10 million copies last year. TXT had two albums enter the top 10 of the annual Circle Chart, and all three albums released last year were on the Japanese Oricon year-end chart.

ENHYPEN recorded cumulative sales of 5.45 million copies, proving their global popularity by ranking 8th and 9th on the annual album charts in the US and Japan, respectively. NEW JEANS achieved the highest sales share among female K-pop artists, selling over 3 million albums. Boynextdoor, who recently gained popularity with their song ‘Only Today I LOVE YOU’, has become a million seller in just one and a half years since their debut.

Hybe Music Group artists also shined in the music industry. 15 songs by Hybe artists made it to the top 20 of Circle Chart‘s ‘Global K-Pop Chart’, which encompasses the usage of domestic and international streaming platforms, proving their strong content competitiveness.

BTS members Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook’s solo songs and Megan Thee Stallion‘s ‘Neva Play’ featuring RM have each made it to Billboard’s ‘Hot 100’, while Seraphim charted on Billboard‘s ‘Hot 100’ in the first and second half of the year with ‘EASY’ and ‘CRAZY’, respectively. TWS (Tours), who debuted last year, topped Melon’s annual chart with their debut song ‘First Encounter Doesn‘t Go as Planned’, and Ailrit became the first K-pop debut song to enter the US Billboard ‘Hot 100’ and the UK’s ‘Official Singles Top 100’ with ‘Magnetic’.

Last year, HYBE MUSIC GROUP artists held 147 concerts and 25 fan meetings, recording the highest performance sales since the company was founded. According to Billboard‘s ‘2024 K-pop Performance Sales Chart’, Seventeen, Enhypen, and Tomorrow x Together swept the Top 3. In particular, performance sales in the fourth quarter of last year more than doubled compared to the same period last year, reaching 188.9 billion won.

Looking at indirect participation sales, sales in the MD and licensing sectors, which showed a synergistic effect with the performance sector, recorded 420 billion won, up 29.1% year-on-year, recording the best performance ever. As HYBE MUSIC GROUP artists went on large-scale world tours, performance-related MD and cheering stick sales increased significantly, and character products featuring members of each group, including BTS, Seventeen, and TXT, were well-received.

HYBE AMERICA also achieved notable results. Artists under HYBE AMERICA’s Big Machine Label Group topped a total of 10 Billboard charts, and among them, Carly Fierce was nominated for the Grammy Awards for two consecutive years. Another Hive America label, QC Music, has seen active activities with major artists such as Quavo, Lil Baby, and Lil Yachty. Lil Baby‘s ‘WHAM’, released in early January this year, topped the Billboard 200 chart, and all four of his recent releases have topped the chart.

Hive America’s management division, SB Projects, recently strengthened its artist management capabilities by recruiting Cade Hudson from Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the world‘s largest agency, who has handled famous American singers such as Britney Spears, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, and Selena Gomez.

Hive’s consolidated operating profit in 2024 was KRW 184.8 billion, down 38% year-on-year. First, the gap in team activities due to BTS’s military service and the change in sales ratio by artist due to the debut of many new groups affected the decrease in operating profit. The investment in Catseye’s debut in the U.S. and the costs associated with investment in personnel and infrastructure to establish a growth foundation after the establishment of HYBE Latin America also contributed to the decrease in profit margin. In addition, as new growth businesses including Weverse and games began to operate in earnest, upfront investment costs were executed to secure mid- to long-term growth engines.

HYBE predicted that profitability would improve this year, citing the comeback of the global group BTS and the economies of scale that would occur due to the even growth of HYBE Music Group artists. Strengthening artist management capabilities through the recruitment of Cade Hudson and sales generation by HYBE Latin America are also expected to act as factors in improving profitability.

The performance of the new growth business sector is also cited as a factor in improving profitability. Sales related to Weverse digital membership, which began service in December last year, are expected to be reflected in performance from January this year when the free trial period ends. Hive IM is strengthening its publishing lineup with ‘Architect: Land of Exile’, which attracted the attention of many gamers at ‘2024 G-Star’, and new works from Bonfire Studios. It also plans to sequentially introduce a number of its own developed titles, including the mobile puzzle game ‘Puzzle Seventeen’.

AI audio company Supertone has officially launched ‘Supertone Shift’ and ‘Supertone Play’ in succession. Supertone Shift is a service that converts the user‘s voice into a character’s voice and currently has about 350,000 subscribers. Supertone Play supports 150 voices in three languages by applying TTS technology that converts text to speech, and B2B delivery is in progress in the form of AI chatbots.

In addition, new team projects will be carried out in regions such as the US, Japan, and Latin America this year. HYBE aims to lead market innovation with a ‘multi-home, multi-genre’ strategy that grafts K-pop systems and know-how onto overseas local cultures and characteristics. In the US, they plan to start a new boy group project with producer Ryan Tedder, who has collaborated with world-class musicians such as Beyoncé, Adele, and Ed Sheeran. Japan‘s YX LABELS (YX Labels, formerly HYBE Labels Japan) will present a new generation J-pop group following &TEAM.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.