Even in a recession, K-pop is ‘doing well.’ Hybe proved this with its third quarter performance announcement.

Hybe, a leading K-pop company, has given the green light to achieving annual sales of 2 trillion won for the second consecutive year. With consolidated sales of 527.8 billion won in the third quarter, it surpassed 1.5 trillion won in cumulative sales. Following last year, achieving annual sales of 2 trillion won is now ‘in sight’ this year as well.

A notable aspect of Hybe‘s third quarter sales was the ‘explosion’ indirect participation sales. This refers to sales from merchandising (MD), licensing, and fan clubs, recording 204.9 billion won, a 32% increase from the same period last year.

This is evidence that the monetization of ‘IP’ (intellectual property rights), which was considered the future of the content industry and the ultimate ‘growth engine’, has entered an intensifying phase, accounting for close to ‘40%’ of the total sales in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, the cumulative sales this year, which exceeded 1.5 trillion won, are especially meaningful as they were achieved within one of the ‘mega IP’ owned by HYBE, the so-called ‘military flag’ of BTS. Starting with BTS’s eldest Jin, recently member J-Hope completed his military service, but their activities have not been properly reflected in the ‘current performance’, which can be interpreted as Hybe‘s multi-label system, which is like Hybe’s ‘business identity’, playing a part.

Meanwhile, Hybe‘s ‘Last Dance’, which aims to achieve 2 trillion won in annual sales, is expected to be filled with the most splendid lineup of the year.

BTS Jin will be the ‘last runner’ among the members and release his first solo album, while Big Hit Music’s TXT and Belift Lab‘s Enhypen will each release a new mini-album and a repackaged album for a ‘combined comeback’. Above all, there’s Seventeen. Seventeen showed off their power as the ‘King of Albums’ by recording 3.16 million copies sold in the first week of their 12th mini album release last month.


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com