HYBE PREPS FOR BTS HIATUS

After the members of BTS announced that they will fulfill their military-service commitments, with a plan to reunite in 2025, HYBE promptly assured shareholders that it has a strategy to survive during their absence.

The company is parent to nine independently operated labels, including BTS home Bighit, and a roster that includes Seventeen and TOMORROW x TOGETHER. Artist revenue—excluding that generated by BTS—tripled between 2020 and 2022, according to a letter to shareholders from CEO Park Jiwon, who said, “HYBE is confident in the structure that’s been put in place over the past 10 years."

It plans to launch subscription services and bring U.S. and Japanese acts into its Weverse by the end of 2023. The platform, which merged with Naver V Live in July, presented BTS' concert in Busan Saturday, which pulled in 49m views. BTS in BUSAN, an effort to promote the city’s bid for World Expo 2030, was viewed in 229 territories.

Having recently purchased Supertone, HYBE finds itself in a new arena of fan content creation. It will also benefit from the full, post-pandemic return of in-person concerts and touring.