BTS Agency Hybe Posts Record $1.6B In Annual Sales As K-Pop Demand Rockets
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.
In a conference call, the company said that robust album and concert sales by its major artists contributed to this achievement, including Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together, NewJeans, Enhypen and BTS members as soloists.
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Several BTS members are currently undergoing mandatory military service, and the band is temporarily on hiatus. However, it continues to resonate globally, with the likes of Disney+ and Prime Video releasing docs on the band.
Despite their absence, the band’s popularity helped operating profits hit 295.8BN won, up nearly 25% year-on-year, and a net profit of 186.6BN won, a whopping 288.5% up on 2022.
Hybe’s annual sales for full-year 2023 are up 22.6% from last year. Album sales were worth $730M, marking a significant increase of 75.8% from 2022. Concert revenue also increased 39.1% to $270M, with the concert events market recovering healthily since the pandemic.
However, revenue from merchandising and licensing as well as content sales dropped 17.7% and 15.1% respectively.
Additionally, Hybe announced that its most lucrative concerts by its artists last year were BTS Suga’s concert tour, Seventeen’s “Follow” tour, Tomorrow X Together and Enhypen’s first North American stadium and Japanese dome tours, and girl-group Le Sserafim’s first world tour.
The figures bode well for Hybe, whose chairman Bang Si-Hyuk expressed strong interest in expanding the company’s acquisitions in the U.S. It has already acquired Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in a $1B deal that placed its artists alongside Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. HYBE also acquired Quality Control, the hip-hop powerhouse behind Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls and Migos.
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