Next month, Big Hit Entertainment will begin its long-awaited initial public offering process. There has been plenty of excitement among investors and fans, as the label is home to global sensation BTS and boasts a valuation higher than the combined value of S.M. Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment, the country’s three major entertainment companies. Going public is not an easy step for a company to take, and difficult for many who don’t follow the stock market c

Ever since Big Hit Entertainment launched the BTS-inspired animated characters called TinyTAN about a month ago, the characters seem like they haven’t had a day of rest. With their looks, behaviors and good-hearted influence modeled after the septet, the characters were recently featured in an advertisement for the fabric softener product Downy. They also released a music video called “Magic Door,” where they sang and danced to “Mic Drop,” as well as launched an

As the pandemic continues to persist, K-pop artists are increasingly going online to meet and communicate with their fans. Most recently, boy band Seventeen hosted their fourth annual fan meeting “Seventeen in Carat Land” on Sunday via fan community platform Weverse. It was a tightly-packed four-hour show that offered a variety of entertainment, from stage performances of the band’s iconic songs to themed acts where members pretended they were newscasters or athletes compet

Global sensation BTS broke another record Tuesday by becoming the first South Korean act to land at No. 1 on Billboard’s main singles chart with its newest track, “Dynamite.”  Only one other Asian musician, Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto, has ever made it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, and that was back in 1963. Korean soloist Psy got close in 2012 with “Gangnam Style,” peaking at No. 2.  To celebrate the historic win, the septet hosted a surprise me

Global sensation BTS surprised fans Friday by releasing a digital single, “Dynamite,” ahead of its next album later this year.  The track is all in English -- something the band had never tried before in the seven years since its debut.  During an online media showcase, band leader RM explained that the unprecedented step had indeed presented a challenge for the band.  “We never released a song before the official album release or in English, and frankly, it w

Rookie girl group Rocket Punch had a very busy year. Since debuting August last year, the band already released three mini-albums.  The latest one titled “Blue Punch” was released Tuesday, three days before their first anniversary. Following “Pink Punch” and “Red Punch,” this album centers on the theme of summer and consists of six tracks with “Juicy” as the lead track.  “Our debut song ‘Bim Bam Bum’ was also an energe

S.M. Entertainment said Monday that it has secured 100 billion won (US$83.8 million) in funding from Naver. The new funding will be injected into two S.M. affiliates – SMEJ Plus and Mystic Story – and a separate fund solely dedicated to creating new video contents. As part of the renewed partnership, S.M. plans to unify its global fanclub service into “Fanship” on Naver’s K-pop platform V Live. Launched last year, Fanship is a membership-based paid service for b

“Meant to be” is a fitting phrase to describe Yukika’s journey as a K-pop artist. A Japanese singer who released her debut album, “Soul Lady,” in South Korea last week, Yukika took her first step into the entertainment industry in middle school as a model and actress in Japan. Upon entering university, she took a hiatus to focus on her studies. Three years later, she appeared on TV again, but this time in the Korean show “The Idolmaster KR,” and late

K-pop stocks are rapidly bouncing back from pandemic lows as investors are increasingly buying the stocks on the rosy outlook for further expansion of K-pop fandoms and new business models. The nation’s top three labels -- S.M. Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment -- are leading the upbeat mood, while excitement is also building up for Big Hit Entertainment’s planned stock debut possibly later this year. Their stocks suffered their worst fall in March when concert

The K-pop industry boasts record album sales this year in spite of canceled tours and stage performances. According to Gaon Chart, the nation’s top 400 albums sold 18.08 million copies in the first half of this year -- a 40 percent jump from last year’s 12.33 million and the highest figure since the chart started tallying album sales in 2010. Of the 400 albums tracked, the top 100 -- all from K-pop bands or soloists -- sold 16.89 million copies, making up more than 90 percent of

Monsta X on Tuesday announced the rescheduled dates of their North American tour, becoming one of the first K-pop acts to resume their postponed tour this year. According to the group’s label Starship Entertainment, the band will embark on their tour on April 20 next year beginning in the US capital of Washington, and wrap up on May 21 in Los Angeles. Minor changes have been made to the initial schedule. Three cities -- Minneapolis, Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia -- were drop

Since their debut in 2015, boy band Seventeen has shown strong and steady growth. And with their latest seventh EP “Heng:garae,” the act again set a new record -- the release sold over one million copies in its first week. This figure, while impressive on its own, is even more oustanding considering the unfavorable market conditions due to the ongoing pandemic. Let us celebrate the group’s remarkable feat with these top 30 tracks from the band over the past five years. 30

In a recent paper published by Harvard Business School, Big Hit Entertainment Chairman Bang Si-hyuk shared how global sensation BTS deviates from the typical K-pop idol system and has more autonomy than other K-pop bands. During his interview with the authors of “Big Hit Entertainment and Blockbuster Band BTS: K-Pop Goes Global,” Bang said the band’s contract renegotiations -- a period when many stories of conflict arise among K-pop artists -- took place without the interventi

Entertainment labels are no longer willing to tolerate broadcasters that release and sell unaired behind-the-scene clips or “fancams” of their artists without permission. The Korea Music Content Association, Korea Management Federation and Korea Entertainment Producers’ Association on Wednesday filed a petition to the nation’s Fair Trade Commission calling for a revision to the current unfair contract practices with TV stations. In Korea, pop artists appear in music sh

Seventeen released their seventh mini-album “Heng:garae,” with “Left & Right” as its lead track, on Monday. The record, featuring six tracks, comes about nine months after their third full album “An Ode.” While the previous album focused on the concept of fear, the new album carries a much more upbeat and optimistic theme. In fact, the first song is called “Fearless.” Speaking to the press during a livestreamed press showcase, the bandmates

LA-based songwriter Melanie Fontana and producer Michel “Lindgren” Schulz have long produced hit tracks for leading groups such as Girls’ Generation and f(x). With their recent work with Big Hit Entertainment’s beloved bands BTS and TXT, the couple is further cementing their presence in K-pop and becoming a formidable duo. Their history with the label started when Fontana wrote “Euphoria” with her friends DJ Swivel and Candace Sosa, without knowing it woul

Natty is a super rookie in the K-pop world who debuted only a month ago with the single “Nineteen.” Among fans of the genre, however, her name is not unfamiliar. Having been an idol trainee for six years, Natty was a contestant on a JYP Entertainment and Mnet girl group competition in 2015 called “Sixteen” that created Twice. She was also on Mnet’s “Idol School” in 2017. While not able to make the final cut in the groups then, causing her to doubt he

Genie Music, the music streaming platform owned by Korean telecom giant KT, said Wednesday it has recently signed a deal with Tencent Music to supply K-pop for streaming services in the Chinese market. Genie has distributed K-pop in over 50 countries through diverse global platforms, including Apple Music, Google Music and Spotify. The latest deal paves the way for it to enter the soaring Chinese music streaming market. “Investors have responded optimistically, and our stocks reached

Yubin may be having the busiest year of her career, establishing her label rrr Entertaiment in February and now putting out a new digital single “Me Time.” Its release date, May 21 (521), read backward is the date she left JYP Entertainment, January 25 (125), 13 years after debuting as a member of Wonder Girls. The track has already garnered a buzz for mentioning JYP in the lyrics: “I’m freaky freakin’ happy / I feel free / THX JYP but Free now.” “

Sujeong of girl group Lovelyz returned to the music scene but on her own. It is the first time she is going solo since debuting in 2014 as the lead vocalist of the eight-piece band. Her first solo EP “Tiger Eyes” released Wednesday is packed with seven songs of various genres, from the pop-based EDM title, also called “Tiger Eyes,” to an R&B “Call Back” and acoustics “Your Name” and “zz.” “My voice is husky but isn’t