Join the HYBE

 

Granted, we’ve had a lot to follow in music news as of late, but this one still bears looking into a little bit. First, it was announced late last year that Big Machine Label Group, home of Country Pop superstar Taylor Swift, was being acquired by Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. While that in itself may not sound like such a big deal, you may want to reconsider once you realize that Braun’s company also manages artists including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato. You might have heard of them before. While the deal only included Swift’s first 6 albums (she moved over to Republic with the release of 2019’s Lover), that was still a big enough win for Braun to celebrate, and for Swift to start re-recording earlier work so as not to have royalties fall into said businessman’s hands…

Second, Korea’s K-Pop juggernaut Big Hit Entertainment, home of global phenomenon BTS (among others), announced last month that they were now to be called HYBE Corporation. The name change matched the company’s desire to grow its profile towards a more global, lifestyle-driven approach, which the “Big hit” moniker didn’t quite convey, they thought. This evolution comes as BTS in particular and K-Pop in general is on the verge of effectively taking over world music, what some might call a fitting time to act and sound more “global”… Note: the Big Machine / Big Hit parallel in those two stories is pure coincidence. However, we assure you that there is a reason why we jumped from one to the other…

And the reason is this: a few days ago, we discovered that the newly renamed HYBE Corporation had acquired Ithaca Holdings, in a move so very characteristic of contemporary musical trends. What this means is, Scooter Braun is now an executive in a Korean company; Taylor Swift’s back catalogue is no longer US-owned; BTS’ home is now very much stepping onto North American territory. How beneficial will the deal be for all parties involved, we don’t yet know. But, judging by the way HYBE handles the exponential growth in K-Pop’s crossover profile, there is a definite chance you’ll hear more BTS in the US; and more Bieber in Asia; and more Korean-driven projects everywhere…