Tag: HYBE

  • K-pop band BTS’ agency employees accused of insider trading

    By AFP

    SEOUL: Three employees at HYBE, the agency behind K-pop megastars BTS, have been accused of insider trading by South Korea’s financial watchdog over share sales before the group’s bombshell “hiatus” announcement.

    In a YouTube video posted on June 14 last year, BTS’ band members told fans they were taking a break from the supergroup to focus on their solo careers, citing exhaustion and the pressures of their stratospheric success.

    The company’s share price fell nearly 25 per cent when the market opened the day after the announcement, wiping nearly 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) off its value.

    Three HYBE employees, whose identities have been withheld, had prior knowledge of the announcement and sold their shares before it was made public, pocketing hundreds of millions of won illegally, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement Wednesday.

    “We referred the three officials, one of whom is a team leader, to the prosecution with the opinion that they should be indicted,” the watchdog said.

    The watchdog also criticised HYBE for making the market-moving announcement in a YouTube video rather than an official statement or regulatory filing, which they said had “aggravated investors’ confusion”.

    Entertainment agencies should have a system where important information for investors is made public “transparently and through a right channel”, it said.

    While BTS cited exhaustion as a reason for its decision to suspend group activity, many analysts said the hiatus was strategic, with South Korea’s mandatory 18-month military service looming for individual band members.

    All South Korean able-bodied men under the age of 30 must perform around two years of military service, mainly because the country remains technically at war with nuclear-armed North Korea.

    Two of the celebrity septet’s members, Jin and J-Hope, enlisted in the army in December 2022 and April this year respectively, with the remaining five expected to follow in the years — or months — ahead.

    HYBE did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

    SEOUL: Three employees at HYBE, the agency behind K-pop megastars BTS, have been accused of insider trading by South Korea’s financial watchdog over share sales before the group’s bombshell “hiatus” announcement.

    In a YouTube video posted on June 14 last year, BTS’ band members told fans they were taking a break from the supergroup to focus on their solo careers, citing exhaustion and the pressures of their stratospheric success.

    The company’s share price fell nearly 25 per cent when the market opened the day after the announcement, wiping nearly 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) off its value.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    Three HYBE employees, whose identities have been withheld, had prior knowledge of the announcement and sold their shares before it was made public, pocketing hundreds of millions of won illegally, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement Wednesday.

    “We referred the three officials, one of whom is a team leader, to the prosecution with the opinion that they should be indicted,” the watchdog said.

    The watchdog also criticised HYBE for making the market-moving announcement in a YouTube video rather than an official statement or regulatory filing, which they said had “aggravated investors’ confusion”.

    Entertainment agencies should have a system where important information for investors is made public “transparently and through a right channel”, it said.

    While BTS cited exhaustion as a reason for its decision to suspend group activity, many analysts said the hiatus was strategic, with South Korea’s mandatory 18-month military service looming for individual band members.

    All South Korean able-bodied men under the age of 30 must perform around two years of military service, mainly because the country remains technically at war with nuclear-armed North Korea.

    Two of the celebrity septet’s members, Jin and J-Hope, enlisted in the army in December 2022 and April this year respectively, with the remaining five expected to follow in the years — or months — ahead.

    HYBE did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

  • Disney+ in deal with HYBE, BTS ropes two exclusive projects with streamer

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: South Korean entertainment company HYBE and the streaming platform Disney+ have entered into an agreement, which includes the global distribution of two exclusive programmes featuring K-pop superstars BTS.

    The long-term collaboration will see both companies working together “to showcase creative excellence from South Korea’s music and entertainment industry to the world stage”, a press release stated.

    Disney+ will have the rights to stream five major content titles from BTS studio HYBE, some of them are the concert film “BTS: Permission To Dance On Stage – LA”, original docuseries “BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star”, and previously announced “In The Soop: Friendcation”, an original travel reality show, which stars V of BTS among other stars of the Korean entertainment sector.

    Jessica Kam-Engle, APAC Head of Content, The Walt Disney Company, said the studio is “thrilled” to be collaborating with HYBE to showcase their original content created with powerful artist IP on their global streaming services including Disney+.

    “This collaboration represents our creative ambition to work with iconic content creators and top stars in Asia Pacific so their talent can be enjoyed by mainstream audiences in multiple ways. We believe these new titles will captivate consumers worldwide and look forward to introducing more music content on our service,” Kam-Engle said in a statement.

    Park Ji-won, CEO of HYBE, said they are looking forward to this multi-year content deal with Disney.

    “This will be the start of a long-term collaboration, where we present worldwide audiences a wide range of HYBE content for fans who love our music and artists. The Walt Disney Company has a long history of franchise-building and promoting musical artists, with its unparalleled brands and platforms,” added Park.

    According to the streamer, the collaboration will allow Disney to introduce a series of new titles from HYBE over the next few years, as the entertainment platform continues to produce high-quality content based on its music and artists IPs.

    “BTS: Permission To Dance On Stage – LA” is an exclusive cinematic 4K concert film which will offer subscribers a peek into BTS’ live performance in Los Angeles’ Sofi Stadium in November 2021.

    Performing Billboard hit songs “Butter” and “Permission to Dance”, this was the first time in two years since the pandemic that the band met fans in person.

    BTS, comprising RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, released their anthology album ‘Proof’ on June 10 and days later said they will be taking a break as a group to focus on solo activities.

    “BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star”, an original docuseries, will follow the incredible journey of BTS, who enjoyed a massive fan following across the world. It will be available exclusively on Disney’s streaming services next year.

    “With unprecedented access to a vast library of music and footage over the past nine years, the series will feature the daily lives, thoughts and plans of BTS members, as they prepare for their second chapter,” read the synopsis of the show.

    “In The Soop: Friendcation”, an original travel reality show with a star-studded cast of V, “Itaewon Class” star Park Seo-jun, “Parasite” star Choi Woo-shik, “Strong Girl Bong-soon” star Park Hyung-sik, and rapper Peakboy.

    The programme, which will stream from July 22, features the five friends venturing on a surprise trip and enjoying a variety of leisure and fun activities.

  • BTS ‘hiatus’ spurs 28 per cent drop in HYBE stock, company says word was mistranslated

    By IANS

    SEOUL: Korean music company HYBE, which represents K-pop superband BTS, lost $1.7 billion of market value within the first hour of stock trading on Wednesday (June 15) following the band’s hiatus announcement.

    On Tuesday, June 14, the seven group members announced that they are going on a hiatus — via a translator — to pursue solo work, which almost instantaneously knocked HYBE shares in South Korean trade down by nearly 28 per cent, reports ‘Variety’.

    HYBE shares had fallen by just about 25,000 won on Wednesday morning and continued to drop throughout the day, wiping out $1.7 billion of market capitalisation.

    Within the first hour of trading, the shares surged slightly from their starting point of 140,000 won to 145,500 won. The company is currently headed for its lowest close since it went public in 2020.

    However, on Wednesday HYBE released a statement backpedaling on the use of the word “hiatus.” The group had spoken in Korean in their video announcement and the word “hiatus” was used in English subtitles. “BTS are not taking a hiatus. Members will be focusing more on solo projects at this time,” the statement said.

    ALSO READ | K-pop megastars BTS on ‘hiatus’, here’s all we know

    Additionally, BTS’ Jung Kook went live on the V Live app and clarified the misunderstandings further saying via a translator that the band would be working on solo projects, but that doesn’t mean that they will stop working as a team. He also reiterated that BTS are not disbanding — as they insisted during the announcement — just taking a new direction in planning, as they will continue shooting their “Run BTS” web series on the V Live app.

    The clarification came shortly after Jung Kook dropped a solo single dedicated to the group’s fan ‘Army’ called ‘My You’, reports ‘Variety’.

    In the nine years since their debut, BTS made up 27 per cent of HYBE’s US album sales and streams, additionally making up nearly all of the company’s touring income. According to HYBE’s 2021 fourth-quarter earnings report, BTS drove a 980.5 per cent (yoy) increase in concert sales, earning the company approximately 49.7 billion won ($42,000,000). The majority of those earnings came from BTS’ ‘Permission to Dance’ concerts in Los Angeles.

    In 2021, HYBE acquired Ithaca Holdings from Scooter Braun which expanded the company from its BTS-driven revenue and took up 45 per cent of the South Korean company’s US album sales.

    BTS also recently released their 35-track anthology album ‘Proof’ (Big Hit/Geffen) which is now projected to debut with the year’s second-biggest sales of the year, following Harry Styles’ ‘Harry’s House’.