SM, YG, JYP, and Big Hit Entertainment are large entertainment agencies that lead the Korean pop culture world and infuse the Korean Wave around the world. These four places are often referred to as the “Big Four” in the entertainment industry. Big Hit Entertainment has been smaller than FNC Entertainment, which includes “FT Island” and “AOA,” but has now become the most lucrative entertainment agency as “BTS” has become a global hit.For about 10 years, it has been leading the popularity of Korean culture in Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and now North America, Central and South America, and Europe.There are Wonder Girls, TWICE (JYP) and BTS (BIG HIT),Big Bang, BLACKPINK (YG), and Super Junior, EXO (SM)

The main business structure of entertainment agencies is to manage singers and actors, produce and distribute new content, hold concerts, and make and sell related goods. For this reason, entertainment agencies have no choice but to focus on their entertainers. However, many ordinary people dream of joining entertainment agencies while dreaming of “coincidence.”As of the third quarter of last year, SM, JYP, and Big Hit saw significant improvements in sales and operating profit. SM Entertainment’s sales in the third quarter of last year were 403.7 billion won (consolidated) and operating profit was 30 million dollars. Operating profit increased 4.5 times from the same period last year. JYP also did well last year. As of the third quarter of last year, sales were $80 million and operating profit was $18 million. Operating profit increased 59% from the same period last year.

Big Hit Entertainment’s sales are expected to reach $20 million last year as BTS became a global hit. On the other hand, YG was directly hit by sales as its main artists, Big Bang members, joined the army. Sales in the third quarter of last year fell 20% year-on-year to only $20 million. Operating profit also fell by a third. The operating profit of the four major entertainment agencies is expected to improve significantly this year and next year. Stock industry sources estimate the operating profit of the four major entertainment agencies this year in the same order as last year’s Big Hit >SM >JYP >YG. Big Hit succeeded in extending its seven-year contract with BTS last year, and its performance is expected to improve further as it will introduce a new boy group this year. Eugene Investment & Securities estimated Big Hit Entertainment’s sales of $25 million and operating profit of $10 million this year. This is nine times the operating profit of three years ago.

Stock industry sources estimate that SM Entertainment’s sales this year are $70 million and operating profit. The figure is about 100 billion won more in sales and 15 billion won in operating profit than last year. This is because artists such as EXO, SHINee, and Red Velvet still form large fandom, and sales of overseas music and video platforms are increasing significantly. The same goes for JYP. Girl group TWICE has become a popular female group in Japan, and the five-member new girl group is expected to debut in February this year, which is expected to increase profits.

YG, which was hit by the absence of Big Bang last year, is expected to see its sales and operating profit improve as BLACKPINK gained popularityYou can see the number of people and the resignation rate of the four major agencies in detail. SM is the largest of the four major agencies. SM has a total of 431 employees. Considering that the average number of people in the same industry is 37, it is huge. The second largest is YG (360 employees). JYP is the third with 215 employees, and Big Hit is the smallest with 138 employees. YG has the highest resignation rate last year. 138 people (38% of the total) of YG Entertainment resigned within a year. It is analyzed that the sharp ‘drop in sales over the past year has also affected the resignation rate.

SM had the second highest resignation rate. During the year, 126 employees, or 29% of the total, left the company, and 166 employees (39% of the total) newly joined the company. A netizen who said he was an employee of SM said on a credit magazine bulletin board, “You have to work hard enough to put your soul into it to enter the company only by looking at it.” Thirty-eight people, or 18 percent of the total, left JYP for one year, while Big Hit had a 17 percent (24 employees) for one year. A netizen, a JYP employee, wrote on the credit magazine board, “Take a look at yourself first, those who have placed their positions in time to emphasize personality to trainees and artists.”The welfare of the four major entertainment agencies is far better than that of other entertainment agencies. YG will scout four famous hotel chefs to provide various home-cooked meals such as Korean food, Western food, and snacks for free. YG also creates a “pop-up day” every quarter to support cultural life such as bowling and watching movies among employees. It also provides telecommunication and self-development costs and supports housing lease and monthly rent loans.

JYP also cares a lot about welfare. In September last year, JYP’s head Park Jin-young wrote on his social media, “If we have achieved plans to secure an eco-friendly office where no toxins come out, organic food-oriented organic restaurants, and space for employees to rest and eat, we will do our best to improve welfare.”SM supports all employees to receive medical checkups worth 300,000 won at 11 hospitals, and provides long-term employees with vacation fees and resort accommodation rights. On the company’s important anniversary, all employees, including celebrities, go to workshops abroad. Big Hit is also creating a free company atmosphere by implementing an autonomous commuting system and all employees calling each other “nim” without positions. There is a 100% paid maternity leave for up to 180 days, and Culture Day is held every month to enjoy cultural life. We also set up a game zone with a game PC and a playstation in-house

EJ Song

ASIA JOURNAL

For the first time in the duty-free industry, Shilla Duty Free (Samsung’s hotel distributor) will showcase a special space for ARMY (the official fan club name of BTS).

Shilla Duty Free was the venue for the Korean president’s hobby dinner and is also famous as a hotel for distinguished guests at home and abroad.It was announced on the 9th that it opened BTS’s official product store “SPACE OF BTS” at the Seoul branch located in Jangchung-dong, Seoul on the 8th. This store is a permanent store, not a temporary store, and will be opened for the first time in the duty-free industry and alone.

At SPACE OF BTS, you can see a total of 330 kinds of official BTS-related products, including clothes, bags, and stationery. There are products under the theme of “Basic” consisting of fashion products such as sweatshirts, T-shirts, and cardigans, as well as products under the theme of BTS’s flagship songs “DNA,” “Boy With Luv,” and “ON.” In addition to fashion products, stationery such as pens and stickers, and household goods such as indoor shoes, desk mirrors, and mugs can be purchased. In addition to this, more products will be stocked in the future.

In commemoration of the opening of the SPACE OF BTS store, an event will be held to present ‘ON Bandana’ to customers who purchase it. Shilla Duty Free will randomly present one of the three types of ON bandanas to customers who purchase products at SPACE OF BTS stores on a first-come, first-served basis. It will proceed until the inventory is exhausted with a limited quantity of 3,000 pieces.

“If overseas travel is activated, we expect to receive great attention from BTS fans around the world,” he said. The popularity of BTS, a popular star all over the world, is well known.

KilSung.CHOI

ASIA JOURNAL

2022 has proven to be quite the busy year for many K-pop acts. Just within the past two months, groups such as Ateez and Twice have concluded their successful tours in the U.S.; recently, it has been announced that BTS would return to the U.S. as a continuation of their “Permission to Dance On Stage” concerts – this time in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The members of BTS will be putting on 4 sold out shows during April 8th, 9th, 15th, and 16th at Allegiant Stadium. All tickets were claimed during the presale exclusive to those who purchased a fan club membership, leaving none available for the general public sale scheduled to happen days after two days of presales.

All tickets may have been released due to previous complaints made against Ticketmaster for the lack of tickets reserved specifically for Army members. Prior to the presale release, Ticketmaster issued a statement via Twitter: ​​“Due to overwhelming demand during today’s @BTS_BigHit BTS GLOBAL OFFICIAL FANCLUB ARMY MEMBERSHIP Presale, all tickets for the @AllegiantStadm shows have been purchased. All shows are now sold out. There will not be a General Verified Fan Presale or General Public Onsale.”

The last stretch of concerts took place at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles late last year, which has garnered a huge response due to this being their first in-person set of performances since the pandemic began. Even their fanbase, Army, have exhibited their excitement about seeing their favorite artist again this time around through various social media outlets by sharing their potential concert outfits online and speculating the possibility of a greater world tour.

However, taking place before their concerts are the much-awaited 2022 Grammy Awards, where BTS have been nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance with their hit single “Butter.” While it hasn’t been officially confirmed that the group will be in attendance, many fans are starting to believe that it’s in the cards. According to members RM and Jungkook back in December 2021, they originally had plans to go to the Grammys; due to a surge in COVID cases, the ceremony was postponed, and their plans fell through. Their management company, HYBE, stated to Korean news outlet Newsen, “We were preparing to attend the Grammys but stopped discussing plans after hearing about the postponement of the ceremony.”

The Grammys are expected to take place in Las Vegas on April 3rd, days before their first concert in the same city. Army’s are anticipating that BTS would take home their first-ever award, especially after they didn’t manage to snag a trophy last year.

Meanwhile, BTS is preparing to perform their Seoul leg of the tour on March 10th, 11th, and 12th. Due to COVID regulations in South Korea, they are minimizing capacity and only allowing 15,000 concertgoers to attend in person. Fans will also be prohibited from chanting, yelling, and standing up during the performances; they will only be permitted to use clappers to express their enthusiasm.

Nevertheless, fans from both Korea and America are ecstatic about what’s to come in the following weeks.

Sam Kim

Asia Journal

On the evening of November 21, BTS made an appearance at the 2021 American Music Awards, greeting their fans in-person for the first time in nearly two years. Participating in a star-studded lineup of American artists, members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook joined Coldplay for a captivating performance of “My Universe” and ended the night with their chart-topping single “Butter.”

Throughout the show, the group collectively accepted several awards much to the enjoyment of their fans from across the globe. BTS took home the Favorite Pop Duo or Group, Favorite Pop Song, and Artist of the Year awards. Leader of the group, RM, stated in his acceptance speech, “It took four years to be on this stage to get this trophy. Thank you so much. It means to us even more because we’re a small boy band from Korea.”

Just a few days after the AMAs, the Grammys announced their nominations for various music-related categories. Fans were eagerly waiting for BTS’s much-anticipated nomination due to the booming success of their English tracks “Butter” and “Permission to Dance” within the past year. Finally, their nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance was revealed. The group had previously received a nomination for the same category in the previous year but did not take home the Grammy for 2021.

The 2022 Grammys will take place on January 31, where their fanbase Army may finally be able to see their favorite artists receive their first ever Grammy award.

BTS is continuing to ride their increasing wave of popularity as they are being recognized more and more by American audiences. On December 2, the K-Pop group closed off their “Permission to Dance: On-Stage” concerts in Los Angeles with a powerful setlist that includes their newer smash singles and their hits from older eras. Throughout the four shows, they were joined by surprise guests Megan thee Stallion for “Butter” and Coldplay for “My Universe.”

The group has most recently announced a “Permission to Dance: On-Stage” concert in Seoul, set to take place in March 2022.

Julie Kim

Asia Journal

“People pay attention only to the fact that we have communicated well with our fans on social media. But more important is that since we’re singers the quality of our music and performance should be unconditionally good,” RM, leader of the group, said during a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency in Seoul.

BTS (GQ)

“On top of this, there were our true heart and messages that we wanted to show and tell, and the frequency of our communication (with fans),” he said, adding that Bang Si-hyuk, chief executive officer and producer of the group’s agency Big Hit Entertainment, gave full support to whatever the group did.

Bang has always encouraged the members to think deeply about what they want to tell through their songs, member Suga recalled.

“I think we started from thoughts such as, ‘Preferences should be respected’ and ‘Why is there nobody who talks about school and the society?’ at that time. The most regrettable thing is when people analyze us and say we achieved our success solely based on our SNS (social networking service) prowess,” he said.

Last year, the band broke into the top tiers of both the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 charts with its new album “Love Yourself:Her” and a remix of “MIC Drop,” the single originally included on the album. It performed at the American Music Awards and even appeared on three major US TV shows, including “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

With over 12 million followers on Twitter, BTS is the most-followed Korean account on the platform, and the group was the most tweeted-about artist in 2017.

“Looking back, it was a year of many accomplishments and I feel proud of myself for this. Behind all the accomplishments were our fans who cheered us up so enthusiastically,” said member J-hope.

“Whether it were awards ceremonies or NBC’s ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show,’ I was never nervous. That’s because I believe in our fans. In those moments, I felt I made the right choice to pursue a singing career,” Jungkook said.

RM recounted the moments when the single landed at 28th on the Billboard Hot 100.

“I was shocked to see our team name in the Hot 100 chart,” he said. “In the United States, a song that breaks into the top 40 is considered a nationwide hit, you know. The fact that we were in the top 30 was just unbelievable.”

Suga said the band’s performance at the AMAs was the most memorable of all.

“I grew up watching the awards show on the Internet since it was not available on TV. I felt so proud to be on the show and couldn’t believe we performed on stage just prior to Diana Ross, who received the lifetime achievement award.”

Member V said one of the most frequently asked questions when they appeared on the American TV show was about the group’s enthusiastic fans.

“The most memorable were questions like ‘Why are your fans so passionate?’ and ‘How did you get such a nice group of fans?’” he said. When asked how he responded, he said, giggling, “RM kept answering questions because he speaks English well.”

“Originally, performing briefly on stage was the only thing that we were supposed to do on the three talk shows,” RM said.

But after watching the BTS fans loudly singing along with the band’s songs and screaming, the production teams added programs in which the band members interacted with the emcees, both talking and playing a game on the spot.

“That’s the power of our fans,” he said, proudly.

(Yonhap)

It capped off an impressive run for the K-pop juggernaut, which had already taken home the grand prize at the Golden Disc Awards earlier this month, along with artist of the year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards and song of the year at the Melon Music Awards in December.

“We started off small — the seven of us — because we liked music and we admired those on stage, and that led us here,” the band’s leader RM said after receiving the award, thanking BTS’ official fan club Army.

IU took the record of the year award with “Palette,” and Yoon Jong-shin’s “Like It” took song of the year. The best new artist award went to Wanna One, Chungha and Pristine, while EXO took home a Hallyu special award.

The Bonsang award — which recognizes top K-pop artists of the last year — went to BTS, EXO, Twice, Red Velvet, GOT7, BtoB, Black Pink, Nu’est W, Bolbbalgan4, Seventeen, Wanna One and Super Junior.

By Yoon Min-sik