Hybe Labels is accelerating its global music market strategy, propelling both boy and girl groups to the top of the US Billboard main chart.
According to Billboard in the US, NewJeans' second mini-album 'Get Up' has topped the 'Billboard 200' (as of August 5). The album's triple title tracks 'Super Shy' (48th), 'ETA' (81st), and 'Cool with You' (93rd) have simultaneously entered the 'Hot 100'. NewJeans is the first K-pop girl group to place three songs on the 'Hot 100' at once.
But NewJeans isn't the only Hybe Labels artist to recently top the Billboard charts. BTS member Jungkook immediately topped the 'Hot 100' last week with his solo song 'Seven', and maintained his place in the 'Top 10' this week, ranking 9th.
Hybe Labels' Billboard domination is being evaluated as entering a new dimension in both quantity and quality. While various K-pop artists have made their mark on the Billboard charts, it has mostly been a 1-2 team affair from each agency's flagship artists. In contrast, Hybe Labels has several artists like BTS, SEVENTEEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ENHYPEN, Le Sserafim, and NewJeans, all of whom have achieved overwhelming results on the Billboard main charts.
BTS, under Big Hit Music, opened the doors to Billboard domination. BTS has placed a total of six albums at No. 1 on the 'Billboard 200' since 2018's 'Love Yourself: Tear'. Among these, an impressive eight songs, including six group songs featuring 'Dynamite', as well as Jimin's solo 'Like Crazy' and Jungkook's 'Seven', have topped the 'Hot 100'.
Big Hit Music's junior group TOMORROW X TOGETHER was the next to take the baton from BTS. They achieved their first 'Billboard 200' No. 1 just 3 years and 11 months after their debut with their fifth mini-album 'Name of Game: Temptation' released in February this year, leapfrogging them into global stardom.
Pledis Entertainment's SEVENTEEN reached No. 2 on the 'Billboard 200' with their tenth mini-album 'FML' released in April this year. Belift Lab's ENHYPEN reached No. 4 with their fourth mini-album 'Dark Blood'. Source Music's Le Sserafim set their highest team ranking of No. 6 with their first full album 'Unforgiven'.
SEVENTEEN's tenth mini-album 'FML' has been rewriting K-pop history with accumulated sales recently surpassing 6.2 million copies. ENHYPEN and Le Sserafim have maintained their names on the Billboard main charts for eight weeks ('Billboard 200') and thirteen weeks ('Global 200', 'Global Excluding US') respectively.
The success of the Hybe artists can be attributed to the successful implementation of the multi-label strategy. Hybe guarantees the autonomy of each label (Big Hit Music, Belift Lab, Source Music, Pledis Entertainment, KOZ Entertainment, Adore) in their creativity, ensuring a constant stream of high-quality music and diverse content.
Hybe is realizing globalization under the vision of 'borderless expansion', securing business bases in Korea, the US, and Japan. Notably, Hybe America owns the Scooter Braun Projects, managing major pop stars like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, The Kid LAROI, Big Machine Label Group with country music artists Aaron Lewis, Avenue Beat, Brantley Gilbert, and hip-hop label QC Music with artists like Migos, Lil Baby, and Lil Yachty. These are all providing stepping stones for the mainstream pop market.
If the virtuous cycle of Super IP creation, fueled by Hybe's multi-label strategy, continues, K-pop's influence on the global music market is expected to become even more solid.
