Big Hit Entertainment

Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd. (Korean: 빅히트 엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean entertainment company established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. It currently manages soloist Lee Hyun, and idol groups BTS and TXT—it is also formerly home to acts such as soloist Lim Jeong-hee, and groups 8Eight, 2AM, and GLAM. The company has multiple subsidiaries, including Source Music, Pledis Entertainment,[5] Belift Lab and KOZ Entertainment,[6] collectively known as Big Hit Labels.

Big Hit Entertainment
Native name
빅히트 엔터테인먼트
Big hiteu enteoteinmeonteu
TypePublic
KRX: 352820
IndustryEntertainment
Genre
FoundedFebruary 1, 2005 (2005-02-01)
FounderBang Si-hyuk
Headquarters
Seoul Gangnam-gu, 5 30-gil, Hakdong-ro, Floor Yangjin Plaza 5F
,
South Korea
Key people
  • Bang Si-hyuk (Chairman, CEO)
  • Lenzo Yoon (CEO, Global & Business)
  • Jiwon Park (CEO, HQ & Management)
Services
  • Music Production, Publishing, New Artist Development, Artist Management
  • 360° Business, IP, Platform & Education Business
Revenue
  • KRW 587.2 billion (2019)
[1]
  • US $82.4 million (2019)
[2]
Owner [3]
Number of employees
Approx. 950 (As of October 2020)[4]
Subsidiariessee #Subsidiaries
Websitewww.bighitcorp.com

History

Big Hit Entertainment was founded on February 1, 2005,[7] and signed the vocal trio 8Eight in 2007.[8] In 2010, the company signed a joint management contract with JYP Entertainment over the boy group 2AM.[9] That year, Bang Si-hyuk signed RM as the first member of BTS and launched nationwide auditions to recruit the other members of the group.[10] BTS made their debut under Big Hit on June 13, 2013.[11]

In 2012, the company signed Lim Jeong-hee,[12] and formed the girl group GLAM as a collaboration with Source Music.[13] The group was active until 2014 when it was disbanded due to a controversy involving one its members Kim Da-hee—Kim was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of blackmailing actor Lee Byung-hun.[14][15][16]

Following the end of the joint contract between Big Hit and JYP in April 2014, three members of 2AM returned to JYP, while Lee Chang-min remained with Big Hit in order to continue with his solo career and as part of the duo Homme.[9] The year also saw the disbandment of 8Eight after Baek Chan and Joo Hee's contracts with Big Hit ended.[8]

In May 2015, Lim Jeong-hee parted ways with the agency, following the expiration of her three-year contract,[12] and Signal Entertainment Group, a KOSDAQ-listed company specializing in artist management and television production, acquired Big Hit through a KR₩6 billion convertible bond.[17] In early 2016, Big Hit ended their stake relationship with Signal and made a full settlement of the bonds.[18][19]

In February 2018, Homme disbanded after member Changmin's contract came to an end. He left the company to start his own agency, while Lee Hyun continued on as a solo artist.[20] In August, Big Hit and CJ E&M released information stating plans to create a joint company. Filed under the name Belift, the company would reportedly be split 52% to the latter and 48% to the former,[21] and debut a boy group in 2020.[22] In October, BTS renewed and extended their contract with the agency for seven more years.[23] Big Hit was voted best investment company of the year at the 2018 Korea VC Awards in December.[24]

In March 2019, Big Hit debuted its second male group, Tomorrow X Together (TXT).[25] Former CBO Lenzo Yoon was also appointed co-CEO with Bang Si-hyuk that month,[26] Yoon would focus on the business components of the company while Bang's focus would be on creative production.[27] In July 2019, the agency acquired Source Music,[28] and in August, the video game firm Superb.[29] Thanks to the apps Weverse and Weverse Shop (formerly known as Weply prior to March 9, 2020) developed by its subsidiary benX,[30] Big Hit was chosen as the fourth most innovative company of 2020 worldwide by Fast Company.[31]

In May 2020, Big Hit became the majority shareholder of Pledis Entertainment. The company announced that the record label would retain its independence, but its artists (which include boy bands NU'EST and Seventeen) would be more widely promoted outside of South Korea.[32] The Fair Trade Commission (hereafter KFTC) officially approved Big Hit's acquisition of Pledis in October.[33] The following month, Big Hit announced that it had acquired KOZ Entertainment, a record label founded by rapper Zico.[34]

On January 27, 2021, Naver Corporation invested 354.8B KRW (~321M USD) to Big Hit's subsidiary, beNX Inc. The corporation will be transferring its video streaming service, V Live to beNX Inc., which also manages the social media platform, Weverse. The subsidiary will be renamed into the Weverse Company Inc.[35]

Company value and investments

Big Hit Entertainment initially operated as a private company with Bang Si-hyuk as the largest shareholder of its stock.[4] In March 2017, the Korean mobile gaming company Netmarble acquired the second largest percentage of the company, paying a reported 201.4B KRW (191.8M USD) for 25.71%.[36] The CEO of Netmarble, Bang Joon-hyuk, and Bang Si-hyuk are cousins.[37] In October 2018, private investment firm STIC Investments received an undisclosed share of Big Hit Entertainment for an investment of roughly 104B KRW (~93M USD).[38]

In 2007, Big Hit had four employees and was near bankruptcy, but Bang was able to keep the company afloat after the local success of 8Eight's Without a Heart in 2009.[39] The company's value rose over the years thanks to the global popularity of its first boy group BTS.[40] In March 2018, Big Hit publicized its earnings for the first time, reporting revenue at 92.4B KRW (~82M USD)[41] and operating profit of 32.5B KRW (~29M USD) in 2017.[42] Sales in 2018 experienced a 132% increase compared to 2017, with the company making approximately 214.2B KRW (~189.38M USD). They had a 97% percent increase in operating profit for the year making 64.1B KRW (~56.72M USD) and a 105% percent increase in net profit making 50.2B KRW (~44.41M USD).[43]

Big Hit's success has been attributed to its innovative management style, more like an IT company than an entertainment company, which has become the new standard in the K-pop industry; it includes a wide usage of social media to capture people's interest and transform it into sales, the creation of artist-related multimedia contents, and the full use of fandom energy.[44][45]

The company was initially estimated to reach a value of up to 700B KRW (~624M USD) if entered into an IPO in March 2018, making CEO Bang the richest in the South Korean entertainment business due to his large shareholding position, and leaving him with personal ownership value of roughly 350B KRW (~314M USD).[46] In October 2018, Big Hit was valued at more than 1T KRW,[42] and in 2019 between 1.28 and 2.22T KRW.[47] As of March 2020, the total value of the company was roughly 6T KRW (~5B USD).[48]

Big Hit commenced plans to go public on May 21, 2020, and applied for a pre-IPO consultation with the Korea Exchange. This is required under South Korean law before a company can file paperwork for an IPO.[49] One week later, the company filed for a preliminary review of their planned IPO.[50] On October 15, 2020, Big Hit was listed in the KOSPI index and began trading stocks.[51][52]

On January 27, 2021, Big Hit Entertainment and beNX invested 70B KRW (~63M USD) in YG Plus, the media and advertisement company under YG Entertainment.[53]

Subsidiaries
  • Big Hit Entertainment Japan Inc.
  • Big Hit Entertainment America Inc.
  • beNX Japan Inc.
  • beNX America Inc.
  • Bnx Co., Ltd.
  • Superb Co., Ltd.
  • Big Hit Three Sixty Co., Ltd.
  • Big Hit IP Co., Ltd.
  • TNDJ Inc.
  • Borijin Co., Ltd.
  • Big Hit Labels[lower-alpha 1]

Philanthropy

In 2017, it was revealed that Big Hit Entertainment donated ₩30 million (roughly US$25,000) to the 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and A Safer Society, an organization connected to the families of the 2014 Sewol Ferry Disaster.[55]

In 2020, Big Hit, together with BTS, donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter, during the George Floyd protests,[56] and another $1 million to Live Nation's Crew Nation campaign to help support live music personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic.[57]

Artists

Former artists

Discography
Main article: Big Hit Entertainment discography

Concerts
Date Title Venue Attendance Ref.
December 31, 2020 2021 NEW YEAR'S EVE LIVE presented by Weverse Weverse (online) TBA [64][65]

Notes
  1. Entertainment companies, music production companies or labels owned by Big Hit Entertainment partially or largely that still operate independently.

References
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