HYBE to bring K-pop idol playbook to India, tapping local talent

India, a country of 1.4 billion people, will be HYBE Co.'s next stop to test its K-pop model by discovering and nurturing local talent under its Chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s “multi-home, multi-genre” strategy.

The K-pop powerhouse behind global sensation BTS has already introduced this approach in the US, Japan and Latin America, and it is beginning to bear fruit.

“With the aim to establish our subsidiary in India around September or October, we’re working through the steps for the launch,” said HYBE.

In 2023, South Korea’s largest entertainment company debuted KATSEYE, a Los Angeles-based girl group made up of six members from five countries.

Their digital single “Gnarly,” released in April, made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK’s Singles Chart Top 100. Bang has been directly involved in their music production, choreography and visual creativity.

KATSEYE was created through HYBE’s idol system, where a single music label oversees the whole process – from discovering and training rookies to producing their music, managing them and handling marketing and performance planning.

They are HYBE’s first output since entering the US market, the world’s largest music industry, following its acquisitions of US music labels, including Ithaca Holdings, the label behind Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, and hip-hop label QC Media Holdings backing Lil Baby and Migos, since 2021.

In 2021, the largest K-pop company launched a joint label with Geffen Records under Universal Music Group.

HYBE LATIN AMERICA

In Latin America, HYBE is searching for local talent through Pase a la Fama, a band audition show produced in collaboration with Mexico’s largest broadcaster Telemundo.

HYBE Latin America has been holding another audition to form a Latin boy band, applying K-pop training methods to Latin genres for the first time.

Participants in both audition programs will receive K-pop-style mentorship and training -- the first attempt to bring the K-pop nurturing system to the Latin music industry. In 2023, HYBE acquired Exile Music, a Latin music label.

“Chairman Bang’s philosophy is that K-pop should not simply be considered a music genre, but a methodology for creating super intellectual property by understanding and catering to the preferences of local fans," said a HYBE official.

HYBE JAPAN

In Japan, boy group &TEAM, formed by HYBE, has earned certifications for all of its albums from the Recording Industry Association of Japan – from Gold to Platinum – since debuting in December 2022.

YX Labels, a studio under HYBE Japan, recently launched Aoen, a seven-member Japanese boy band.

They were created through Nihon TV's audition show "Cheer-HIGH: Dream’s Start Line" between February and April and debuted at No. 1 on the Oricon chart in June.

Write to Yeonhee Kim at yhkim@hankyung.com