Big Hit Shin Young-jae and Source Music So Seong-jin selected as 2023 Billboard Indie Power Players

Shin Young-jae, CEO of Big Hit Music, a label under Hive, and So Seong-jin, Master Professional of Source Music, were selected as Billboard's 2023 Indie Power Players. Billboard Indie Power Players is a list that selects leaders of labels and distributors who have achieved independent achievements in the global music market.

The selection of CEO Shin Young-jae and Master Professional So Sung-jin is the result of paying attention to the successful moves of Big Hit Music and Source Music in the global music market. In particular, in the case of CEO Shin Young-jae, he received the honor of being selected for three consecutive years following 2021 and 2022.

Billboard announced this list on the 12th (local time), highlighting the major achievements of labels led by CEO Shin Young-jae and master professional So Seong-jin and their influence in the global market as indie labels account for 36.9% of total album consumption in the United States. did.

CEO Shin Young-jae supports the successful global activities of his artists, BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. In addition to successfully holding performances in Las Vegas and Busan last year, BTS introduced the new THE CITY project, which provided a special fan experience with various contents and events based on performances and artist IP. It fully supports the solo activities of BTS members and contributes to maintaining their overwhelming presence. Big Hit Music will release the digital single 'Take Two' for BTS and their fans, who celebrated their 10th anniversary this year, and will hold '2023 BTS FESTA', including various contents and events, at major landmarks in Seoul until the 25th.

TXT is strengthening their global influence by staying on the Billboard 200 for 18 weeks with their 5th mini album 'The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION' and breaking the record for the longest period of charting by a 4th-generation K-pop artist. TOMORROW X TOGETHER is the first K-pop male artist to chart on the Billboard 200 for 18 consecutive weeks with a single album since BTS. TOMORROW X TOGETHER successfully completed their first global tour last year, and achieved the feat of entering a stadium-level venue for the first time through their North American tour last month.

In addition, Big Hit Music has recently made a new attempt to expand the musical experience of artists, fans, and the public by presenting the MIDNATT launch project, an artist that combines new technologies with voice and video.

So Seong-jin, Master Professional of Source Music, led the successful debut of LE SSERAFIM, who has risen to the top of the 4th generation representative girl group. Le Seraphim's 1st regular album 'UNFORGIVEN' surpassed 1.25 million copies in the first week of Hanteo Chart (record sales in a week from the release date), becoming the first-week first-aid seller in the shortest period since debut among all K-pop girl groups. They charted on the 'Billboard 200' for 4 consecutive weeks, breaking a new record, the longest charting period on the 'Billboard 200' among 4th generation K-pop girl groups, and this year, a foreign female artist is the first foreign female artist to win 3 crowns in Japan's Oricon's weekly rankings. It is showing explosive growth not only in Korea but also on global charts.

In addition, Source Music pioneered its own realm of 'Le Seraphim' with Le Seraphim's powerful performance and sophisticated branding, and is continuing various IP businesses. As part of this, a total of 16,000 people visited Le Seraphim's first independent pop-up store, 'LE SSERAFIM 2023 S/S POP UP', which opened in April. Through the pop-up store, Le Seraphim provided an opportunity to experience music and visual contents in a variety of ways by presenting exhibitions, official products, special drinks and dessert menus that projected the musical message and team identity. In particular, by reflecting the identity of the artist in fashion items, it showed the possibility of expanding into a lifestyle brand using the artist brand.

'2023 Billboard Indie Power Players' can be found on the Billboard website.

Reporter Yoon Jun-ho, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr