HYBE Expands Global Reach with New India Subsidiary and Success in Major Music Markets

HYBE is set to establish a subsidiary in India later this year.

The company announced, "We are conducting market research and practical work for the establishment of a subsidiary, aiming for a launch around September to October."

The decision to establish an Indian subsidiary is driven by Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's vision to export K-pop methodologies to the vast market of 1.4 billion people. Chairman Bang is personally overseeing the 'Multi-home, Multi-genre' strategy, which aims to secure a leading position in local music markets by reflecting local culture and characteristics. This strategy is a global realization of his belief that "K-pop's business model must be exported and applied to other music genres to survive."

The 'Multi-home, Multi-genre' strategy has already shown success in mainstream music markets, particularly in the United States. HYBE America’s girl group KATSEYE made it to the Billboard 'Hot 100' within a year of debut. KATSEYE, a group personally managed by Chairman Bang from music and choreography to visual creativity, saw their first EP 'SIS (Soft Is Strong)' with the double title track 'Touch' enter the Billboard 'Bubbling Under Hot 100' at 22nd place and was included in NME magazine's '50 Best Songs of the Year.' Their digital single 'Gnarly,' released in April, entered both the US Billboard 'Hot 100' and the UK Official Singles 'Top 100.'

KATSEYE is a multinational girl group that applies the K-pop methodology of integrating training, album production, management, and marketing into a single chain. To enter the world's largest music market, the US, HYBE acquired Ithaca Holdings in 2021, home to superstars like Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. They also established a joint label with Geffen Records under Universal Music Group and acquired QC Media Holdings, a top-tier hip-hop label with artists like Lil Baby and Migos, in 2023. Chairman Bang and key executives spent more than half the year abroad to facilitate these acquisitions. With these footholds, they combined local infrastructure and networks with K-pop artist development systems and Chairman Bang's production expertise to drive KATSEYE's success.

In Latin America, HYBE Latin America, established in the second half of 2023, is gaining momentum. HYBE is conducting two major artist discovery projects in Latin America. The band audition show 'Pase a la Fama,' broadcasted with Mexico's largest broadcaster Telemundo, is gaining popularity. Local viewers are responding enthusiastically to the human stories of participants pursuing stardom with a passion for music.

Additionally, an audition to select members for a Latin boy group is in preparation. Both auditions include mentorship-based training processes, marking the first attempt to apply K-pop methodologies to the Latin music genre. With the Latin music market growing at an annual rate of 22.5% as of 2024, HYBE aims to leverage its expertise to capture this rapidly expanding market in both Latin America and the US. HYBE has also acquired Exile Music to ensure a swift entry and market penetration in Latin America, building a solid local presence based on Chairman Bang's personal network.

Success stories are also emerging from HYBE Japan. Boy group &TEAM surpassed 800,000 cumulative shipments with their third single 'Go in Blind' (as of April 2025), earning a 'Triple Platinum' certification from the Japan Record Association. The album topped the Oricon 'Weekly Single Ranking' and 'Weekly Combined Single Ranking' (as of May 5). Oricon noted that "&TEAM's 431,000 points in the 'Weekly Combined Single Ranking' is the highest among male artists this year." &TEAM has received certification from the Japan Record Association for all albums released since their debut in December 2022, excluding digital singles.

Following &TEAM, HYBE Japan's YX Labels debuted boy group aoen, who immediately topped the Japanese Oricon chart. Aoen was formed through the audition program '応援-HIGH ~夢のSTART LINE~' aired on Nippon TV from February to April.

HYBE stated, "Chairman Bang's philosophy is that K-pop should not just be a genre of music but a methodology that accurately understands public preferences and creates super IPs based on superfans." They added, "Securing footholds in major global music markets and applying this methodology is yielding results, and if the current trend continues, the landscape of the global music market dominated by the Big 3 companies will change significantly."

Kim Ji-won, TenAsia Reporter one@tenasia.co.kr