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· Ryan General
YouTuber faces backlash after anti-Asian tweet resurfaces during K-pop debut
Internet personality Trisha Paytas drew backlash this week after critics resurfaced a 2017 tweet containing anti-Asian slurs days after she released a Korean-language pop single styled after mainstream K-pop videos. The 38-year-old American creator of Hungarian descent released…
· Ryan General
South Korea and Japan leaders end Nara summit with K-pop drum performance
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi concluded a two-day bilateral summit in Nara on Jan. 14 with a closing moment few observers would have predicted. The two leaders, wearing matching blue uniforms, sat behind drum kits and performed…
· Carl Samson
Blackpink’s ‘Most Influential Women’ Asia ranking reflects rising K-pop power
K-pop’s global ascent reached a new benchmark with Blackpink securing the No. 1 position on Fortune’s inaugural “Most Influential Women” Asia ranking, underscoring the genre’s evolution into a form of diplomatic and cultural power. Who’s in: The Asia list, published on Oct. 8,…
· Carl Samson
‘KPop Demon Hunters’ started without K-pop in it, director reveals
“KPop Demon Hunters” director Maggie Kang recently revealed that her Netflix animated hit underwent significant changes during development, originally lacking any musical elements when first pitched. Curious origins: The Korean American filmmaker shared her original vision and…
· Carl Samson
North Korean defectors debut in new K-pop boy group
North Korean defectors Yu Hyuk and Kim Seok made their K-pop debut Friday as members of 1Verse (pronounced as “universe”). The five-member group, which also includes members from Arkansas, Los Angeles and Japan, held a live showcase of “Shattered,” the title track of their EP…
· Editorial Staff
Chinese K-pop idol told to ‘go back’ after pushing One China policy on fans
Xinyu, a Chinese vocalist of the 24-member K-pop girl group tripleS, is facing backlash after echoing her support for Beijing’s “One China” policy. The controversy erupted on fan platform Fromm, where the Beijing-born performer reportedly wrote, “Macau is Chinese from the…
· Carl Samson
Hybe artists gain Grammy voting rights as K-pop’s influence expands
Sixteen artists and producers from Hybe have been granted Grammy voting privileges starting with the 2026 awards ceremony. The Recording Academy’s July 10 announcement of membership invitations included Huh Yun-jin from Le Sserafim, Jungwon from Enhypen, Woozi and Vernon from…
· Carl Samson
Former K-pop idol Shim Jaehyun dies at 23 from leukemia
Shim Jaehyun, a former member of the K-pop boy group Fable, died at age 23 after privately battling leukemia. About Jaehyun: Born April 7, 2002, Jaehyun debuted with Fable in June 2020 under Haeirum Entertainment as the group’s youngest member. The five-member group released…
· Carl Samson
‘Pitch Perfect’ to get K-pop TV spinoff
The “Pitch Perfect” franchise is getting another TV spinoff with “Pitch Perfect: K-Pop Idols,” coming to Peacock. Written by Joel Kim Booster, the show follows a struggling singer-songwriter whose life turns upside down when she auditions for America’s first K-pop group, as per…
· Carl Samson
Tencent invests $177 million in K-pop amid thawing China-Korea relations
Tencent Music Entertainment is buying nearly 10% of K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment in a $177 million deal that would make the Chinese streaming giant the agency’s second-biggest investor as bilateral relations between Beijing and Seoul show improvement. By the numbers:…
· Carl Samson
Interview: Ting Poo unveils Lee Soo-man’s K-pop empire in groundbreaking doc
A pioneering architect of K-pop’s global domination and an award-winning director who captured his journey have come together in “Lee Soo-man: King of K-Pop,” which began streaming on Amazon Prime on May 13, National K-Pop Day. The 107-minute feature documentary, helmed by…
· Carl Samson
First K-pop concert in mainland China in 9 years is postponed
An upcoming concert by K-pop boy group Epex in Fuzhou, China, has been “canceled due to issues in the local region,” label C9 Entertainment announced on Friday. What happened: The concert, originally scheduled for May 31 at MAAQUU x CH8 LIVEHOUSE, was reportedly axed after a…
· Carl Samson
Bain says K-pop bandmates rallied behind him after he came out to them
Just B member Bain, who recently made history as the first active K-pop boy group idol to come out as gay, received overwhelming support from his groupmates after coming out to them first. “It’s been about two years since I came out to my members and the company,” the…
· Carl Samson
Just B’s Bain is 1st K-pop idol in a boy group to come out as gay
Just B member Bain made history this week by becoming the first K-pop idol in a boy group to publicly come out as gay during the group’s “Just Odd” concert in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “Born this way”
· Carl Samson
Malaysia’s first K-pop idol is fluent in 4 different languages
Alicia Wong Lingling, or simply Lingling, 19, is set to make history as Malaysia’s first K-pop idol, debuting with entertainment label Leanbranding’s first global girl group in late May. How she did it: The Klang, Selangor native first joined as a contestant on Mnet’s audition…
· Carl Samson
9 K-pop artists earn nods for this year’s Billboard Music Awards
Nine K-pop acts have earned nominations for the 2024 Billboard Music Awards (BBMAs), showcasing the genre’s expanding global influence. The nominees for the four K-pop-specific categories include BTS’s Jungkook and Jimin, TXT, Enhypen, Stray Kids, Ateez, Le Sserafim, Illit and…
· Bryan Ke
Seventeen to be 1st K-pop act to appear on Disney’s year-end holiday show
K-pop powerhouse Seventeen will make history on Dec. 1 by becoming the first K-pop group to perform on ABC’s year-end special, “The Wonderful World of Disney: Holiday Spectacular.” ABC announced on Wednesday that the 13-member boy group will perform “Santa Claus is Coming to…
· Carl Samson
This is the best K-pop song of 2024, according to industry experts
Aespa’s “Supernova” has been named the best K-pop song of 2024, securing 93 out of 200 votes from industry professionals in a JoyNews24 survey celebrating the publication’s 20th anniversary. The song’s infectious energy, dynamic performance and record chart achievements made it…
· Carl Samson
One of K-pop’s most prestigious awards show is coming to the US
For the first time in its 25-year history, MAMA Awards will debut on U.S. soil, bringing the best of K-pop to Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre on Nov. 21. Formerly the Mnet Asian Music Awards, MAMA Awards is not only one of South Korea’s, but one of Asia’s largest and most prestigious…
· Michelle De Pacina
K-pop idol publicly apologizes to fans after gaining weight
Jang Ye Eun, best known as J in K-pop girl group STAYC, recently apologized to fans after facing criticism over her weight gain, acknowledging that she had started working out and dieting. “To be honest, I saw the fancam and I’m sorry I didn’t maintain my figure well. I’m going…
Answer
BTS connects to HYBE, Weverse, memberships, merch, and tickets.
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Artist · K-pop
&TEAM
&TEAM is HYBE's first homegrown Japanese boy group -- a localization play that plants the HYBE system directly inside the world's second-biggest music market rather than exporting Korean acts into it.
Artist · K-pop
2PM
2PM invented the 'beast idol' -- JYP's masculine, acrobatic counter-brand that opened the Japanese arena market for K-pop boy groups and made Thai member Nichkhun one of the first non-Korean idols engineered as a pan-Asian sales asset.
Artist · K-pop
aespa
SM's flagship 4th-gen group turned streaming dominance into arena-scale global touring — the clearest sign K-pop's next tier can headline, not just chart.
Artist · K-pop
AKMU
AKMU are the sibling duo who won K-Pop Star and picked YG on their own terms -- 'The Nation's Siblings' whose songwriting-first model gave YG a rare non-idol prestige asset that outlasted a full 12-year label run.
Artist · K-pop
BABYMONSTER
YG built BABYMONSTER as its designated BLACKPINK successor, and the pressure is the point -- the label bet its next decade of revenue on a seven-member group that had to shatter rookie sales records just to justify the comparison.
Artist · K-pop
BIGBANG
BigBang were the original architects of K-pop as a global export business -- the first mainstream Korean hip-hop idols whose stadium tours and merch empire proved a Korean act could out-earn Western pop stars and became the template YG monetized for a decade.
Artist · K-pop
BLACKPINK
The genre's biggest girl group returned as a group after years of solo dominance — testing whether K-pop's Western peak was a moment or a plateau. 'GO' answered.
Artist · K-pop
BOYNEXTDOOR
BOYNEXTDOOR is rapper Zico's KOZ Entertainment absorbed into the HYBE machine -- an artist-founded label that HYBE bought and turned into a hit factory, showing how HYBE grows by acquiring creative shops, not just building them.
Artist · K-pop
BTS
BTS didn't just come back — they re-coronated K-pop's top tier. 'Arirang' fuses Korean folk roots with global pop, and the tour proved the machine HYBE built scales to stadiums worldwide.
Results
Culture · artist
BTS
BTS connects to HYBE, the company behind BTS, Weverse, albums, merch, memberships, tickets, and concerts.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:035760
CJ ENM
CJ ENM is behind TV, music, film, award shows, and major cultural exports that shape what people watch.
Company · Korea · KRX:352820
HYBE
One of the layers behind BTS, SEVENTEEN, TXT.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:035900
JYP Entertainment
JYP is tied to groups that drive albums, tours, subscriptions, merch, and international fan activity.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:041510
SM Entertainment
SM is tied to idol groups, tours, fan clubs, and the long-running system behind some of K-pop's most recognizable acts.
Company · Korea · KOSDAQ:122870
YG Entertainment
YG connects global K-pop attention to touring, brand deals, fan demand, and artist-centered entertainment revenue.
Company · Korea · KRX:251270
Netmarble
Netmarble is Korea's mobile-game powerhouse that turns pop-culture IP into games — from BTS titles to Marvel — and is one of HYBE's largest shareholders, linking K-pop and gamin...
HYBE · K-pop · KRX:352820
A BTS comeback is not just songs. It’s albums, merch, tickets, and Weverse.
A BTS comeback can start with one stream on your phone, then turn into a fan-club sign-up, merch order, livestream ticket, and more time spent inside Weverse.