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· Bryan Ke
Jay Chou schools K-Pop fans accusing him of plagiarizing INFINITE’s song
Mandopop superstar Jay Chou recently dropped a music lesson for K-Pop fans after they accused him of plagiarizing a 2011 song from male group INFINITE called “Julia.” The allegation: On Aug. 27, Chou, 42, teased his 6.6 million followers on Instagram with a 25-second…
· Ryan General
K-Pop’s ‘Baddest Female’ got the sauce and it’s her new single ‘Spicy’
K-pop superstar CL, former leader of popular South Korean girl group 2NE1, is making a triumphant return with her new single “Spicy.” New flavor: The 30-year-old singer-songwriter officially released the song on Tuesday as the first single off of her upcoming debut studio album…
· Editorial Staff
‘How many K-Pop fans do you know personally?’: British DJ sparks outrage after calling K-Pop fans ‘suspicious’
A British producer and DJ has come under fire after claiming that K-Pop remains a niche in the West and that its fans are “suspicious” for using anime profile pictures. What he’s saying: Matan Zohar, better known as Mat Zo, argued K-Pop’s supposed popularity in a now-deleted…
· Isa Peralta
Olympic athletes jam to K-pop groups, from BTS to BLACKPINK
Songs by popular K-pop groups have kept athletes’ spirits high throughout this Olympics season. What’s being played: Tunes by BTS, BLACKPINK, ITZY, Seventeen, NCT 127, OH MY GIRL, EXO and more, have given athletes something to dance, compete and celebrate to, The Korea Times…
· Kimberly Nguyen
K-Pop Cover Dancer Reveals She Was Sexually Harassed While Filming in New York
A group of Asian dancers in New York City was filming a K-pop cover video in Times Square when an unidentified male was caught on camera sexually harassing one of its members. An uninvited appearance: Yingqi, a member of 404 Dance Crew, was filming a dance cover of “Next Level”…
· Thy Nguyen
MGM Television, SM Entertainment to Form NCT Subunit in US K-pop Competition Series
MGM Worldwide Television Group is working with South Korea’s SM Entertainment to create a U.S.-based K-pop competition series and form an NCT subunit. About the series: The televised series will recruit American men aged 13 to 25 to create NCT-Hollywood, according to The…
· Editorial Staff
K-Pop Called Out for ‘Slave-Like Exploitation’ By North Korea
A North Korean propaganda website has accused South Korea’s K-pop industry of treating popular groups such as BTS and Blackpink like “slaves.” “Slave-like exploitation”: In an article published on March 13, the North Korean propaganda website Arirang-Meari claimed that K-pop…
· Ryan General
K-Pop Songs Return to Spotify After New Deal With Kakao Entertainment
Hundreds of songs by K-pop artists from Kakao Entertainment (previously known as KakaoM) are returning to Spotify after the two companies finally settled on a new global licensing agreement. Expired license: K-pop fans were left outraged after many of their favorite songs…
· Carl Samson
Sony is Creating a Movie About a K-Pop Girl Group That Hunts Demons
A K-pop girl group that slays evil spirits is currently in development at Sony Animation. Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, “K-Pop: Demon Hunters” pays tribute to Kang’s “Korean roots and her die-hard love of K-Pop.”
· Bryan Ke
Spotify Loses Hundreds of K-Pop Songs After License Expires
Music streaming giant Spotify has removed hundreds of K-pop songs from its library on Sunday, leaving many listeners outraged. The Swedish company confirmed to NME that it has removed specific K-pop songs because its licensing deal with Korean distributor Kakao M has expired.
· Bryan Ke
YG Entertainment Addresses Rumor That 2 of K-Pop’s Biggest Stars Have Been Secretly Dating for a Year
The label of BLACKPINK and Big Bang, YG Entertainment, has addressed the rumor that two of its talents, Jennie and G-Dragon are dating. YG Entertainment released a statement on Wednesday to address the circulating rumor that the two K-pop superstars are dating, but the company…
· Bryan Ke
K-Pop Idol Sparks Outrage After Posting Photos Hugging With Nazi Uniform Mannequin
Source Music, the management firm of K-pop group Gfriend, issued an apology after group member Sowon posted photos of herself with a mannequin dressed in a Nazi uniform. The photos were taken during a music video shoot at a café in the city of Paju in South Korea in November,…
· Ryan General
K-Pop Fans Demolish Republican Congresswoman’s Attempt to #ImpeachBidenNow on Twitter
K-pop fans have once again flexed their social media muscles after successfully drowning out tweets of support for the hashtag #ImpeachBidenNow. #ImpeachBidenNowhttps://t.co/ziu4iegn4f
· Editorial Staff
Former Beauty Queen Sparks Outrage After Blaming K-Pop for Filipinos ‘Losing Identity’
A former beauty queen in the Philippines has come under fire after taking a jab at K-Pop and accusing Filipinos of “trying to be like Koreans.” Imelda Bautista Schweighart, who was crowned Miss Philippines Earth 2016, took her feelings about the genre to a Facebook post on…
· Maina Chen
BTS Mistaken for K-Pop Group NCT 127 During AMAs Coverage on ABC
K-pop stans are furious after ABC7 included the wrong boy group in its coverage of BTS for the American Music Awards (AMAs) on Sunday. The still: In a short clip posted to TikTok, user @nicole_tiktoks pointed out the blunder and called it racist.
· Carl Samson
New K-Pop Girl Group Will Be First to Have Human AND Virtual Members
A new K-pop girl group featuring human and virtual members will debut in November. Aespa, stylized as æspa, will be the first girl group to launch from industry leader SM Entertainment since Red Velvet, which debuted in 2014.
· Carl Samson
K-Pop Legend Who Dodged Military Service Still Banned From South Korea
South Korea has declined action on a Korean American singer’s calls to be granted a visa to enter the country. Yoo Seung-jun, also known as Steve Yoo (@yooseungjun_official), renounced his South Korean citizenship in 2002 to allegedly escape from the nation’s mandatory military…
· Ryan General
Senegalese Singer to Debut in New K-Pop Group Black Swan
K-pop fans are buzzing over a Senegalese singer set to debut as one of the members of the new girl group Black Swan. About the group: Black Swan, also known as B.S., which is a rebranded version of RaNia, was first unveiled in July with its five members Hyeme (Kim Hye Mi),…
· Carl Samson
2AM K-Pop Idol Comes Out as Genderless, Says Label CEO Bought Their First Pair of High Heels
A seasoned K-Pop artist has added their voice to represent the LGBTQ+ community in South Korea’s entertainment industry. Jo Kwon, who rose to fame as part of the boy group 2AM, revealed in a recent interview that they are, in fact, genderless.
· Bryan Ke
Florida Politician Thinks K-Pop is ‘Foreign Propaganda’ and BTS Means ‘Big Time Socialists’
A conservative politician in Florida is making headlines after claiming K-pop is “foreign propaganda” and that the meaning of BTS is “Big Time Socialists.” K.W. Miller, who is running for Congress in Florida, tweeted that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC), who serves as the…
Answer
BTS connects to HYBE, Weverse, memberships, merch, and tickets.
People & Works
Open
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.