Big Hit Entertainment, home to K-pop groups BTS and TXT as well as Seventeen, NU’EST, ENHYPEN and GFRIEND under its family companies, has changed its name to Hybe, which will be used after March 30.
Bang Si-hyuk, chairman and CEO of Big Hit Entertainment, led the unveiling of the company’s new name and rebranding in a presentation on YouTube on March 19.
Under the mission “We believe in music,” Bang Si-hyuk said, “I thought we need a new company name that could encompass all the business reals that we carry out, and be a symbol of our connecting and expanding structure. Hybe symbolizes connection, expansion and relationships.”
Big Hit Entertainment's many businesses include music production, publishing, new artist development, artist management, 360 business, platform business and education business.
Hibe will have three main components: Hybe Labels, Hybe Solutions and Hybe Platforms.
He said the name Big Hit Entertainment will become Big Hit Music, a label under Hybe. Big Hit Entertainment currently manages BTS, TXT and Lee Hyun.
Other labels under Hybe are Belift Lab (for ENHYPEN), Source Music (GFRIEND), Pledis Entertainment (Seventeen and NU’EST), KOZ Entertainment and Hybe Labels Japan.
Under Hybe Solutions are Hybe 360, Hybe IP, Hybe Edu, Superb, Hybe Solutions Japan and Hybe T&D Japan, which are business units focusing on video content, IP, education and games. Hybe Platforms business includes the Weverse app.
Hybe will have headquarters in Seoul but will also have Hybe America, another headquarters in the US.
In a corporate filing, Big Hit Entertainment said the name Hybe will be used after its approval during the 16th regular shareholders’ meeting that will be held on March 30.
During its corporate listing last year, Big Entertainment was envisioned as “the world's best music-based entertainment lifestyle platform company.”
According to the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information System, Big Hit Entertainment applied for the “Hybe” trademark in December 2019.
In 2020, Big Hit Entertainment’s sales of goods and provision for services amounted to 796.28 billion won (or $704 million), higher than the 587.22 billion won ($519.2 million) it posted in 2019.
Its operating profit jumped to 145.51 billion won ($128.66 million) last year from 98.74 billion won ($87.3 million) in 2019.
It posted a net income of 87.06 billion won ($76.97 million) in 2020 compared to 72.42 billion won ($64 million) in 2019.