A new K-pop-style boy band is coming, and it will have the backing of two of the biggest music companies around, Universal Music Group and Big Hit Entertainment, the label behind Korean super band BTS. The companies shared their plans on Thursday in a presentation attended by Big Hit’s chairman and CEO Bang Si-hyuk and global CEO Lenzo Yoon, Universal chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, and John Janick, his counterpart at UMG subsidiary Interscope Geffen A&M Records. Interscope Geffen and Big Hit will create a joint venture based in Los Angeles that will launch the boy band following auditions in 2022 that will be televised in collaboration with a major US media partner. The formation of the group will exploit Big Hit’s expertise in forming and establishing K-pop groups, including BTS , and the band is intended to appeal to pop fans worldwide. Bang said: “I strongly believe that UMG and Big Hit, two companies that endlessly pursued innovation, will create a synergy that will rewrite global music history.” Yoon said: “Big Hit is the company that can best realise the ‘K-pop style’ that is loved by music fans all over the world. We will maximise synergy by each focusing on our areas of excellence. Music fans the world over will be able to experience the birth of an unprecedented group that brings together world-leading capabilities.” He added that the new act will “follow the K-pop system” as understood by Big Hit. “K-pop is full-production, and includes music, performance, fashion, music videos, and engagement with fans,” Yoon said. Four of the biggest K-pop debuts to keep an eye on in 2021 Big Hit has launched several boy bands following the success of BTS, who released their first single in 2013. The company, which Bang founded in 2005, launched Tomorrow X Together , also known as TXT, in 2019, and last year saw Big Hit team up with South Korean media company CJ ENM to launch Enhypen and an upcoming Japanese boy band through the competition show I-Land . It is not yet known whether the 2022 audition show to select members of the US-based band will be structured similarly to that one. The quartet of media moguls also discussed how their recent partnerships to bring UMG and Big Hit artists together on platforms such as Weverse and their new streaming venture Venewlive will help expand the reach of their artists. The partnership was part of a larger set of deals between Big Hit and other South Korean companies, including Naver and YG Entertainment, to help the growing company continue its expansion. Over the past few years, Big Hit Entertainment has expanded rapidly and become a dominant player in the music world. Beyond Big Hit itself and its artists, Big Hit Labels, the company’s music arm currently incorporates Pledis Entertainment, home to the groups Seventeen and Nu’est; Source Music, home to Gfriend; Koz Entertainment, home to popular rapper Zico; and Enhypen’s Belift Lab. The announcement took place at 8am in Seoul, and Big Hit’s stock started climbing when the South Korean stock market opened an hour later. The company had one of the Korean market’s highest profile IPOs in October 2020 and its share price has remained high but volatile since then. Universal Music Group has dedicated much attention to K-pop in recent years. In 2019, its subsidiary Capitol Records co-launched the boy band SuperM with South Korean music company SM Entertainment; the group features members of the SM-managed bands Exo , NCT 127 , WayV, and Shinee . And this week Universal Music Korea co-launched the girl group Tri.be, produced by Shinsadong Tiger. In related news, BTS will release the essential edition of their album BE on Friday.
