BTS label Big Hit Entertainment look to go public, but is it really the best time?
- Aiming to capitalise on BTS mania, Big Hit Entertainment is eyeing a stock market debut
- But the coronavirus may affect plans, while K-pop has been hit hard by scandals involving the country’s biggest names
K-pop may face its harshest critic yet: investors.
Big Hit Entertainment, the music label behind global boy band phenomenon BTS, is eyeing a public market debut.
Sales are surging, but its fortunes largely depend on one act in a hit-driven business. With the coronavirus outbreak now eating away at concert sales, a high valuation of the company increasingly sounds out of tune.
BTS are an even bigger South Korean cultural export than Oscar-winner Parasite. Thanks to Spotify, YouTube and viral-video app TikTok, K-pop’s reach has extended beyond Asia and into Western markets.
The recently released “Map of the Soul: 7” marks BTS’ fourth album to reach No 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart in less than two years. The last pop group to achieve that milestone was The Beatles.
Big Hit wants to capitalise on BTS mania. The music label, backed by video-games outfit Netmarble, has hired banks for an initial public offering this year, data provider Refinitiv reported last month.