On October 12th (local time), Bang Si-Hyuk spoke as an invited guest at the Bloomberg Screen Time event held in the US
Bang Si-Hyuk announced that BTS had signed their 2nd contract with HYBE.
Screen Time is an event organized by the American economic media Bloomberg to share insights through prominent figures in the pop culture industry. Leaders in the global entertainment field, including Chairman Bang, Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, and Neal Mohan, CEO of YouTube, attended the event.
During the event, Chairman Bang discussed the expansion strategy of K-pop and the activities of HYBE’s major artists under the theme “Global Music in Focus: K-pop.”
When asked about the significance of renewing the contract with BTS, Chairman Bang said, “It is natural for BTS to be needed for the corporate growth of HYBE,” and he also expressed his happiness that BTS trusted HYBE as their management company.
He further mentioned that although HYBE’s relationship with BTS is good, there were originally challengers in the contract negotiation process. He said, “Resolving those issues made us closer. In my life as a manager, it was the greatest joy.”
Chairman Bang also revealed a surprise by mentioning a new project HYBE is working on with BTS to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of the album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life”, which was released in 2015.
Questions about the ongoing audition “Dream Academy” for selecting members for a new girl group were also raised. In this regard, Chairman Bang stated, “To expand the influence of K-pop in the global music market and secure many global fans, external and internal expansion was necessary.”
He outlined the goal of the debut lineup of “Dream Academy” as becoming “the world’s top band, expanding the scope of K-pop, and contributing to its sustainability,” emphasizing that HYBE aims to validate the hypothesis about the expansion potential of K-pop and move on to the next stage.
Chairman Bang added, “Many hypotheses have already been validated in the audition process, and I see the primary goals as achieved. Regardless of success or failure, we plan to continue experimental attempts like ‘Dream Academy’ for the next few years to explore sustainable growth paths for K-pop.”
Regarding the recent intensive business expansion in the US, he explained, “Not only the expansion of K-pop but fundamentally, the largest market in the music industry is the United States.” He stated that they needed to come to the US not only for the company’s growth but also to develop the music industry in a bigger market.
He also mentioned his ultimate goal as an entrepreneur. Chairman Bang said, “HYBE is evolving into a company that can persist, whether I am present or not, whether any IP does well or not.”
He expressed his desire to live a retired life in 10 years. He added that he didn’t want to announce this as a retirement announcement but believed that if the company continues to run well 10 years from now, he could step back for the sake of future generations.
Furthermore, Chairman Bang stated in an interview with Bloomberg TV and the magazine, “I plan to acquire labels whenever there are good opportunities.”
Chairman Bang also mentioned, “We are currently discussing collaboration plans with companies in various business areas, not only labels but also platforms, games, AI, and more.”
Source: daum
