HYBE, Home to BTS & ENHYPEN, Reveals Staggering Annual Revenue

HYBE, home to BTS, ENHYPEN, and others, has surpassed KRW 2 trillion in annual revenue for the second consecutive year. On the 25th, HYBE announced, “Following our breakthrough as the first domestic entertainment company to exceed KRW 2 trillion in annual revenue in 2023, our performance continued to improve in 2024, once again setting a new record for maximum revenue.”

For 2024, on a consolidated basis, revenue reached KRW 2.2545 trillion—a roughly 4% increase from the previous year and the highest figure since the company’s inception. Direct participation revenue fell by 1.8% to KRW 1.4453 trillion, while indirect participation revenue rose by 14.5% to KRW 809.3 billion. Within the direct participation segment, the album division—a major contributor—declined by 11.3% compared to the previous year, but a robust 25.6% surge in the concert division more than offset the drop. It appears that after the pandemic, fans’ consumption patterns have diversified, especially with offline activities.

In the album division, HYBE’s domestic artists captured a 40% share of the annual Circle Chart—a 2 percentage point increase from 38% the previous year. Seventeen, following its 2023 achievement, recorded cumulative album sales of over 10 million copies last year, marking a historic two-year streak as a ten-million seller. Tomorrow X Together had two albums enter the Circle Chart’s top 10 for the year, and all three of their albums released last year appeared on Japan’s Oricon year-end chart.

ENHYPEN recorded cumulative sales of 5.45 million copies and demonstrated its global popularity by ranking 8th and 9th on the annual album charts in the United States and Japan, respectively. NewJeans sold over 3 million copies, achieving the highest sales share among K-pop female artists. Boynext Door, who recently gained attention with the release of “Today Only I LOVE YOU,” became a million-seller just a year and a half after debut.

In the digital music segment, HYBE Music Group artists shone brightly. On the Circle Chart’s “Global K-pop Chart,” which encompasses streaming usage on domestic and international platforms, 15 songs by HYBE artists made it into the top 20, underscoring their formidable content competitiveness. Solo tracks by BTS members Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—as well as Megan Thee Stallion’s “Never Play” featuring RM—each entered the Billboard Hot 100, while Le Sserafim charted with “EASY” in the first half and “CRAZY” in the second half of the year. Last year’s debut group TWS topped the Melon annual chart with its debut track “The First Meeting Didn’t Go as Planned,” and IRELITE made history by entering both the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and the Official Singles Chart Top 100 in the United Kingdom with “Magnetic”—a first for a K-pop debut track.

Over the past year, HYBE Music Group artists held 147 concerts and 25 fan meetings, recording the highest concert revenue in the company’s history. According to Billboard’s “2024 K-pop Concert Revenue Chart,” Seventeen, ENHYPEN, and Tomorrow X Together swept the top three spots. Notably, concert revenue in Q4 last year reached KRW 188.9 billion—more than double the performance from the same period the previous year.

Looking at indirect participation revenue, sales from concert-related merchandise and licensing increased by 29.1% compared to the previous year, reaching KRW 420 billion—the highest ever recorded. As HYBE Music Group artists embarked on large-scale world tours, sales of concert merchandise and light sticks surged, and character products inspired by members of groups such as BTS, Seventeen, and Tomorrow X Together received overwhelming popularity.

HYBE America also achieved notable success. Artists under its Big Machine Label Group topped a total of 10 Billboard charts, with Kali Pierce earning Grammy Award nominations for two consecutive years. Meanwhile, another HYBE America label, QC Music, saw key artists like Quavo, Lil Baby, and Lil Yachty continue their active pursuits. Lil Baby set a record when his track “WHAM,” released in early January this year, topped the Billboard 200 chart—and his four most recent album releases have all reached number one on that chart. In addition, HYBE America’s management division, SB Project, recently strengthened its artist management capabilities by acquiring Cade Hudson from Creative Artists Agency (CAA), who has managed renowned American artists such as Britney Spears, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, and Selena Gomez.

HYBE’s consolidated operating profit for 2024 was KRW 184.8 billion—a 38% decrease from the previous year. This drop was primarily influenced by a hiatus in BTS’s group activities due to members fulfilling their mandatory military service and shifts in revenue share caused by the debut of several new groups. Expenses related to investments for the debut of Cats Eye in the United States and for staffing and infrastructure to establish a growth base following the launch of HYBE Latin America also contributed to the lower profit margins. Furthermore, pre-investment costs incurred to secure mid- to long-term growth drivers—as new growth businesses like Weverse and gaming ramp up—also played a role.

Meanwhile, HYBE is launching new team projects in regions including the United States, Japan, and Latin America. The company aims to drive market innovation through its “Multi Home, Multi Genre” strategy, which blends the K-pop system and expertise with local cultures and characteristics. In the United States, HYBE is set to embark on a new boy group project with producer Ryan Tedder—who has collaborated with global musicians such as Beyoncé, Adele, and Ed Sheeran. In Japan, YX LABELS (formerly HYBE Labels Japan) will introduce a new generation J-pop group that will carry on the legacy of &TEAM.