BTS remains a major revenue source for Hybe, despite efforts to expand into other areas

Hybe, the South Korean entertainment conglomerate, has announced a record quarterly revenue of 705.6 billion won ($504.4 million) in Q2, marking a significant stride in the company's growth.

The majority of this revenue, accounting for 63%, originated from artist-driven activities such as concerts and album sales. One of the key contributors to this figure was J-Hope, a member of the globally acclaimed K-pop group BTS, whose solo world tour, "Hope on the Stage," staged 33 shows across 16 cities and drew about 500,000 fans. J-Hope's tour generated approximately 75.5 billion won, which is about 10% of Hybe's total Q2 earnings.

Other notable performances by Hybe's artists included BTS member Jin's solo tour, Seventeen's fan meetings in Japan, and world tours by Tomorrow X Together and Le Sserafim. These events collectively attracted 1.8 million concertgoers worldwide.

However, Hybe's profits still primarily stem from direct artist activities. This has led to questions about the pace of the company's diversification strategy, as Chairman Bang Si-hyuk has promoted Hybe as a "360-degree business" with a vision similar to Disney, aiming for intellectual property-driven growth across music, tech, and fandom platforms.

Indirect revenue streams, including merchandise, licensing, content, and fan club memberships, accounted for 37% of Hybe's total Q2 revenue, amounting to 257.8 billion won. Concert revenue accounted for 26.7% of the total, increasing by 31% year-on-year.

Despite the success of many of its groups, Hybe's newest addition, NewJeans, has been kept inactive due to an ongoing legal dispute with Hybe subsidiary Ador. The group, which emerged as a next-generation K-pop star in 2022, has yet to make its mark on the industry.

Looking ahead, Hybe's Chairman Bang Si-hyuk has highlighted BLACKPINK, managed under HYBE's label, as having the strongest potential to surpass BTS in concert revenue due to their global popularity and massive touring capabilities. Other HYBE groups like ENHYPEN have shown growth but are not yet at BTS or BLACKPINK’s revenue scale.

Hybe America's girl group Katseye, launched with Geffen Records, has yet to make a significant financial impact despite placing two songs on the Billboard Hot 100 within a year of its debut.

As Hybe continues to expand and diversify, it will be interesting to see how its various artist activities contribute to the company's future revenue and growth.

BTS remains a major revenue source for Hybe, despite efforts to expand into other areas