Before the end-of-year countdowns next month, I like to take a look at many of K-pop’s biggest agencies and see how their year went. Obviously, 2023 is not over yet so any upcoming changes to an agency’s grade will be reflected next year. Following SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment‘s analysis, it’s time for the last of the so-called “big four”: HYBE Labels!
As usual, the thoughts below are my own and aren’t privy to any insider information. The purpose of these articles is to determine how well K-pop agencies are serving their artists and fans. There will be plenty of subjective critique.
The Good
One of these days, I’ll go back and read all my HYBE/Big Hit features chronologically, because their transformation from 2016 until today is nothing short of astonishing. In this short stretch of time, they’ve become the de facto leader of the K-pop industry, growing so big that they might prefer to do away with the “K” part of the equation entirely (more on that below…). More than any other agency, they have their vision set on global domination. And whether you like it or not, they’re well on their way.
HYBE can’t exist in a vacuum because their strategy necessitates gobbling up smaller fish to expand their empire. You can’t write about HYBE without including their subsidiaries Pledis, Source, KOZ, BeLift and Ador – all vital components to their success.
And by and large, HYBE is well-acquainted with success. Throw a stone in any direction and you’ll find an act who enjoyed immense 2023 success. Seventeen set staggering sales records, greatly expanding into other East Asian markets. Sub-unit BSS scored an enduring chart hit, further expanding the group’s appeal with the general public. NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM continue to lead girl group trends both domestically and globally. TXT made new inroads into multiple markets and ENHYPEN shift a million+ copies of their albums with ease.
HYBE has also captured the attention of the Japanese market. &TEAM is off to a good start, while NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM have become trending groups within the J-pop landscape.
New group BOYNEXTDOOR debuted under Zico’s KOZ Entertainment, quickly finding a sizable fanbase and establishing their own sound. And after many delays, fromis_9 released a well-regarded album with strong sales – proving that the HYBE brand is a reliable boost for artists who had previously sold more modestly.
BTS entered their military enlistment era this year, pushing back any group comebacks for some time. Instead, HYBE focused on solo efforts from the members. All were commercially successful, though each targeted a different musical niche. Recently, member Jungkook has emerged as a convincing global star, recording in English and enlisting several big-name artists as features. The music wasn’t half-bad, either! And although HYBE is certainly feeling the effects of BTS’s hiatus, they can rest comfortable knowing that the entire group renewed their contracts for the next few years.
HYBE is not lacking in commercial firepower, buoyed by a roster overflowing with artists the entire world is interested in.
The Bad
Objectively, it’s hard to find many weak points in HYBE’s empire. They’ve essentially formed the K-pop Avengers, buying up or investing in their biggest competitors. So, when thinking about the drawbacks of the corporation, we must approach it more subjectively.
The clue is in that word “corporation.” HYBE produces a lot of music, and some of it is quite good. But at its worst, the company can feel like fast fashion, churning out trendy tracks with the speed and chintziness of a Forever 21. I happen to enjoy Forever 21, but its clothes aren’t built to last. HYBE is still quite new as an entity, but I wonder if its output is built to last, either. The company excels at capturing the attention of TikTok trends and securing flashy press releases, but how many stone cold classic, still-listen-to-them-in-fifteen-years tracks are they churning out these days?
K-pop has always been a trendy industry, but HYBE’s output feels especially hitched to (Western) pop trends. Most everything they release has a pop equivalent/inspiration, which threatens to undermine their status as industry leaders. I’d love to see them explore a sound that feels more idiosyncratic and focuses on pushing K-pop forward rather than simply appealing to TikTok trends and proven pop equivalents. As exciting as their groups’ visuals and concepts are, the music itself often feels extraneous. Some of their subsidiaries have a greater grip on this than others, but overall HYBE’s output feels the most faceless and underdeveloped of any of K-pop’s big agencies.
Just the other day, HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk suggested removing the “K” from “K-pop” altogether. While I can understand the drive behind this statement and the pride he must feel in taking his music and artistry worldwide, I can’t help but feel this attitude highlights some of my concerns with HYBE. In stripping away the elements that make you unique and outsourcing your product to an anonymous team of song camp creators, you strip away the cultural elements and individual perspective that makes art so engrossing in the first place. I, for one, don’t want a future of personality-free pop music.
2023 Grade: B-
What I’d like to see in 2024:
- An expansion of HYBE’s sound — longer songs with more development and unique ideas
- No more new acts/acquisitions/etc. Focus on established groups.
- Some NewJeans and LE SSERAFIM title tracks that appeal to me!
Previous years: 2022 // 2021 // 2020 // 2019 // 2018 // 2017
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
To warn off the haters, keep in mind this is objective + subjective scoring.
Objectively no one can deny HYBE is pretty much A+ or S or w.e highest you can possibly score. Their fiscal quarterly reviews speaks for themselves.
Subjectively, I agree that their music is getting a bit too corporate and faceless. I haven’t had much reaction towards HYBE releases this year due to that. As an avid hater of all things tiktok/yt shorts/IG reels as it promotes people’s goldfish attention spans and cheap marketing ploys packed into what is essentially a 30sec soulless ad. I’d like a focus more on exciting new music that leans more towards the +3min30 side that would take the entire song so absorb rather than a quick cringey clip
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As someone who loved BTS (the balloon album might be my #1 favorite K-pop album) and was excited by TXT (all the way through 2021), somehow the exciting freshness of the label evaporated so quickly for me. (Maybe that’s saying more about me during this period of time? I objectively don’t know.) The only Hybe group that I’m genuinely excited about now is NewJeans. For me, 2023 would be a near-bust if it wasn’t for Ditto/OMG and Get Up. I know Hybe’s had a ton of success this year, and the streaming numbers of many of their artists are unreal, but most of those tunes just didn’t connect with me. I think Jimin’s work this year is my 2nd favorite Hybe-affiliated release after NewJeans. His 3 or 4 hits this year still sound fresh on my playlist, although Vibe with Taeyang was actually a YG release. But NewJeans’ stunning work so far would want me to give the label at least a B as well.
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I meant to say that I expect/hope for even better things from Jimin in the future. He has an amazing and unique voice, so What I’d like to see in 2024: More great work from Jimin (and of course NewJeans – whom I’m hoping for a winter release too before ’23’s out).
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Especially a Jimin solo that actually sounds like Jimin in his full froggy croakiness.
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How come &TEAM wasn’t mentioned in this article once?
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LOL because I totally forgot….
I’ll add a brief mention now. Doesn’t do anything to change my grade, but HYBE’s success in Japan is definitely notable.
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LE SSERAFIM was the biggest disappointment for me this year. their releases this year couldn’t hold a candle to their solid 2022 output. UNFORGIVEN was a terrible conclusion to their debut trilogy and Perfect Night shouldn’t have happened. wishing them (and k-pop as a whole tbh) a better musical year next year 🙏
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That’s how I feel as well. Only Eve managed to salvage their year, for me personally. And I don’t get why they re-recorded some of the previous year’s tunes, and released it as a “new” album. Mystifying.
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You know Eve is their only success this year when they make 50x remixes to milk it as much as they canf
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You are hilariously wrong😂
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weren’t the re-recordings to replace the versions with ex-member Garam?
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Yes. I’m still waiting for them to re-record “The Great Mermaid” and “Sour Grapes”.
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Out of all the HYBE groups this year &Team was a nice surprise for me. Despite their newest title track being a letdown, I’m interested in their performances and how they are going to navigate the Kpop/Jpop boundary. SVT was reliable as always (somehow I still don’t consider them HYBE) and Jungkook’s album was solid as well. I’m not really into the girl groups and TXT and Enhypen feel like they’re treading water musically even though they’ve grown so much more popular. I think HYBE is pretty much performing as expected and I can see why some Kpop stans feel resentful of their newer groups who appear to succeed without a lot of effort or originality.
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I’d say that I can’t consider Seventeen as HYBE firstly because they are self producing. One of the few likable songs that came under HYBE this year for me was “I don’t understand but I love you”, and it’s leaps and bounds ahead of other stuff that comes out of this label.
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I agree on IDUBILU…it’s my favorite SVT song this year!
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Bleh
They’re certainly doing well financially, but their music is growing blander by the month.
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I feel like HYBE has become the Macy’s or Gap or Abercrombie of pop music. The Mall of Music. So many subsidiaries pulled under one umbrella, new buzzier subsidiaries added from time to time. Profitable, sustainable. But does anyone get excited anymore about walking into any of them?
Back when, 80’s, Banana Republic was called that because it was all safari-inspired clothes There was a jeep “crashed” through the front window. It was fun fun fun. Then the Gap bought them, and it was still fun-ish for a few years until they made everything more like upscale work clothes and blah. If I want to get a pair of nice black work pants, i know where to go.
I feel like that about Hybe. Lots of sub-brands. Sell a whole pile. Clearly have customers. But not pushing the sonic envelope much anymore.
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The only new HYBE group that I’m interested in is the Pledis new group – if they even debut next year, that is, considering they’ve been this mythical entity for the last few years. I do think it’ll happen though, for logistical concerns. There’s no way Seventeen are slowing down in any way although enlistments will have to eventually get rolling by the second half of 2024 (really looking forward to all the possibilities for them next year, from a fifth studio album which seems very likely to more solos/subunits), but that long-awaited group may finally get its start.
I just hope they’re more Pledis than HYBE, the way SVT (and fromis) are – I want Bumzu and Prismfilter to still be involved somehow, I want to see that classic Pledis dance and vocal training paying off, I don’t really care about any convoluted lore, and I really want them to have a strong musical identity which sets them apart. While I like TXT/Enhypen/&TEAM’s music well enough for the most part at least, I’d like to see the Pledis guys establish their own identity.
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imo, the only track that may stand the test of time is bite me purely because of the choreography.
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Whatever we think about how mass market HYBE has become , I think NewJeans is one of the most amazing acts to happen in KPop. OMG or SUPERSHY are masterpieces and serious options for song of the year, and not just in Kpop. It’s modern, uses great western influences but stays true to the Kpop magic. On the other hand LE SSERAFIM is exactly the opposite, a forced act build on flimsy trends forgetting the K in Pop and that jeopardizes the talent of its members.
I wish you would embrace NewJeans!
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It’s like a Venn diagram: a lot of Nick’s favorite musical things overlap with mine, but NewJeans’s style is outside his circle. For NewJeans to move inside his circle would probably mean they’re no longer in mine and left their sound that I love, so I’m fine with Nick not being into them 😂
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I love the comparison with fast fashion. But I still adore TXT, particularly after seeing thrm in concert. And Agust D’s release was awesome. Enhypen and &team will make a great video game someday (if they haven’t already). Somehow their theme of werewolves and vampires, which would normally appeal to me, has worn a bit thin. Enhypen is the group that sounds most corporately polished to me, growing more so over time. They’re like pretty decor for showing off a model home. I prefer &team for now.
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I was amazed by v album as it was full of soulful songs especially slow dancing, first time everyone one in my family like songs from bts ,I was astonished though
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My biggest problem with HYBE is that they wanna appeal to western audiences by emulating western sounds but here’s the thing, there’s no western sound. The number one song this year is a Morgan Wallen song that sounds like a throwaway Maroon 5 song. So emulating that sound is a nonstarter because there’s no sound to emulate. So often they’re making english songs for kpop groups that sound like nothing. It takes a lot of the appeal and identity from these groups. Hopefully this doesn’t become a bigger problem next year. They have a lot of my favorite groups and I’m super excited to see where they all go next year. I’d give HYBE a B and a note to not screw it up.
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