Posted : 2021-01-01 19:34
Updated : 2021-01-18 22:33
K-pop behemoth BTS performs during the "2021 New Year's Eve Live" event held virtually on Thursday. Courtesy of Big Hit Labels
By Dong Sun-hwa
Following the phenomenal success of K-pop boy band BTS, its record label Big Hit Entertainment has also been catapulted to international fame for its creation and management of the megastar group. Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, who established the company in 2005 and launched BTS in 2013, was recently named on the Variety 500, the U.S. magazine's index of the 500 most influential business leaders who shaped the global media industry in 2020.
But BTS' global domination has left Bang with a challenge ― how would he prove that Big Hit can live on without BTS in the future? The seven-piece act is still hitting high notes, but Big Hit's heavy reliance on the band in terms of revenue has frequently been picked as the company's biggest vulnerability. In fact, BTS accounted for about 70 percent of Big Hit's total revenue in 2020, according to Hyundai Motor Securities, a financial investment company.