HYBE Bang Si-hyuk and Kakao Entertainment Jang Yoon-joong Selected for 'Billboard Power 100'... Who Is Number 1?

HYBE Bang Si-hyuk Selected for Billboard Power List 4 Years in a Row
Kakao Entertainment Jang Yoon-jung Ranked 17th in Multi-Sector Category

Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE, the company behind 'BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan),' was ranked 18th on the 'Billboard Power 100 List' for 2023, following last year. Scooter Braun, CEO of HYBE America, also shared the same ranking. Jang Yoon-jung, the newly appointed co-CEO of Kakao Entertainment, was listed 17th in the '2024 Billboard Power 100 List Multi-Sector category.'

(From left) Jang Yoon-jung, new co-CEO of Kakao Entertainment, Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE.
Photo by Kakao Entertainment, HYBE provided

On the 1st, Billboard released the 'Billboard Power List,' stating, "K-pop broke barriers in 2019 and firmly established its place on the global business stage in 2013." It added, "In particular, HYBE strengthened its dominance in the world's largest music market by acquiring Quality Control, a hip-hop company based in Atlanta that houses artists like Migos and Lil Baby."

It continued, "HYBE also acquired Exile Music Group and established HYBE Latin America based in Mexico, building a foothold in the rapidly growing Latin genre." Billboard noted, "HYBE is no longer a geographically limited company focused solely on K-pop. At the end of last year, its market capitalization was $7.5 billion (approximately 10.027 trillion KRW), with first-half sales reaching $1 billion (about 1.3 trillion KRW)."

Billboard highlighted the achievements of HYBE artists, noting that BTS member Jungkook's solo track 'Seven' reached number one on the Billboard main singles chart 'Hot 100.' It also pointed out that Seventeen's 10th mini-album 'FML' and 11th mini-album 'Seventeenth Heaven' sold over 6 million and 5 million copies worldwide, respectively. Additionally, ENHYPEN's 5th mini-album 'Orange Blood' surpassed 4 million copies sold globally, and NewJeans simultaneously entered the 'Billboard Hot 100' with five songs.

Regarding Jang Yoon-jung, the incoming co-CEO of Kakao Entertainment, Billboard praised his active promotion of K-content exchange within the global entertainment industry, creating new growth engines for K-pop in the global market. It particularly noted Kakao Entertainment's comprehensive music business efforts?planning, production, distribution, and investment?centered on North America as a key achievement. Kakao Entertainment's girl group IVE conducted a large-scale world tour across 27 cities in 19 countries worldwide, and the boy group RIIZE, which debuted last year, made an unprecedented move for a rookie by signing a global local album release contract before their official debut.

Meanwhile, Billboard annually selects influential figures in the global music industry and publishes the 'Power List' each year, categorized by ▲Label ▲Publishing ▲Multi-Sector. Chairman Bang has been selected for the Power List four times, including in 2020, the year before last, last year, and this year. Last year, he was invited to the 'Billboard Power 100' awards ceremony and received the 'Clive Davis Visionary Award,' enhancing the prestige of K-pop.

This year, American pop singer Taylor Swift took first place on the 'Billboard Power 100.' Lucian Grainge, chairman of Universal Music Group, ranked second, and Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group, earned third place honors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.