Big Hit Entertainment, the label-management agency of K-pop giants BTS, announced Thursday that its estimated sales revenue during the first half of 2020 reached a record 294 billion won ($244.8 million) on the back of strong album sales and paid online concert revenues. In a biannual corporate briefing held on YouTube, the company added that its estimated operating profit during the January-June period reached 49.7 billion won. Big Hit said the numbers were subject to an audit before confirmat

By embracing top-notch technology backed by a well-knit plot, K-pop powerhouse Twice brought a whole new level of festivity to its first virtual concert Sunday afternoon. The group’s first official concert since its 2019 world tour, “Beyond LIVE - Twice: World in a Day” showed that the multibillion dollar industry has discovered impressive new capabilities during the pandemic era. The 90-minute pay-per-view set was streamed in 126 countries and marked the first collaborative

The treasure chest is finally wide open and YG Entertainment’s brand new rookie act, Treasure, is poised to make a splash both in and out of South Korea. Looking fairly nervous, the 12-piece boy band -- the label’s first debut since Blackpink four years ago -- attended its first-ever media interview in Seoul on Monday. After hustling for name tags and making jittery eye contact with each other, the singers broke the tense silence by saying how they felt about their long-awaited deb

The music video for BLACKPINK's hit song "How You Like That" topped the milestone of 400 million YouTube views Sunday. The music video surpassed the threshold only 43 days after its release on June 26. The feat makes it the fastest to reach the mark among all K-pop music videos on YouTube. The previous record was by "Kill This Love," another hit by the four-member act, which took 63 days to garner the view total. "How You Like That" is the first of two pre-rele

Rookie girl group Rocket Punch had a very busy year. Since debuting August last year, the band already released three mini-albums.  The latest one titled “Blue Punch” was released Tuesday, three days before their first anniversary. Following “Pink Punch” and “Red Punch,” this album centers on the theme of summer and consists of six tracks with “Juicy” as the lead track.  “Our debut song ‘Bim Bam Bum’ was also an energe

Words from the song "Run" by K-pop group BTS have been featured on an iconic signboard in downtown Seoul. The new billboard on the exterior of the Kyobo Building in the Gwanghwamun square, central Seoul, reads, "Run, run, run again. It's OK if you fall. Run, run, run again. It's OK to get hurt" -- lifted from the lead song of the 2015 BTS album "The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt. 2." The banner, 20 meters by 8 meters in dimension, has been up on the Gwanghwamu

In an about-face from its usually contemplative and edgy sound and imagery, K-pop girl group (G)I-dle said Monday its new single "Dumdi Dumdi" was intended to be a bright dance song inspired by the spirit of youthfulness and the sizzling summer heat. "While writing the new song, I asked myself what summer reminds me of. I thought it was similar to the spirit of youthfulness," (G)I-dle singer Soyeon said during a press conference held online ahead of the single's 6 p.m. relea

S.M. Entertainment said Monday that it has secured 100 billion won (US$83.8 million) in funding from Naver. The new funding will be injected into two S.M. affiliates – SMEJ Plus and Mystic Story – and a separate fund solely dedicated to creating new video contents. As part of the renewed partnership, S.M. plans to unify its global fanclub service into “Fanship” on Naver’s K-pop platform V Live. Launched last year, Fanship is a membership-based paid service for b

K-pop giant BTS won three nominations for the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards in the United States, according to the American television network Thursday (local time). The South Korean septet's "ON," the lead song on the band's album "Map of the Soul 7," was nominated in the categories of Best Pop, Best Choreography and Best K-pop, according to MTV's website. "ON" peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon release its release in March, the strongest showing ever f

From its inception, SSAK3, a one-off K-pop team created for MBC TV's weekend variety show "Hang Out With Yoo," was intended to be a silly tongue-in-cheek project, riding on the coattails of the retro boom in today's pop culture landscape. At best, the co-ed trio, formed of two late '90s-2000s singers -- Lee Hyo-ri of girl group FIN.K.L and male soloist Rain -- and top-billed comedian-emcee Yoo Jae-suk, was expected to offer a dose of wholesome feel-good '90s nostalgia to viewers and

Rising boy group Newkidd joined a global music project to combat the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The seven-piece boy band under J-Flo Entertainment teamed up with a batch of global musicians to release “Me Me We,” a song that offers a message of comfort in the fight against COVID-19. This time, four members -- Jinkwon, Yunmin, Woochul and Hwi -- lent their voices for the hopeful-sounding song. “It’s a difficult time for all of us, so we wanted hope to resonate all o

“Meant to be” is a fitting phrase to describe Yukika’s journey as a K-pop artist. A Japanese singer who released her debut album, “Soul Lady,” in South Korea last week, Yukika took her first step into the entertainment industry in middle school as a model and actress in Japan. Upon entering university, she took a hiatus to focus on her studies. Three years later, she appeared on TV again, but this time in the Korean show “The Idolmaster KR,” and late

Having reached a new career high, Ateez on Wednesday returned with the new single “Inception” to open a new chapter in its discography. “We had the longest hiatus since our debut, but we tried to fill in the gap with better preparation and a good new song,” said Seonghwa in a written statement released by the group’s agency, KQ Entertainment.  Leading off the group’s new “Zero: Fever Part.1” album, the electronic dance music cut marks a sh

K-pop stocks are rapidly bouncing back from pandemic lows as investors are increasingly buying the stocks on the rosy outlook for further expansion of K-pop fandoms and new business models. The nation’s top three labels -- S.M. Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment -- are leading the upbeat mood, while excitement is also building up for Big Hit Entertainment’s planned stock debut possibly later this year. Their stocks suffered their worst fall in March when concert

K-pop quartet BLACKPINK will drop its first full studio album in October, the group's management agency said Tuesday. On its official blog, YG Entertainment posted an album teaser poster titled "The Album," with a pink tiara in the middle and the date "2020.10.02" at the bottom. It is expected to be the first full-length album produced by the foursome, which debuted in 2016. "In 2020, BLACKPINK will target the global music market on the back of systemic and thorough