CASE STUDY

Big Hit Entertainment and Blockbuster Band BTS: K-Pop Goes Global
By: Anita Elberse and Lizzy Woodham
Format:Print | Language:English | Pages:22
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ABSTRACT
Bang Si-Hyuk (‘Hitman Bang’) is the founder and co-chief executive officer of Big Hit
Entertainment, the company behind BTS, a ‘K-pop’ band that has found unparalleled success
around the globe—a remarkable feat given that most of their songs are in Korean. It is March 1,
2020. With its latest album, the band has now scored its fourth chart-topping album in the U.S.
in less than two years. The band’s popularity has been extremely lucrative: by some estimates,
the BTS ecosystem accounts for a staggering $4.9 billion of South Korea’s GDP. While K-pop
has been dominated by three large companies—SM, YG, and JYP—since the mid-1990s, BTS
Bang arguably has created a K-pop phenomenon that is more global than any act the ‘big three’
have ever overseen. And whereas K-pop is traditionally associated with long-term, exclusive
contracts between companies and their acts that pay the talent relatively modestly and give
them little control, Bang seeks to foster a more balanced relationship with his superstar act. Is
BTS well-positioned to sustain its success? Can Big Hit replicate that success with the select
few other acts in its portfolio? And what does that say about the future of K-pop, and the manner
in which music companies will manage the relationships with their talent?
KEYWORDS
Music; Entertainment; Superstars; Talent; Talent Development; Labor Economics; General
Management; Music Entertainment; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Labor; Contracts;
Marketing; Strategy; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry
CITATION
Elberse, Anita, and Lizzy Woodham. "Big Hit Entertainment and Blockbuster Band BTS: K-Pop
Goes Global." Harvard Business School Case 520-125, June 2020.