Donga Ilbo writes on Big Hit Entertainment’s “Big Plan” Big Hit is showing a rapid pace of expansion, a sign of their ambition to become the greatest music agency and more. Big Hit will be renting & moving to a new building w/ 7 underground + 19 above ground floors next year in Yongsan. Yongsan is an interesting choice bc it’s not traditionally where agencies are located like Cheongdam (SM, Cube, FNC etc) or Mapo-gu (YG). Because of BTS's global stardom, Big Hit has went through a growth that no domestic Kpop company has ever experienced.

In the past 3 yrs the number of employees has increased by 5 times; they have 250 full time employees, more than JYP’s 215. The office moved 3 times in the past 3 yrs: Gangnam Eulji Hospital area - Hakdong - Samseong Stn area. The new bldg has Sinseongsan Stn to the north, Ichon-dong to the east and the National Museum of Korea to the south, looking over Nodeul Island & the Han River. It is close to Yongsan Stn, the new Yongsan Stn & Ichon Stn and has many amenities including hotels in the surrounding area. 

As a Kpop agency’s bldg, there’s a high chance there will be a cafe selling drinks and food, character store based on the bldg’s infrastructure. Last year, Big Hit’s sales & operating profit was estimated to be $169.6m and $67.9m respectively, beating SM, YG, JYP. On the 10th, Forbes reported that BTS were 43rd on their list of highest earning celebrities w/ $57m. Industry insiders see Big Hit accelerating their expansion in the business area, predicting Big Hit will establish new labels and utilize BTS IP to carry out new business endeavors.

Big Hit has recruited industry bigwigs like former SM creative director Min Hee-jin, who worked on Shinee, f(x) and Red Velvet before being hired as Bit Hit’s Chief Brand Officer. With BTS, TXT, who had a successful debut, and a potential girl group led by Min, Big Hit is on track to have the triangular lineup profit model favored by kpop agencies. Earlier this year, Chun Hyerim, former chief of Kakao Brand Art Cell, joined Big Hit. 

Chun is famous for the success of the “Ryan” character & “Kakao Friends.” Big Hit has a partnership with Naver’s Line through BTS BT21 characters, generating high profits. One music company exec said, “Big Hit, which has an irreplaceable IP called BTS, is now likely to bet on its own platforms instead of using platforms from other companies such as Naver and Kakao.”

Big Hit's hiring spree is shocking even to the industry. An industry insider who visited the office several times in recent years said, "I was surprised to see 'Interview in process' posted all over the place constantly every time I went there.” Kim Dongwook, manager of job search platform Saramin, said, "Big Hit had a huge public recruitment period in April and is still ongoing. They’ve been hiring since April.” Big Hit is hiring in various fields incl "IP/e-commerce" & "Creative," as well as artist management, promotional marketing & digital communication.

Mimyo, editor of webzine “Idology,” said, “It might be better to get hints of Big Hit’s blueprint from looking at SM’s expansion style and their interest in hologram concerts or artificial intelligence solutions, rather than YG’s food/restaurant business model.”

He added, “As we have done so far, we also look forward and expect them to break expectations and show a completely new way of doing business using IP.”

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