On the same day that HYBE announced BTS's military service plans, they also sent out a letter to shareholders stating that it remains possible for the company to achieve continued growth while BTS serves.
As previously reported, the BTS members will be serving military service in order. Some members' individual activities will continue until the first half of 2023, while both HYBE and the members have a goal of resuming their activities as seven members by 2025.
"BTS' transition to military service is not a sudden event," HYBE wrote in the shareholder letter. "Every effort has been made to establish company-wide measures to dispel market concerns that may arise from the announcement of military service plans."
In the past, HYBE has been criticized for relying too much on the activities and achievements of BTS for the overall performance of the company. However, in the new statement, the company explains that its established multi-label system and innovative music and technology convergence would secure a foundation for continuous growth even with BTS members' absence.
"Under our multi-label system, nine labels are creating various music and content based on independent rights. We were able to build a lineup including global artists like Seventeen, TXT, ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, Zico, fromis_9, Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande thanks to this multi-label strategy," the statement reads.
"For the past three years, the sales of HYBE Labels artists, excluding BTS, have grown more than three times a year on average. In addition, the consolidated HYBE sales for label artists, excluding BTS, are expected to account for 35-40%. We have also prepared a blueprint for strengthening our influence in the global music market by debuting more than four new teams in Korea, Japan, and the United States in 2023,” it continued. "We decided to use the announcement of BTS's military service implementation plan as an opportunity to resolve uncertainty. While removing this uncertainty, we also plan to resolve market concerns by executing the mid- to long-term plans we have made so far one by one."
Meanwhile, HYBE Labels includes BIG HIT MUSIC, Source Music, Pledis Entertainment, BELIFT LAB, KOZ Entertainment, and ADOR.
This was likely the primary reason for the acquisition of these other labels, to diversify their portfolio. It was a smart move and they have debuted and supported some very popular groups. I'm sure they'll take a dip in profitability but they'll do fine overall