Forbes

54 | FORBES ASIA JULY 2016

South Korea accounts for 40% of revenues, while

the bulk of its international audience comprises

Japan (36%) and China (20%). Even so, Western

brands are circling the genre: LVMH paid $80 mil-

lion to buy 12% of YG in 2014. Additional cash may

be coming from the South Korean government,

which has been in talks with YG on a $100 million

entertainment-focused construction project outside

of Seoul. The proposed joint venture aspires to be-

come the Studio City of K-Pop, complete with a mall,

concert venues and recording studios.

The next prize lies in North America, with its abun-

dant modern arenas and free-spending crowds. Though

the U.S. makes up only a single-digit portion of YG’s sales,

top acts are selling out arenas on both coasts, prompting

some major players in Hollywood to get involved. Psy

and one of the stars from the 2NE1 girl group have been

scooped up by Scooter Braun, whose management roster

includes Celeb 100 veteran Justin Bieber and 30 Under 30

honoree Martin Garrix. (YG still handles the two K-Pop

idols’ non-U.S. business.)

Remarkably, Bigbang has earned far more than Gar-

rix and almost as much as Bieber. That might come as a

shock to most, but not to Yang.

“I am not surprised by their success,” he says. “I was

certain that they were going to be loved by everyone in

the world.”

The band made its debut in 2006 and embarked
on a grueling schedule, releasing six albums in the
next six years—two in Korean and four in Japanese—
with English lyrics sprinkled throughout for good
measure. YouTube then took them global. “Didn’t
make us money,” says YG’s Joojong Joe. “But still it
was good exposure.”
YG is vertically integrated, collecting cash not
only from record sales but also from acting as a
combination of manager, concert promoter and tal-
ent agency. The strategy, not unlike the one adopted
more recently by Jay Z’s Roc Nation, means YG isn’t
dependent on income from recorded music, which
makes up just 25% of its revenues. YG makes just
as much from live music as it does from recordings,
thanks in large part to Bigbang: The group has been
grossing an average of $2.6 million per city on its
recent Made world tour.
“Fans are queuing or camping around venues,
often starting more than 24 hours before the show,”
says Yongbae Cho, managing director of concert pro-
moter Live Nation Korea. “With Western artists we
tend not to see these kinds of phenomena.”
Despite Psy’s international breakthrough and
Bigbang’s explosive earnings, K-Pop is still largely a
regional industry when it comes to cash, at least as
far as YG is concerned.

FORBES ASIA

BIGBANG

F

BIGBANG

THEORY

K-POP’S TOP ACT HAS ENTERED
THE FIRMAMENT OF HISTORY’S
HIGHEST-PAID BOY BANDS
WITH A STELLAR 2016—ONLY
TWO SUCH ACTS HAVE PEAKED
AT A HIGHER SINGLE-YEAR
EARNINGS TOTAL.

’N SYNC

$42.3 mil

2002

BIGBANG

$44 mil

2016

BACKSTREET BOYS

$60 mil

2000

JONAS BROTHERS

$35.5 mil

2010

ONE DIRECTION

$130 mil

2015

BOY BANDS, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE; SIMON HARRIS/SH PHOTOGRAPHY/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES; MULTI-BITS/MULTI-BITS VIA GETTY IMAGES; L. BUSACCA/WIREIMAGE; MIKE PRIOR/REDFERNS