BTS’s Agency Expands to India, A Challenge to Bollywood?
Light House Denver – BTS’s agency Hybe, which manages global groups like Seventeen and Enhypen, will open a branch office in India by September or October 2025. This move marks Hybe’s fifth global expansion, following its presence in the United States, Japan, Latin America, and China.
The expansion is part of Hybe Chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s ambitious “Multi-home, Multi-genre” strategy aimed at taking K-pop into new and promising markets around the world.
Bang Si-hyuk explained that India, with its population of over 1.4 billion and one of the fastest-growing entertainment industries, is a major opportunity. He referred to India as the “next big bet” in his mission to adapt K-pop to local cultural dynamics.
“To truly grow, we must remove the ‘K’ from K-pop and reach a broader global audience,” Bang said, as quoted by The Korea Herald.
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He noted that the rising popularity of Latin pop and Afrobeats is pressuring K-pop’s global market share, which currently stands at just around 3%. Despite sparking debate with his “K-pop crisis” remarks, Bang remains firm in pushing Hybe’s full-scale localization strategy.
Hybe’s efforts have already shown results. In Japan, boy groups like &Team and Aoen have received a warm reception. In the U.S., girl group Katseye successfully entered the Billboard charts, although they’ve yet to fully break into the American mainstream.
Meanwhile, BTS’s agency Hybe has partnered with Latin America’s Telemundo network on a boy band audition project that includes full-scale K-pop-style training. In China, the company is taking a more cautious approach by opening a promotional office, without plans to debut a local group in the near future.
India represents Hybe’s next major chapter. There has been no official announcement about debuting an Indian K-pop group. However, the opening of a physical office shows Hybe’s strong commitment to developing a K-pop ecosystem in South Asia.
However, not everyone is convinced by this direction. Some critics argue that K-pop’s strength lies in its Korean identity, its artist visuals, aesthetics, and highly structured production systems.
Former YG Entertainment producer Sinxity sees Hybe’s strategy as bold innovation rather than a threat.
“Hybe is generating new demand through a constantly evolving business model. In Korea, the market may be saturated, but globally, K-pop still has vast potential to grow,” he explained.
With this bold step, Hybe aims to show that K-pop’s future goes beyond Korea. The company believes it belongs to the world.
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