BigHit Music and UMG are Planning Something Huge!
By Lonniel Lovell ('21)
On February 17, 2021, big news hit the streets: Big Hit Music, the company that manages pop group sensation BTS, and Universal Music Group (UMG), which also manages artists such as Taylor Swift, DaBaby, and Elton John, announced a new boy group that will base itself in the United States. Before we dive into this fresh catch, let's look into Big Hit and UMG as a whole...
Big Hit Music
Big Hit was established back in 2005, making them almost 16 years old, but before Big Hit’s steady rise to the top, they almost fell before they could even get started. Rewind to 2012, when the entertainment company had just debuted a new girl group called Glam. This group consisted of five members: Zinni, Trinity, Jiyeon, Dahee, and Miso. They were the first group under Big Hit entertainment. Over Glam’s short career, two of the members would be caught in a scandal. Trinity was the first member to make her departure on December 31st, 2012. Big Hit covered it up as personal issues, but that was not the case. There was more behind the scenes...
Not long after Trinity’s departure, news released about Trinity being a sasaeng of Leeteuk, a member of the boy group Super Junior. Sasaengs are fans who lack morals when it comes to someone they like in the music industry; they are basically the K-pop version of a crazy fan. Trinity was trying to get in contact with Leeteuk for a very long time, and she even went as far as pretending to be the daughter of an entertainment company to attract his attention. While Trinity's case was not super serious, there have been cases where sasaengs have done pretty questionable things that would raise eyebrows. Glam would continue as a four-member group until the girls disbanded in 2014.
On September 2nd, 2014, more scandals unfolded when actor Lee Byung accused two women of blackmailing him. For a while, people had no idea who he was talking about, but to the surprise of many, the two accused women would later reveal themselves as Dahee of Glam and model Lee Ji-Yeon. They aimed to use a suspicious video of Lee Byung saying inappropriate things to get 5 billion won (approximately 4,407,231.50 in U.S dollars) out of him. The two women tried to escape South Korea and flee to Europe but were quickly caught. Both women would face a jail sentence of one year, but Lee Byung requested for Dahee to face a two-year suspension instead of a one-year sentence. Shortly after the incident, Big Hit released a statement stating that Glam would be facing disbandment. A year later, they would debut a new group, BTS, which would become a hit sensation.
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group (UMG) is one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world. Being the managers of Taylor Swift, Kanye West, and Jay-Z with some Kpop artists such as Momoland, IU, and Got7, UMG has it all.
Big Hit and UMG announced that they are planning to debut a new boy band under a joint label. Not much information has been released on the boy group itself, but what we do know is that the group members will be selected by an audition process that will be televised nationwide. The T.V. program plans to air by February 2022, but nothing has been finalized because of the pandemic. A show to start a boy band: talk about entertaining!
Many people who follow the groups under Big Hit have mixed reactions: some cannot wait for this group to arrive while others are unsure about the union. Some students at NRHS had something to say on the topic. One anonymous student said, “I don’t really care to be honest cause it’s their company, and if they want to debut an American group, [okay].” Another student believes that this boy group might get hated even before its debut. They believe that “There’s gonna be backlash but if it’s done right, I think it’ll be successful”. I suppose their reasoning has to do with the group being based in the United States, but that is for another article. Regardless of opinion, they both hope for Big Hit and UMG to play their cards right and pass performers with genuine talent. Many can agree that this group can either fail and hurt both companies financially or grow more successful than anyone imagined. Now the question raised is: what are you looking for in this group?
Big Hit and UMG Leaders | The Korean Herald