HYBE Expands K-Pop Development Model to India with Local Entity Launch Planned for September or October

Korean entertainment companies are expanding their reach globally, with HYBE—home to BTS—officially announcing its entry into the Indian market. On June 30, the company stated that it is currently conducting research on the Indian market and plans to establish a local subsidiary in September or October. This move aligns with Chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s vision of “exporting the K-Pop methodology worldwide.” India, the world’s second-most populous country with around 1.4 billion residents, ranked 15th in the global record market in 2024. The media and entertainment industry in India is projected to reach 46 trillion won (3.3 billion dollars) by the end of 2025. Its streaming-based music consumption patterns and growing number of paid subscribers have drawn significant interest from global music companies. HYBE’s entry into India is part of its “Multi-home, Multi-genre” strategy, which involves tailoring content to local markets and diversifying genres to develop global artists. This strategy, led directly by Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, has already been implemented in the United States and Latin America. In the U.S., HYBE partnered with Geffen Records of Universal Music Group to launch the multinational girl group KATSEYE. KATSEYE had a “best year” in 2024 with their full-length album SIS, with their Title Track Touch remaining on the Billboard Bubblegum Under Hot 100 for two weeks and on global song charts for 13 consecutive weeks. In Latin America, HYBE restructured Axel Music into HYBE Latin America in 2023 and is discovering artists through Televisa’s audition program Pase a la Fama and reality shows. HYBE’s push into India is expected to serve as an experiment in localizing K-Pop training and production systems. Chairman Bang Si-hyuk emphasized that “K-Pop should not be merely a genre of popular music but rather a methodology for accurately understanding public tastes and creating super IPs based on super fans.” He also predicted that “the strategy of securing a foothold in major global music markets and applying this methodology is proving effective, and if current trends continue, the landscape of the music market dominated by the big three global companies will change significantly.” Another Korean company joining HYBE in entering India is Kakao Entertainment. Kakao acquired Cross Pictures, a local Indian film production company that has been operating in India since 2015, in 2020. The film Oh! Baby, produced by Cross Pictures, is a 2019 Indian remake of the Korean movie Miss Granny and topped the local box office. Kakao is also targeting India’s younger generation through its webtoon platform. It launched Kross Komics in 2019 to translate and distribute Korean digital comics in English, Hindi, and Telugu, while the global webtoon platform Tapas distributes content to Indian readers. Tapas exceeded a daily transaction volume of 2 million won last year. The game company KRAFTON has also expanded into the Indian market. Known for PUBG: Battlegrounds, KRAFTON acquired 75% of shares in Indian game studio Nitro Mobile for 14 million dollars in March. Nitro Mobile developed the popular Real Cricket series, and KRAFTON plans to expand into this locally popular genre and pursue the development of storytelling games as well. The Korean Webtoon Industry Association (KWIA) is also collaborating on entries into India. In 2024, it partnered with the Indian AI startup Dashuun in Bangalore to launch a creator-focused platform that supports local artists and Korean webtoon writers in producing digital comics for the Indian market. Meanwhile, global music companies are also flooding into India. Reserver Media established an Indian branch in Mumbai in April and began discovering local artists through the PopIndia project. Primary Wave partnered with Indian record label Times Music and acquired two local labels, Symphony Recording Company and ARC Music, in March this year. Warner Music Group announced the joint label 5 Junction Records in April to support South Asian artists’ entry into North America, and it is accelerating its expansion through various measures such as acquiring shares in Indian digital content company Divo, investing in the live-ticketing platform Skillbox, and expanding partnerships with global music label Junction. However, entering the Indian market poses challenges due to its high cultural and linguistic diversity. With 1.4 billion residents and over 20 official languages, while there is an internationalized population centered in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai, industry experts say a cautious localization strategy and strong local partnerships are needed to address regional preferences, religious sensitivities, and a lack of integrated media distribution networks. Despite these challenges, the rapid growth in digital content consumption in India means Korean entertainment companies expect to capture the next generation of consumers there through a combination of music, dramas, and webtoons.