YG Entertainment
YG Entertainment is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and music publishing house. In addition, the company operates a number of subsidiary ventures under a separate public traded company, YG Plus, which includes a clothing line, a golf management agency, and a cosmetics brand. However, despite various business expansions, most of the ventures were discontinued due to a lack of profitability.
Current artists include Eun Ji-won, Winner, Blackpink, Treasure, and Babymonster.
Former artists include Swi.T, Moogadang, Wheesung, 1TYM, Big Mama, Gummy, Seven, Nam Tae-hyun, 2NE1, Psy, Epik High, One, Lee Hi, Jinusean, Bang Yedam, Mashiho, iKon, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, Lisa, BigBang, Sechs Kies, and AKMU.
History
1990–2005: Pop culture roots, early success and first generation K-pop
In March 1996, Yang Hyun-suk, a former member of the first-generation K-pop group Seo Taiji and Boys, founded YG Entertainment under the name Hyun Planning. The company's first act was the hip-hop trio Keep Six. The group did not attract much popularity, and their failure sent Yang into debts of 400 million won. After Keep Six, the company changed its named to MF Planning, and launched the groups Jinusean and 1TYM. Yang credits the success of both acts for bringing YG and the hip hop genre into mainstream Korean music. In 1998, YG changed its name once again to Yang Goon Planning, after Yang Hyun-suk's nickname Yang Goon.In 1999, YG's artists released a collaborative album under the name YG Family. The label followed with releases from artists such as Perry, Masta Wu, Swi.T, Big Mama, Lexy, Gummy and Wheesung. It also established the "YG Underground" label, which housed 45RPM and Stony Skunk. In 2001, YG changed to its current name, YG Entertainment, which was named from the initials of Yang Goon, and a second YG Family album was released. Among others, the album featured a 13-year-old G-Dragon, who was then a trainee.
The agency found success in both Korea and Japan with its first "idol" singer Seven in 2003, who became the company's first artist to attempt to cross over into the US music scene, though his US debut failed to gain momentum.
2006–2011: Mainstream breakthrough
Following Se7en's success, YG formed its first idol group Big Bang in 2006. Despite an initial lukewarm reception, the group's breakthrough the following year and their consistent popularity have made them one of the biggest and most bankable boy bands in the world. This was followed by YG's first successful girl group 2NE1 in 2009, who, prior to their split in 2016, were considered one of the most successful and popular girl groups in South Korea. Similarly to Seven, both groups conducted successful careers in Japan.In 2010, YG made a highly publicized move into a new building, while the old headquarters became a training facility. In the same year, the company unsuccessfully applied for listing on the stock exchange; it was suspected that this was because the company had too few active music groups and an unstable cash flow, despite an increase in earnings in 2009. Later that year, the label signed established artist Psy.
2012–2016: International recognition and business expansion
2012 brought YG international recognition when Psy's "Gangnam Style" gained worldwide popularity as a viral video. On August 21, it charted at number one on the iTunes Music Video Charts. This feat was a first for a South Korean artist. By November 24, "Gangnam Style" had become the most viewed video in YouTube history, and the first video to surpass a billion views. The song was credited as the main reason for YG's share prices increasing by more than 60 per cent, with the record label subsequently filing its first annual report in 2012 with profits of over 50% after going public on the KOSDAQ the year before.That same year, the label signed rapper and producer Tablo, leader of the hip hop group Epik High, relaunching his career after a musical hiatus following his Stanford controversy. Tablo's band Epik High later transitioned into the record label following his success.
Yang's increased involvement on competitive reality television series led to several record deals with contestants, starting with K-pop Star's first season runner-up Lee Hi. Other participants on the show were signed as potential members of the label's future boy groups. On the second season of the show, both the winners, sibling duo Akdong Musician as well as runner-up Bang Ye-dam, signed under the agency. The reality program Win: Who is Next was later launched by YG, in which two teams of male trainees competed against each other for the chance to sign a contract with the label to debut as the company's next boy band. The conclusion of the reality series saw the formation of Winner.
In 2014, YG acquired T Entertainment's staff and actors including Cha Seung-won, Im Ye-jin, and Jang Hyun-sung. Through the acquisition of modelling agency KPlus, it expanded its acting division through the acting debuts of models Lee Sung-kyung and Nam Joo-hyuk. YG also signed a contract with actress Choi Ji-woo. French luxury giant LVMH's private equity arm, L Capital Asia, later announced that it would be investing up to US$80 million in YG. Headquartered in Singapore, L Capital Asia would become the second-largest investor in YG with an 11.5% stake, second only to Yang Hyun-suk's 28%. In 2014 YG expanded into the beauty industry with the creation of its cosmetics brand Moonshot.
In 2015, YG invested nearly US$100 million in a new Gyeonggi Province-based industrial complex which was slated to be complete by December 2018. Real estate in Seoul worth ₩16 billion was also purchased for the purpose of expanding their headquarters. In that year, the company also saw the creation of two sub-labels, the first led by Tablo and the second headed by YG producers Teddy Park of 1TYM and Kush of Stony Skunk. The members of the losing team from the reality series WIN: Who is Next regrouped and debuted as iKon, along with a new member.
When Gong Minji, the youngest member of 2NE1 announced that she had left the group in April 2016, YG Entertainment stated that the group would continue as a trio. In November 2016, YG announced that CL and Dara had renewed their contracts as solo artists, indicating Park Bom's departure from the agency and the disbandment of 2NE1. On January 21, 2017, 2NE1 appeared as a trio and released "Goodbye" as a farewell song that CL wrote when she heard the news of Minji's departure.
Sixteen years after the group's disbandment, first-generation K-pop boy band Sechs Kies signed a contract with YG in May 2016 to relaunch their career. In the same month, Chinese technology enterprises Tencent and Weiying Technology announced an investment of in YG. Weiying took an 8.2% stake in the company and Tencent a 4.5% stake. YG later added Lee Jong-suk, Kang Dong-won, and Kim Hee-jung to their list of actors. YG debuted their second girl group Blackpink in 2016, their first since 2NE1, followed by the solo rapper One the following year.
2017–2019: Scandals, controversies, and artists' departure
At the end of 2017, YG with JTBC launched a talent survival show entitled Mix Nine, a contest between trainees from different agencies. Although the winning team was scheduled to debut as idols, YG revealed that the debut for the male winning group had been cancelled. The failure of the show led to incurred losses of ₩7 billion won in the first quarter and ₩4 billion won in the last three months of 2017, causing JYP Entertainment to surpass YG as the second-highest valued K-pop company.In May 2018, Psy left the company after eight years. Epik High member Tablo announced that his hip-hop group had terminated its contract with YG after six years of working together in October 2018. At the same time, HIGHGRND and it artist have been released from YG and Epik High. In November 2018, YG announced YG Treasure Box, a talent survival show to determine the line-up for their next boy group scheduled to debut in 2019. YG later announced that this event would produce two groups, Treasure and Magnum, both of whom would be active as Treasure 13.
In 2019, the Burning Sun scandal involving Big Bang member Seungri heated up, which resulted in Seungri's decision to retire from the entertainment industry on March 11, 2019. Seungri was then sentenced to 3 years in prison in August 2021, which was reduced to 18 months in January 2022. Comedian Yoo Byung-jae decided to leave YG before his contract ended, after this scandal further dragged the name of the agency. In early June 2019, B.I, the leader of iKon, was reported to have attempted to purchase LSD and marijuana illegally in 2016; he announced his apology to fans and declared his departure from iKon and YG Entertainment. Yang was also reported to have colluded with the police to cover up the B.I case.
Yang is also accused of money laundering, illegal gambling, and preparing sexual services for potential investors. Due to this series of scandals and controversies, Yang Hyun Suk resigned from all his positions at the agency. Likewise, his younger brother, Yang Min Suk, relinquished his position as CEO of YG Entertainment as a form of accountability. This resignation was officially announced on June 14, 2019. CFO Hwang Bo-kyung was appointed as the new CEO of YG on June 20, 2019.
In July 2019, rapper One announced that he had parted ways with YG and founded his own sole agency. Following 2NE1's disbandment in 2016, CL announced that she would not be renewing her contract with YG Entertainment in November 2019. At the end of December 2019, solo singer Lee Hi announced that YG was no longer her agency, not long after that she released a new album with AOMG.