Choking back tears during an impromptu press conference last week, K-pop producer Min Hee-jin launched an offensive against her bosses at South Korea’s biggest entertainment company, Hybe.
“These old bastards have been sneakily capturing all kinds of [private] messages to kill me,” said the 45-year-old, wearing a green and white striped T-shirt and an LA Dodgers baseball cap. “But if you want to come to me, come directly to me. Don’t talk stupid behind my back.
Min’s battle with Hybe’s senior management over financial and creative control of a sub-label helped erase nearly $800 million from the music company’s market capitalization last week as sales slow in South Korea’s biggest blockbuster factories and concerns are growing about mismanagement and a lack of originality in the industry.
Her anger also captured the imagination of young Korean women inspired by her criticism of her male superiors in a country where women make up 6 percent of executives among the country’s 100 largest companies.
“What Min is experiencing is what many of us go through every day in our hierarchical, male-dominated corporate culture,” said Youn Hye-shin, 31, who works in the hospitality industry. education in Seoul. “She says out loud what we dream of saying.”
The turmoil at Hybe, the company behind boy band BTS, comes as the broader K-pop industry grapples with how to replicate the success of the past decade. Hybe’s shares have fallen more than 15 percent since January, while shares of rivals SM Entertainment, YG and JYP have also suffered double-digit drops over the past six months.
“Given the recent slowdown in sales and earnings growth rates, investors are wondering whether their growth prospects have hit the wall,” said Ahn Hyung-jin, chief investment officer at Billionfold Asset Management.
Min began her career in the music industry in 2002 as an entry-level graphic designer at pioneering K-pop label SM Entertainment. In 2017, she moved to the company’s board of directors and in 2019, she joined Hybe as chief brand officer.
In 2021, she was named general manager of a new Hybe sublabel, Ador, and tasked with creating a girl group that could emulate the success of BTS, whose members were about to begin their mandatory service in the South Korean army.
His group, NewJeans, was the fastest K-pop group to reach one billion streams on Spotify and topped the Billboard 200 albums chart last year with their second EP “Get Up.”
“Min Hee-jin is the most important creative force in the entire K-pop industry,” said Korean pop culture critic Kim Young-dae. “Before its emergence, K-pop became a victim of its own success, repeating old formulas in an attempt to maintain existing fandom,” he added.
Kim continued: “But with NewJeans, she introduced a new trend of easy listening and retro-style aesthetics, which has been the most significant development in the industry in the past five years.”
-But behind the scenes, Min’s relationship with the label had deteriorated. Last week, Hybe announced that it was opening an internal investigation into Min and other Ador executives over an alleged plot to bring in outside investors to fight control of her sublabel. parent company.
Min hit back by releasing a statement accusing another Hybe sub-label of “truly shameful” plagiarism of NewJeans’ image, choreography and music video concept for rival girl group, ILLIT, whose latest album was produced by Bang Si-hyuk, president of Hybe. .
The dispute further escalated when Hybe released documents collected during the investigation, including private messages between Min and his deputy in which they appeared to discuss options for taking control of Ador. Hybe also said she had evidence that Min had consulted a shaman on matters related to the business and that she was reporting Min to the police for an alleged breach of trust.
Min responded to the allegations hours later at his hastily arranged press conference, accusing the company’s top executives of deliberately sabotaging his work.
“My first priority is to clear my name,” Min said, accusing Hybe of portraying her as a “witch.” She added: “I went through hell. »
Hybe said it had “obtained substantial evidence proving that Min deliberately directed the plan to take control of the management of the subsidiary.” He declined to comment on Min’s plagiarism allegations against ILLIT’s producers.
“What Hybe claims to be an attempt to take over the company is baseless,” Ador said, adding that “Hybe’s claims about shamanism are an attempt to undermine and negate Ador’s success.”
Cha Woo-jin, an industry analyst and cultural critic, said the dispute exposed the shortcomings of the company’s multi-label system at a time when it is grappling with BTS’ forced “hiatus” while also seeking to export its model on the American market. .
“Hybe must guarantee a certain independence and autonomy to each label under its control,” Cha said.
Min’s battle is not over, added K-pop critic Ha Jae-geun, pointing out that the clothes the producer wore at the press conference were the same ones worn by NewJeans members in their latest music video released the same week.
“Aside from having public opinion on her side, wearing these clothes sent a message to Hybe that she and NewJeans are inseparable,” Ha said. “Now that she is considered a hero by so many young women, it will be more difficult for Hybe to take care of her.”
