HYBE’s Recent “Mistake” Sparks Criticism For Its “Multi-Label” System

HYBE Labels, a giant in the Korean music industry, works as an umbrella company that has many sub-agencies that all work independently to manage their artists when it comes to creating and promoting music. The various subsidiaries under HYBE include BIGHIT MUSIC, ADOR, Pledis Entertainment, SOURCE MUSIC, and KOZ.

Yet, a recent social media mistake has caused netizens to criticize the multi-label system, including BIGHIT’s TXT and KOZ’s BOYNEXTDOOR.

On September 13, netizens shared a screenshot showing that a recent BOYNEXTDOOR video was shared on TXT’s official X account.

Netizens pointed out that it wasn’t the first time a group’s promotion was done on another account, including an ENHYPEN video placed on a Jungkook promotion for Weibo and BOYNEXTDOOR schedule posted on ENHYPEN’s Japanese X account.

When the photo was posted, netizens criticized the mistake.

Netizens explained that if all the labels were meant to work independently, it should mean that each company handles the promotion for their group and only has access to the accounts pertaining to their company. Some netizens even wondered if they were struggling to maintain this system, asking if it was that hard to have different staff rather than one person handling everything regarding social media.

• “Isn’t this practically lying to the shareholders? The independent labels aren’t running smoothly, and it seems like the staff numbers are heavily inflated. A lot of money must be going under the table.”
• “It’s not even the first time, lol. There are a lot of different groups affected, too. LOL.”
• “Wait, why are the official accounts being managed like that when the groups are all under different agencies? I don’t get it.”
• “It’s supposed to be a label system, so why is one entity handling everything?
  These groups are not even from the same label.”
• “Aren’t these groups from completely different labels? It’s not even one person per label, then. This is absurd.”
• “It’s not like SM Entertainment, where it’s ‘centers’ divided under one company. Each label is practically a separate company, isn’t it?”
• “Why is it so hard to get more staff? How can one person handle everything?
  And if it’s going to be like this, there’s no point in talking about having an independent label system.”

It’s not the first time the system of HYBE has come under criticism, and you can read more below.

When It Rains, It Pours: Has HYBE’s Multi-Label System Become Toxic?