What's going on at Hybe? (1 Viewer)

[seoriverse]

As some of you may know, Vlive is closing definitely by the end of the year. However, I've seen a lot of people that are misinformed on what's happening right now or even general information about how Hybe functions so this thread is to clear up false information and spread correct one. This thread is in no way meant to defend Hybe in what they're doing (no way I'm defending a corporation, ew 🤢).

Vlive situation

On January 27, 2021, it was announced that Naver Corporation, will transfer their V Live service to Hybe Corporation's technology subsidiary, Weverse Company Inc. (formerly known as beNX Inc.).

So, it's been around half a year since this happened. Naver Corporation transfered Vlive over to Hybe Corporation's subsidiary Weverse Company Inc. Naver had invested ₩410b (49%) in Weverse Company called beNX back then. The goal in investing so much was to "create a new global fan community platform that will integrate users, content, and services from VLive and Weverse" and the steps to achieving this included passing Vlive over to Weverse Company. Though this information has been known for a long time, there was no noticeable changes up until now. "Create a new global fan community platform" is pretty vague but, in July, Hybe officially announced that it meant Vlive services would be shut down and that all Vlive content would be transfered over to Weverse.

What does this mean for us, kpop fans? It means that if your idols do not sign up to Weverse then there can not be a transfer of their content from Vlive to Weverse and it will be lost with the app.

Spoiler: List of artists signed up on Weverse

Many think that but it is false that only group from Hybe can join Weverse with Blackpink being the most obvious exemple. Some people were also worried that their favorite group would have trouble joining because they are not as well-known or don't have the money for it. However, there's plenty of group on the list that people would consider "nugu" that are still able to register just fine so I don't think it's much of a concern for now. Groups with a large fanbase like Stray Kids, Twice and Exo will probably have their lives made available by fans on different platforms like YouTube or DailyMotion because they are not currently signed up to Weverse and have made no announcement to show they plan to.

Disbandments
A lot of people blame their favorite group's disbandment on Hybe but Hybe Corporationd doesn't have much of say on how labels manage their groups.

Subsidiaries within the division operate independently of Hybe Corporation but receive support.

Meaning each labels make their own choices on what they do with their artists and Hybe Corporation provide support (mostly money, i assume). In GFRIEND's case, Source Music was acquired in July 2019 but the members left the the company on March 22, 2021 because the girls did not want to renew their contracts which marked their official disbandement. As for NU'EST, Pledis was acquired on May 25, 2020 but, when the time came for contract renewing in 2022, some members decided to leave the agency which lead them to decide to go their own separate ways and officially disband. People should also consider that the effect of the COVID pandemic are still felt in 2022 and a lot of groups were hit very hard by it. I think it's a factor that needs to be considered when thinking about why groups may have disbanded.

That's pretty much the two main points people talk about when mentioning Hybe. I hope it was helpful! If you have any questions or there's part that you still don't understand, I can try my best to answer and explain. Thank you!​

 

[Nezumi]

That’s a lot to take in

 

[Abeamus]

The issue with the V Live thing is that their solution sucks and pushes people to have to join Weverse or have someone download all their content to then reupload somewhere which is a lame move.

As for Hybe not having a say in the actions of their subsidiaries that's just not true at all especially Gfriend not wanting to renew their contracts as Yerin even in the last month was crying on a show because a song playing reminded her of one of Gfriends performances.

I have no idea about Nu'est since some remained so that's up in the air but I can tell you for certain Hybe disbanded Gfriend.

 

[seoriverse]

The issue with the V Live thing is that their solution sucks and pushes people to have to join Weverse or have someone download all their content to then reupload somewhere which is a lame move.

As for Hybe not having a say in the actions of their subsidiaries that's just not true at all especially Gfriend not wanting to renew their contracts as Yerin even in the last month was crying on a show because a song playing reminded her of one of Gfriends performances.

I have no idea about Nu'est since some remained so that's up in the air but I can tell you for certain Hybe disbanded Gfriend.

that is the official version of the story given on gfriend's disbandment. there's plenty of reason why gfriend would've wanted to continue as a group but simply couldn't. there is no point in making assumptions when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes.

 

[Abeamus]

that is the official version of the story given on gfriend's disbandment. there's plenty of reason why gfriend would've wanted to continue as a group but simply couldn't. there is no point in making assumptions when we have no idea what's going on behind the scenes.

There's no speculation as the girls have all talked about their hatred of Hybe for forcing them to disband and SinB said herself "Chloe was fired from that company" with Chloe being one of the names considered for SinB so Gfriend did not leave, they were kicked out.

 

[cocomelon]

just because bts' took kpop to the next level doesn't mean hybe has to revolutionise and replace the shit out of everything everything

 

[seoriverse]

There's no speculation as the girls have all talked about their hatred of Hybe for forcing them to disband and SinB said herself "Chloe was fired from that company" with Chloe being one of the names considered for SinB so Gfriend did not leave, they were kicked out.

If they did get kicked out then it's Source Music that did it since it's their label that's in charge of their contract and management.

 

[seoriverse]

just because bts' took kpop to the next level doesn't mean hybe has to revolutionise and replace the shit out of everything everything

bts and their label are completely independent from the technology division of hybe

 

[Abeamus]

If they did get kicked out then it's Source Music that did it since it's their label that's in charge of their contract and management.

If you want to believe your own little bubble of events then sure but for 1. being a majority owner of a company means you get a say in what happens and Hybe is the majority owner of Source Music and 2. the girls only knew a couple of months before that Gfriend was going to disband and contract negotiations were going on longer than that with Sowon seemingly having put a deadline for resigning by on the calender as a party day which later when questioned she wasn't as thrilled about so it's clear something happened that stopped something both Source Music and Gfriend wanted.

 

[cocomelon]

bts and their label are completely independent from the technology division of hybe

but still its a division right

 

[cocomelon]

If they did get kicked out then it's Source Music that did it since it's their label that's in charge of their contract and management.

babes its okay you dont have to be so defensive about a company that you have no stakes in 😭

 

[seoriverse]

If you want to believe your own little bubble of events then sure but for 1. being a majority owner of a company means you get a say in what happens and Hybe is the majority owner of Source Music and 2. the girls only knew a couple of months before that Gfriend was going to disband and contract negotiations were going on longer than that with Sowon seemingly having put a deadline for resigning by on the calender as a party day which later when questioned she wasn't as thrilled about so it's clear something happened that stopped something both Source Music and Gfriend wanted.

Look, I don't know much about the circumstances of GFRIEND's disbandment and according to what you said, they got kicked out for no reason which happens often in the kpop industry and is just sad. The point of the original post I made was to say that those company and labels are supposedly independent from Hybe Corporation in their operations and Hybe only provides support in expertise and money. How much of it is actually true? I don't know, I don't work in this industry. As you said, there's things that don't add up about their disbandment but there's is no proof in what you said that Hybe was the one who got involved.

 

[seoriverse]

babes its okay you dont have to be so defensive about a company that you have no stakes in 😭

i don't want to defend a company but there's just no point in spreading misinformation 😭

 

[seoriverse]

but still its a division right

big hit music is under the music and entertainment division while weverse company is under the technology division. i'm pretty sure bang pd made big hit music completely private before stepping out as a ceo.

 

[Jewel]

Answer to the thread title...making a really stupid and money grubbing mistake.

 

[Abeamus]

Look, I don't know much about the circumstances of GFRIEND's disbandment and according to what you said, they got kicked out for no reason which happens often in the kpop industry and is just sad. The point of the original post I made was to say that those company and labels are supposedly independent from Hybe Corporation in their operations and Hybe only provides support in expertise and money. How much of it is actually true? I don't know, I don't work in this industry. As you said, there's things that don't add up about their disbandment but there's is no proof in what you said that Hybe was the one who got involved.

Well what proof would there be? Hybe aren't going to come out and say "yeah we kicked Gfriend like the last minute of a American Football game" and since you can get sued even for telling the truth in Korea then Gfriend can only say vague things in regards to the situation so all that's left is to speculate because one side isn't allowed to tell the truth and the other won't ever tell the truth.

 

[seoriverse]

Answer to the thread title...making a really stupid and money grubbing mistake.

i don't want to see vlive go 💔😭

 

[seoriverse]

Well what proof would there be? Hybe aren't going to come out and say "yeah we kicked Gfriend like the last minute of a American Football game" and since you can get sued even for telling the truth in Korea then Gfriend can only say vague things in regards to the situation so all that's left is to speculate because one side isn't allowed to tell the truth and the other won't ever tell the truth.

I know no one is going to come out and tell the truth but that just mean we don't know and the one to blame is still left to speculation. I wish we did know the actual culprit for it and that the girls would feel safe to come out and say it but that's just no possible for them.

 

[Soogi]

Meaning each labels make their own choices on what they do with their artists and Hybe Corporation provide support (mostly money, i assume).

realistically there's no way hybe is pouring all this money into these labels without expecting to get a major say in how they run their business and which artists they drop/offer better contracts. that's exactly the reason why you would buy out/become a major shareholder to your competitor in the first place; to hold that sort of executive power. i can't speak for gfriend, but there was no indication that pledis had plans to let nu'est go before teh acquisition. they still got yearly comebacks and were doing fairly okay (unlike pristin & after school), so odds are hybe decided they weren't worth investing in and let them go (either they didn't make them an offer for renewal, or refused to negotiate in nu'ests favor). iirc aron even mentioned on a podcast that the disbandment caught them off guard

 

[seoriverse]

realistically there's no way hybe is pouring all this money into these labels without expecting to get a major say in how they run their business and which artists they drop/offer better contracts. that's exactly the reason why you would buy out/become a major shareholder to your competitor in the first place; to hold that sort of executive power. i can't speak for gfriend, but there was no indication that pledis had plans to let nu'est go before teh acquisition. they still got yearly comebacks and were doing fairly okay, so odds are hybe decided they weren't worth investing in and let them go (either they didn't make them an offer for renewal, or refused to negotiate in nu'ests favor). iirc aron even mentioned on a podcast that the disbandment caught them off guard

Yeah, that's just the official version of how they say the company work. Just like Gfriend's disbandment, no one's going to come out and tell the actual truth. So there is suspicions but no way to prove it actually happened.