{"id":240689,"date":"2025-09-23T12:41:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=240689"},"modified":"2025-09-23T12:41:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:41:26","slug":"hybe-expands-into-india-opening-fifth-global-hq-in-mumbai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/hybe-expands-into-india-opening-fifth-global-hq-in-mumbai\/","title":{"rendered":"HYBE expands into India, opening fifth global HQ in Mumbai"},"content":{"rendered":"

As expected<\/a>, South Korean entertainment giant HYBE has established its India-based subsidiary in Mumbai, marking the firm’s fifth international headquarters.<\/p>\n

The Mumbai office joins HYBE\u2019s other global headquarters in Japan<\/strong>, America<\/strong>, Latin<\/strong> America<\/strong>, and China<\/strong>. It positions HYBE within India\u2019s entertainment capital, home to the Bollywood film industry.<\/p>\n

The launch comes just five months after HYBE set up<\/a>\u00a0a subsidiary in China, the world\u2019s\u00a0fifth-largest recorded music market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The move comes as HYBE seeks to develop region-specific content and capitalize on India\u2019s growing music streaming market.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued on Tuesday (September 23), HYBE said: \u201cWith approximately 185 million<\/b> users, India’s music streaming market is the second-largest in the world, making it the perfect market to implement our growth strategy.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWith approximately 185 million<\/b> users, India’s music streaming market is the second-largest in the world, making it the perfect market to implement our growth strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

HYBE<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The company added: “The remarkable rise of K-pop in India highlights the country’s potential as a major market, and we are excited to expand our presence.”<\/p>\n

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The India-based operation will implement HYBE’s artist training and development (T&D) system, conducting auditions and training programs adapted for local talent.<\/p>\n

The subsidiary plans to discover Indian artists and connect them with international audiences through HYBE’s existing distribution network.<\/p>\n

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HYBE says the launch of HYBE India is part of what it calls its \u201cmulti-home, multi-genre\u201d strategy, which the company says \u201caims to lead local markets by developing businesses that reflect regional cultures and characteristics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The launch comes less than three months after HYBE confirmed<\/a> plans to expand in India in the second half of the year. A HYBE spokesperson told MBW at the time that the move is part of Chairman Bang Si-hyuk<\/b>\u2018s \u201cvision to export K-Pop methodologies”.<\/p>\n

HYBE\u2019s spokesperson said on July 1: \u201cOur strategic expansion into India is driven by Chairman Bang Si-hyuk\u2019s vision to export K-Pop methodologies, aligning with his conviction that the K-Pop business model must be adapted to other genres for sustained growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As MBW previously noted, the expansion into India is a significant growth opportunity for HYBE.<\/p>\n

India is the most populous country in the world, with more than\u00a01.42 billion<\/b>\u00a0people, according to the\u00a0US Census Bureau<\/a>.\u00a0It is also the world\u2019s\u00a015th largest recorded music market\u00a0<\/b>by annual revenues, according to\u00a0data<\/a>\u00a0from the\u00a0IFPI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The company’s expansion into India comes as Bang Si-hyuk predicted that \u201cthe strategy of securing a foothold in the world\u2019s major music markets and applying this methodology is producing results, and if the current trend continues, the landscape of the global music market dominated by the Big 3 global companies will change significantly,\u201d according to a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0cited by\u00a0Maeil Business Newspaper.<\/i><\/p>\n

Bang\u2019s vision of globalizing K-pop has led to the launch of the girl group KATSEYE<\/b> in the US last year through HYBE\u2019s partnership<\/a>\u00a0with\u00a0Universal Music Group<\/b>\u2018s\u00a0Geffen Records<\/b>.<\/p>\n

KATSEYE, which includes Indian-American member Lara Raj, recently\u00a0won<\/a>\u00a0the MTV Push Performance of the Year Award for their song\u00a0Touch\u00a0<\/i>at the 2025 MTV VMAs. They performed their hit song\u00a0Gnarly\u00a0<\/i>during the awards show.<\/p>\n

HYBE and Geffen are currently holding auditions<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0\u201cThe Final Piece\u201d<\/b>\u00a0of a new girl group after KATSEYE\u2019s success. It was recently revealed that three contestants from their 2023\u00a0Dream Academy\u00a0<\/i>competition<\/a>, which produced KATSEYE, will join the new girl group.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, HYBE Latin America\u2019s music incubator Medell\u00edn Music Lab<\/b>, based in the city of Medell\u00edn in Colombia, auditioned<\/a> over 400 aspiring artists and professionals. The contestants will be narrowed down to 160,<\/b>\u00a0who will then advance to creative camps and the program\u2019s music incubator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Company says the launch of HYBE INDIA is a key part of its \u2018multi-home, multi-genre\u2019 strategy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":235224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[129816,4298],"class_list":["post-240689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hybe","tag-india"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240689"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240728,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240689\/revisions\/240728"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}