Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and MBC President Ahn Hyeong-jun have met to discuss collaborative strategies for the advancement of the K-pop ecosystem.
According to Hive on the 30th, this meeting came about due to an MBC proposal for dialogue. On this day, MBC expressed regret for incidents related to their past handling of Hive Labels artists.
The rift between Hive and MBC dates back to 2019 when BTS, under Hive’s management, had to withdraw from an MBC event “Gayo Daejejeon.” They opted for a year-end performance at New York Times Square instead. BTS did perform at year-end music programs on both SBS and KBS. At the time, Hive proposed pre-recording BTS’s MBC appearance but failed to reach an agreement. As a result, Hive’s subsidiaries, including Big Hit Music, Source Music, Pledis, Belift, and ADOR, avoided MBC for over four years.
In their first meeting in four years, MBC President Ahn Hyeong-jun stated, “I strongly agree that it is necessary to establish a healthy relationship between K-pop artists and broadcasters that befits the stature of K-pop. MBC will actively lead the way in creating a cultural environment where artists and broadcasters can grow together.”
Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk expressed his deep appreciation for the sincere apology from MBC and their shared empathy for enhancing the rights of K-pop artists. He said, “Thanks to MBC’s sincere apology and shared empathy for enhancing the rights of K-pop artists, this meeting was made possible. I hope that this meeting will serve as a starting point for a new, healthy content production environment beyond past practices.” Bang Si-hyuk also conveyed his opinion that sustainable growth in the K-pop ecosystem should be based on respecting the rights of artists.
During the discussion, it was noted that improvements should be made, such as addressing practices where artists have to wait for a long time after the program ends to greet the production team. Both sides agreed to work together to eradicate unfair broadcast production practices of the past and establish an environment where artists’ rights are a top priority. They plan to initiate discussions aimed at creating a healthy broadcast production environment and are committed to achieving visible results soon.
