Six leaders of the Korean entertainment industry, including Bang Si-hyuk of HYBE and Park Jin-young of JYP Entertainment, have been recognized as global power players shaping the music business. Their inclusion signals how K-pop has advanced beyond the export of artists to the localization of production systems, demonstrating the industry’s growing structural strength.
According to industry sources on January 30, Bang Si-hyuk, Lee Jae-sang, and Isaac Lee of HYBE, along with Park Jin-young, Jung Wook, and Shin Hyun-kook of JYP Entertainment, were named to Billboard’s 2026 Power 100, an annual list honoring influential figures in the global music industry.
The recognition places the Korean executives alongside leaders of major global music companies, including Lucian Grainge of Universal Music Group. The result highlights how K-pop has moved from the margins into a force actively reshaping the global mainstream music market.
The three HYBE executives were ranked No. 30 on Billboard’s Leaderboard of 40 and No. 5 in the Multi-Sector category. Their selection was backed by results tied to a “multi-home, multi-genre” strategy, including the rise of localized IPs such as KATSEYE and SANTOS BRAVOS. The company was credited with expanding the global market itself through localized production and IP development.
Billboard said HYBE is not simply exporting Korean artists but embedding the K-pop system into global markets.
JYP Entertainment’s leadership trio ranked No. 12 in the Multi-Sector category, driven largely by Stray Kids’ world tour. The group’s North American tour alone posted 76.2 million dollars in revenue, reinforcing a touring model that converts global fandom into sustained financial performance.
Billboard described the Stray Kids tour as the highest-selling and highest-grossing K-pop tour in North America and cited it as a key driver behind JYP Entertainment’s record revenue in the second quarter of 2025.
The joint recognition reflects how the two companies have strengthened market influence in the post-pandemic era, with HYBE focusing on platform expansion and JYP sharpening its development system.
Billboard’s assessment that K-pop methodologies have taken root as localized success models in major global markets points to the industry’s potential to function as a long-term game changer within the global music ecosystem.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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