Hybe earnings

Katseye, the international girl group formed jointly by Geffen and Hybe. Photo Credit: TV Ten

Are K-pop fans getting tired of K-pop music? Hybe has revealed rocky Q3 2024 financials, including a nearly 19% YoY slip in recorded music revenue as well as a 98.6% YoY net profit falloff.

The professional home of BTS, NewJeans, and Seventeen posted those financials in Korean as well as English today. According to the resource, Hybe’s Q3 2024 revenue approached $376.98 million (₩527.85 billion), down 1.9% YoY and close to 18% quarterly.

Within the sum, the aforementioned recorded music category suffered an 18.8% YoY decrease to $153.21 million (₩214.49 billion); the quarter’s relatively light release schedule included Enhypen’s Romance: Untold, Le Sserafim’s Crazy EP, and a debut EP entitled SIS (Soft Is Strong) from Geffen and Hybe’s jointly developed Katseye girl group.

(With physical remaining decidedly strong in the K-pop world, about one-third of total recorded music sales derived from streaming, per execs.)

Next, concerts revenue dipped 14.8% YoY to $52.85 million (₩73.99 billion), the breakdown shows, while ads and appearances rounded out the “artist-direct” category with a 9.8% YoY improvement to $24.64 million (₩34.50 billion). (BTS’ Jin, having completed his mandatory military service in mid-June, made a substantial contribution to the latter category, CEO Lee Jae-sang said during Hybe’s earnings call.)

But Q3 wasn’t free of positives for Hybe: Merchandise and licensing revenue jumped 15.7% YoY to $70.73 million (₩99.14 billion), “contents” revenue spiked 63.6% YoY to $56.90 million (₩79.76 billion), and Hybe’s Weverse superfan platform drove 23.4% YoY growth in the fan-club category ($18.54 million/₩25.97 billion total).

Now with 9.7 million monthly active users, Weverse rolled out several features and appearance-related improvements in Q3 and is beginning to lean aggressively into advertising, higher-ups explained in more words. A label-focused subscription membership, with VOD downloads, ad-free use, and different features, is in the works as well.

Lastly, in terms of core financials, Hybe’s Q3 2024 operating profit fell 25.4% YoY to $36.68 million/₩54.19 billion; the previously highlighted net profit came in at $1.03 million (₩1.44 billion), according to the report.

Returning to the initially mentioned question – are K-pop fans getting tired of K-pop music? – the top-level answer, as demonstrated by the ongoing sales attributable to new releases, appears to be “no.”

However, execs have for some time acknowledged a need to diversify beyond the genre, hence Hybe’s purchase of Exile Music, Quality Control, and more. Running with the point, the Latin-focused Exile is preparing to debut a “localized” act, Hybe indicated during the Q3 earnings call, and a growing list of non-K-pop artists are joining Weverse.

Also tied to Q4 are a variety of album and EP releases for Hybe. Seventeen kicked off the fourth quarter by dropping Spill the Feels last month, Enhypen’s teed up a “repackaged edition” of its second album for November 11th, and Jin’s debut solo album (entitled Happy) is set to release on the 15th, to name a few.

Plus, as of this coming June, all seven BTS members will have completed their military service, the company emphasized. During today’s trading, Hybe stock (KRX: 352820) was essentially flat at $144.35/₩202,000 per share.