Latest news with #PledisEntertainment
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
BTS loses brand value ranking to K-pop's rising superstars despite major military comeback in June: Check out the Top 20
BTS members RM, Jimin, V, Jin, Jungkook, Suga, and J-Hope had an emotional reunion at the group's 12th anniversary, celebrated through the FESTA event. The special performance by J-Hope at the Goyang Complex brought the septet together after 18 months apart due to military service. While June saw BTS take cultural dominance to another level—with their global popularity cutting across borders and fans waiting months for a musical comeback—it was rising K-pop stars SEVENTEEN who stole the spot. Recently crowned the most popular and successful K-pop group of 2024–2025 by an American website, the Pledis Entertainment's boy band topped the brand value list once ruled by BIGHIT stars. Also read: BTS loses global dominance to rising K-pop stars who just beat Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish in album sales According to the Korea Brand Reputation Index (via Soompi), while BTS topped the list in May with a brand reputation score of 7,811,108, marking a 2.54% increase from April, the legendary boy band slipped to 6,843,685 in June. Meanwhile, SEVENTEEN shot up to 7,027,417, with a dramatic 22.66% rise in their score since May. Alongside their recent album Happy Birthday, other top-ranking keywords included 'MINITEEN' and 'Bad Influence,' while related search terms were 'record,' 'sales,' 'donate,' and 'reveal.' Their positivity-to-negativity index analysis also changed, scoring 91.78% positive reactions. Earlier this month, SEVENTEEN graced the cover of The Hollywood Reporter, which named them the biggest and most successful boy band of 2024–25. Their album sales even outperformed big-league American pop acts like Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish, with the group being compared to Taylor Swift and Drake, who hold the top two global positions. Their Asia tour (2023–2024) alone raked in $98.4 million from just 24 shows, making it the highest-grossing K-pop tour of the year. The 13-member K-pop act includes Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino. Also read: 'Taehyung spams the most, RM ghosts': BTS' Jin fails lie detector test twice, wants ARMY to stop calling him this name BIGBANG, despite being on an indefinite hiatus, never really left the scene when it comes to brand power, thanks to the popularity of members like G-Dragon, who consistently dominates solo rankings too. For June, the group's brand reputation index stood at 4,318,118, up from May's 3,381,072. Meanwhile, SHINee took fourth place with a reputation index of 3,639,299, marking a solid 35% jump from the previous month. Stray Kids also clawed back into the chart, posting a massive 119.51% surge with a score of 3,042,888 for June. While groups like ASTRO, ZEROBASEONE, Treasure, 2PM, have slipped to much lower rankings. According to the KBRI, the rankings are determined after an analysis of 'consumer participation, media coverage, interaction, and community indexes of various boy groups' in the given time period. Check out the top 20.
Korea Herald
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Hoshi X Woozi to hold first fan concert
The duo to rock the stage before enlistment Seventeen's special unit Hoshi X Woozi is set to host its first-ever "fan concerts." The duo will kick off their 'Warning" series of fan concerts, which combine elements of fan meetings and full concerts, with three days of shows at Seoul's Jamsil Indoor Stadium from July 11 to 13, according to Pledis Entertainment on Friday. The Seoul shows will be streamed online for global fans. The tour will continue in Busan at Sajik Indoor Gymnasium on July 19–20 and in Gwangju at the Universiade Gymnasium of Gwangju Women's University on Aug. 23–24. The concert's title, 'Warning,' came from the nickname of the duo — Heavy rain warning — hinting at the electrifying synergy the duo plans to bring to the stage. Fans can look forward to a diverse setlist featuring the track 'Bring it,' which was the duo's unit track released through Seventeen's 2nd studio album "Teen, Age" in 2017, and the duo's debut single 'Beam,' released in March this year. Formed on March 10, Hoshi X Woozi is a duo made up of Seventeen's same-age 1996-liner members known for its creative, playful chemistry. During Seventeen's full-group fan meeting 'Seventeen in Carat Land' on March 21, Hoshi revealed, 'Woozi and I have received our enlistment dates. We're scheduled to enlist later this year.' Before they begin their service, the duo will also appear at 'KCON LA 2025,' taking place in Los Angeles from Aug. 1–3. Meanwhile, Seventeen's fifth full-length album "Happy Burstday," released on May 26, sold over 2.52 million copies in its first week, making it the highest first-week sales for any K-pop album released this year, according to Hanteo Chart. The group also performed the title track 'Thunder' on NBC's The Kelly Clarkson Show on Wednesday.
News18
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
SEVENTEEN's HAPPY BURSTDAY Tops 2025 K-Pop Album Sales So Far
Last Updated: HAPPY BURSTDAY becomes SEVENTEEN's fifth best-selling album in terms of first-week sales. Global K-pop group SEVENTEEN 's new album, HAPPY BURSTDAY, has made waves not only with its sound and performances but also with the massive first-week sales numbers. According to a statement by their agency Pledis Entertainment, HAPPY BURSTDAY recorded a staggering 2,521,208 physical copies sold in its first week. These sales were tracked from May 26 to June 1, based on data from Hanteo Chart. With this figure, SEVENTEEN now holds the record for the highest first-week album sales for any K-pop release in 2025 so far. This marks a significant achievement for the group. HAPPY BURSTDAY becomes SEVENTEEN's fifth-best-selling album in terms of first-week sales. The only albums that sold more in their opening weeks were SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, FML, SPILL THE FEELS, and 17 IS RIGHT HERE, each of which crossed the 2.9 million mark. The timing of this release is also special. SEVENTEEN is currently celebrating their 10th debut anniversary and this album is their fifth full-length release. To mark the decade-long journey, the group hosted a three-day event in Seoul last week. The celebration included a one-of-a-kind performance on the Jamsu Bridge in central Seoul. This is a historic moment because SEVENTEEN became the first K-pop act ever to perform on the bridge. At the celebration, member Mingyu shared the meaning behind the title, saying, 'This year marks our 10th anniversary, and since it's our fifth full-length album, we titled it 'Happy Burstday.' It's a celebration of our 10 years and a combination of the words 'burst,' as in explosion or release and 'birthday.'" While members Jeonghan and Wonwoo were absent due to their ongoing military service, the rest of the group delivered a memorable show. The hour-long concert included a total of 12 tracks including songs like Rock With You, God of Music and Very Nice. The night ended with a fireworks display over the Han River. HAPPY BURSTDAY brings together a wide mix of collaborators. Alongside SEVENTEEN's longtime producers Bumzu and Shannon Bae, the album features big names like Pharrell, Timbaland, BTS' longtime producer PDogg and K-indie artist Ha Hyunsang. The album also includes solo songs by each member. These tracks give fans a new way to enjoy their unique voices and styles. SEVENTEEN consists of 13 members: Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino. First Published: June 03, 2025, 09:11 IST
Korea Herald
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Seventeen sets this year's first-week sales record
The fifth studio album from Seventeen sold the most copies in its first week of any K-pop album this year, said agency Pledis Entertainment on Monday. LP 'Happy Burstday' logged over 2.52 million units in the period, after exceeding 2 million on the day of release, also a first this year. The album topped a series of music charts abroad, including Oricon's Daily Album Ranking while main track 'Thunder' landed atop Melon's Top 100. The 16-track album does mark the band's 10th anniversary but is a 'bold claim that Seventeen isn't just celebrating the past but charging headfirst like a buffalo into a new territory,' wrote Billboard magazine. It is 'a stepping stone between the past and future, celebrating their growth over past decade and the transformation that's yet to come,' said NME magazine.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Edge of Seventeen: How the K-Pop Powerhouse Is Reinventing Itself
There's mounting evidence of Seventeen's cultural dominance around the planet, from sold-out stadium shows and chart-topping albums in the U.S. and Japan to festival-headlining sets in Mexico and Germany. But nowhere is it more apparent than in the group's home city of Seoul. The area surrounding the headquarters of their label Pledis Entertainment's parent company, Hybe, is covered in Seventeen. The gloomy and humid weather on a recent May morning doesn't stop a herd of fans from snapping pictures and taking in the coffee shop across the street, where the faces of Seventeen — comprising members Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The 8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino — paper the outer walls. Stretched across a nearby bus stop is a banner wishing Joshua a happy birthday. His bandmate DK has his own birthday banner just a few storefronts down. The 28-year-old's smiling face can be seen in beauty ads running on a loop in Seoul's subway cars. The whole city seems to be celebrating the group's 10th anniversary and the recent release of its fifth studio album, Happy Burstday. A party is held on the man-made islands known as Sebitseom, along Seoul's Hangang River, featuring a giant floating Seventeen light stick and a first-of-its-kind performance at the nearby Jamsu Bridge. Fans who couldn't snag a seat to the special performance did anything they could to see the group, even by jumping in yachts that pulled up next to the stage to watch from the water. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'A Light That Never Goes Out' Is a Cannes Debut Opus on Outcasts, Depression, Music, and Hope Netflix, BBC Studios Team on Comedy Podcast 'The Big Pitch With Jimmy Carr' Presley Chweneyagae, Star of South African Oscar Winning 'Tsotsi', Dies at 40 It's hard to imagine Seventeen's global profile getting any larger, but the group's ascendance to the top of pop shows no sign of slowing. The 13-member outfit was the world's biggest group in 2024, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)'s state-of-the-industry report, which tracks sales and streams. The organization ranked Seventeen third in total, just behind solo acts Taylor Swift and Drake and ahead of U.S. household names like Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar. Their 2023-2024 Follow Tour in Asia was the highest-grossing K-pop tour of 2024, raking in $98.4 million across 24 shows. The Hybe building is the ultimate temple to the group's success, currently wrapped in a message that reads 'Seventeen will challenge eternity.' That may be, but there's little they can do about the march of time. It's a moment of transition for Seventeen. On one hand — as all K-pop boy groups must do at some point — Seventeen is facing inevitable change as members of the group begin mandatory military service. South Korean law states that all eligible men must enlist before turning 30. Jeonghan, the eldest of the group at 29, and Wonwoo, 28, are currently serving and therefore unable to participate in any promotions. (Both performed on the new album before enlisting.) At the same time, Seventeen is grappling with change of a more philosophical nature: wrestling over what the band should become. This reckoning perhaps is best exemplified by Happy Burstday's track list, which features 13 solo songs — one for each member — and only three group tracks. The bandmembers, by their own admission, have focused heavily on group activities until now, even though several of them have also put out solo releases over the past decade. Any boy group that started as young Seventeen must contend with the quandary of how to age gracefully alongside its music and fans. Somewhat rarely for K-pop, Seventeen's members have had a heavy hand in the trajectory of their careers, as their label's founder, Sung Soo Han (whose official title, tellingly, is Master Professional), explains. 'The Seventeen members have been deeply involved not only in the creative process but also in shaping the group's overall direction, making decisions and guiding the team themselves,' he says. Pledis, which Han founded in 2007, has been Seventeen's label for their entire career. In addition to Seventeen, the agency has produced several domestically popular K-pop groups like After School and NU'EST, along with their latest boy group, TWS, which debuted to great fanfare in 2024. To understand Seventeen, and why they've lasted this long, it's important to understand the K-pop ecosystem as a whole. It's not a genre — in fact many groups, including Seventeen, explore several different musical styles throughout their careers — but rather a specific way of promoting and releasing music. What perhaps best defines K-pop is the intensity of its relationship with fans, both on social media and in more intimate in-person encounters. Communication apps allow fans to 'text' directly with their favorite K-pop idol. VIP concert tickets might include a send-off, where fans gather inside the stadium as the performers walk through snapping photos and signing 'photocards' (another K-pop specialty; think baseball or Pokémon trading cards but instead it's your favorite artist and it comes with each album). In recent years, K-pop groups have frequently collaborated with Western artists and released English-language songs. Happy Burstday alone includes collaborations with Pharrell Williams and Timbaland. The group released their first English single, 'Dar+ling,' in 2022. Most members of K-pop groups spend their adolescence preparing for this job under tightly organized trainee programs. Typically run by Korean entertainment companies like Pledis, these programs require aspiring stars to undergo years of grueling vocal, dance and language training for the chance to join a group. Seventeen's years of apprenticeship were largely broadcast through the online show Seventeen TV, which showcased and introduced Pledis' trainees. While not all members featured on that show went on to debut with Seventeen, some who left joined other K-pop groups or pursued adjacent entertainment careers. Seven-year contracts are the standard when starting out in K-pop, and in 2021, all 13 members of Seventeen renewed their contract with Pledis Entertainment, a year earlier than expected. When Seventeen started, K-pop was at a nascent phase globally. 'Since their debut, the K-pop landscape has expanded noticeably,' Han says. He adds that the globalization has the company 'establishing customized promotional strategies that reflect the cultural characteristics and specific needs of fans in each region.' Seventeen's 2015 debut EP, 17 Carat, sold roughly 1,400 albums in its first week on Korea's Hanteo chart. By contrast, Happy Burstday, released May 26, recorded more than 2.2 million sales in its first day. As impressive as the numbers are, the group's most significant evolution has been the maturation of its 'concept' — a key term in the world of K-pop, where groups might have an overarching storyline of superhuman powers, pirates or vampires — and their visual direction. For most of Seventeen's career, the focus sonically and visually has been on youth. Over the past few years, as the members grew from teenagers to men, their sound and look have also grown. On Happy Burstday, Seventeen is experimenting with harder sounds and darker visual themes. 'We are ready to reinvent ourselves,' says who sat for an interview alongside three of his bandmates, Joshua, Dino and The 8, in a dance practice room at the Hybe headquarters. The 29-year-old — dressed casually before he rushes off to get into the full glam an 11-member photo shoot requires — serves as the group's leader as well as the head of its rap unit (one of three Seventeen teams, along with the performance and vocal units). Onstage, is a commanding, charismatic presence. Offstage, among his fellow group members, he seems lighthearted and playful, laughing throughout the conversation. Unlike Western boy groups, the leader is not an unofficial designation (like NSYNC's Justin Timberlake or One Direction's Harry Styles) but a well-defined role typically involving logistical responsibilities. These days, however, the rapper says he considers himself 'a member of Seventeen rather than the leader' because of how his group mates have stepped up. 'We are standing at a new starting line, preparing for a new path ahead and ready to blaze a new trail,' continues. The move to include solo tracks on the album was part of a long-term strategy. 'Most of the members are going to enlist in the military soon. Up until now, we've mostly focused on our group promotions,' says 28-year-old Hoshi, the leader of the performance unit. Another strong personality onstage, Hoshi is calm and unfailingly polite, asking his group member Vernon, a native English speaker, to offer this reporter water before he fully sits down. 'We would like to show more of our individualities, each of the members' personalities and capabilities, so that when the time comes and we get back together again as a group, we'll be able to showcase ourselves as a better Seventeen,' adds Hoshi. The group has already begun this process through subunit releases, in which smaller configurations of the group will release a single or EP separate from Seventeen albums. Hoshi is a member of the unit BSS, along with vocalists DK and Seungkwan, and recently released a single album under the two-person unit HxW with Woozi. Jeonghan and Wonwoo released a subunit single album last year, prior to enlisting, under the name JxW. 'I just tried to make music that was genuine, that reflected our wholeheartedness and that was what our fans loved best and what we prefer to do as well,' says Woozi. The 28-year-old is arguably Seventeen's 'maestro,' to quote the title of the group's 2024 single, as he's spent the past decade shaping the group's identity as Seventeen's lead producer. The bleached-blond Busan native, who in our interview sits contemplatively among group members Mingyu, Jun and Seungkwan, is the leader of the vocal team. The unit structure is tied to the group's name: 13 members, three units and one team, totaling Seventeen. Although the members are assigned to a specific unit, each member might sing, rap and dance in the group; their unit is their specialty. The tribulations of adolescence have been the central theme of Seventeen's music from the beginning, but they've also defined the members' relationships with one another as they have spent their entire young adulthood together. 'We were housemates at one point for a long time, and that means we had to go through the good moments, bad moments, happy moments, angry moments at the same time,' says Dino, a member of the performance unit. Despite being one of the eldest in his family, Dino is, at 26, the youngest in Seventeen. When he debuted with the band, he effectively gained 12 older brothers, who alternately tease and care for him. sitting beside Dino for this conversation, breaks into giggles when I ask Dino about some of the ribbing he's been the target of over the past decade. 'I think it really helped me grow more mature very quickly, and I think I learned many more lessons than a normal kid my age would learn at that age,' he says. Despite having not chosen their bandmates — that was Pledis' job — the members of Seventeen say they share an ironclad bond to one another, and an equally strong commitment to the group, which remains their anchor. Last year, Jun, the only one seriously pursuing an acting career, had to sit out the North American leg of their 2024 Right Here World Tour and the group's Lollapalooza Berlin gig because he was shooting a film and television series in China. Yet despite his acting ambitions, he was determined to return for the group's latest release. 'I had my alone time for some time, and now I'm back with the group again,' the 28-year-old says. 'In the lead-up to this album, I put a lot of thought into how I can showcase a new side of myself during this promotion.' The bond may never have been broken, but it's surely been strained, as would any relationship that involves seeing one another nearly every day for a decade. Mingyu, a member of the rap unit, jokes that they've worked things out 'through endless fights,' which causes fellow group mate Seungkwan, a member of the vocal unit and subunit BSS, to jump in to clarify. 'We've never taken it physically or hit each other,' the 27-year-old explains. Adds Mingyu, 'Scars have to be made and healed, made and healed.' 'There isn't an age gap [anymore],' Joshua, a member of the vocal unit and an L.A. native, says. And, adds Seungkwan, 'Even though it was [Pledis] that brought us together, we're now almost like family.' Nearly all the members of Seventeen were teenagers when they debuted. As positive as they are, they acknowledge the difficulties of growing up in the public eye. 'We've been doing this since we were teenagers, so we don't know a life of being unknown throughout our 20s,' says Vernon, a member of the rap unit who was born in New York before moving to Korea at a young age. The fully bilingual 27-year-old regularly intervenes to clarify a translation for his group members, Hoshi and DK, and even stops the conversation briefly to praise the translator on how skilled she is. Vernon says the unrelenting spotlight has made the group more 'reserved,' a word that feels at odds with Vernon's current punk-inspired look but in keeping with his pensive personality. 'I know I had a hard time trying to understand myself in this process, and I'm sure the members did as well,' he says. Vernon considers every question carefully before answering, weighing his words. Which is why it's so much more meaningful when he expresses the reality of stardom's occasionally choreographed nature: 'Actually, being restricted of free speech in a way, it does kind of block our process of trying to understand ourselves, so I guess that was the hardest part.' Nearly all the members of the group must complete their 18-month-minimum military service in the coming years. The exceptions are Joshua (a U.S. citizen), The 8 and Jun (Chinese citizens), and exempt because of an ACL injury. 'We are doing our best to adapt to it,' DK says of the changing dynamics as members begin to enlist. Adds Hoshi: 'This is something that has been inevitable for us all along. We have been prepared. We have a lot of projects that we have discussed with the company very thoroughly up until now.' Woozi and are optimistic about the group's future. 'We understand that the fans are very sad that some of us are going to be away, but among ourselves, [we] don't consider this to be a really huge deal because we know that we are going to stay together,' Woozi says. 'We should consider this as quite a long preparation phase for the next album that's going to be even better and greater.' But, on the flip side, says 'I think this can be a great opportunity for the members who are still remaining; [they] can stick together and make something great to showcase to the fans. It can also be a great time for members who have been mentally or physically exhausted to recharge themselves.' Seventeen seemingly thrives under high-stress conditions in part because of their focus on mental and physical health. When this subject is broached, Dino and Joshua excitedly point to their bandmate The 8 as their expert of wellness. 'I do a lot of rehabilitation. I hit the gym very often [and] receive personal training,' says The 8. 'For my mental health, I do a lot of meditation, and each member has their own way of relieving stress,' adds the 27-year-old. 'On my off days, I try to not think about work at all and just stay at home and relax,' DK explains of his routine. Adds Joshua: 'We also have a lot of hobbies that we try to find to recharge. Mentally, we also do counseling, too, to help us out,' noting that the bandmates have always been given the resources to consult a professional when they're having a hard time. When asked how Pledis can ensure the safety and sanity of young performers, Han says the company has consistently offered aid to its artists when they need it. 'We are committed to supporting our artists so they can grow into healthy, well-rounded individuals, both physically and emotionally,' he notes, adding that Hybe operates in-house clinics for all artists and trainees. While Western music markets still haven't fully figured out how K-pop acts fit into the overall landscape — which leads to groups like Seventeen arguably not getting the same recognition as other acts with similarly stratospheric sales and impact — the band remains unfazed. 'We try not to dwell on those things because [the] people who would recognize us [will] recognize us at some point. At the end of the day, all we have to do is just try our best,' Woozi says. 'What we're trying to do is just tell our own personal story for the people who are listening and the people who love us.' The reflective Vernon echoes that sentiment. 'Honestly, I don't really care if everyone understands it or not because we're just happy and extremely grateful to be where we are right now,' he says. Adds Woozi: 'Rather than arguing with people who don't like us and asking why they're not liking us, I think we should just focus on our thing and run our own race. People have their own preferences and their own taste, and you just have to leave it up to them. There's no reason asking them why they like a certain person — that's too immature.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
