#umg bts

[maggiecheungs]

UMG - behind the scenes

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP can you explain anything about what this UMG partnership might mean? I’m seeing some interesting conversation or some vague comments about it but it’s all going over my head a little bit.

***

Hi Anon,

The deal is simply an extension and expansion of the distribution deal HYBE has had with Universal Music Group (UMG) since 2021, which itself was an extension and expansion of the deal BigHit had with UMG Japan since 2017. The expanded scope in this latest deal includes the allowance for UMG artists such as Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish, to access and use the Weverse platform the way k-pop and HYBE-affiliated artists do now.

I've talked about this being the business case for Western artists using the Weverse platform on my blog before, here. So, none of this should be new or unexpected to anybody even marginally cognizant of how HYBE has been doing business since inception.

I saw your ask come in weeks ago, during the height of the hysteria around the UMG deal, and made it a point to not respond back then. Partly because I hope hindsight, now that everything has died down, better clearly shows just how ridiculous all of that fearmongering was.

Now, I'm about to say something technically controversial, but (as usual) it's what I think. I believe what's happening in online spaces right now all over the globe, is the (anti-)Jewish equivalent of the Red Scare. That's why the extension of a distribution deal that already existed, resulted in mass hysteria in a fandom filled with people who by all appearances are old enough to earn a salary and pay taxes. Regardless of how noble the cause, a lot of people are well past the point of no return in terms of the conspiracies they are ingesting as gospel. It's not exclusive to fandom spaces, like I said this is happening in online platforms all over. But fandoms are a pressurized environment and so it happens quicker in fandom spaces, even more so in a k-pop fandom where there already exists the latent expectation that k-pop idols and companies exist to cater to your every whim. It's the flip side of the parasocial contract between k-pop stans and the idols they feel entitled to.

I said this weeks ago, but I've checked out of this particular discourse. It took me some time to hear what the sides have to say, to see how they act, and to decide for myself what makes sense to me. None of it does, and so I've checked out.

Stream Neuron.

[transrightsjimin]

Fans Concerned As HYBE Enters Exclusive Deal With UMG Amidst Sexual Assault Lawsuit And TikTok Ban

Idk who has been writing these particular amazing articles for Koreaboo lately but I'm very glad they're made.

In other news, HYBE is making an exclusive deal with Universal Music Group that lasts 10 years. This despite UMG being defendants of an accused sex trafficker and the label bringing in DIRECT funders of the genocide in Gaza.

I'm fucking PISSED. I know spineless consumption-obsessed fucks are everywhere in this fandom and have treated Palestinian ARMY and other (pro-)Palestinian fans like utter crap, even to the point of reporting charities and threatening to call the cops on Palestinians. All whilst treating people with morals as "antis" and making false claims that "Scooter Braun/zionists don't have much influence / don't have anything to do with Hybe Korea / boycotts do nothing" despite him already involving a shitton of zionists and abusers (even an accused murderer) into HYBE's projects and connections.

And see where the lack of boycotting and speaking up got us? Exactly. Fuck this crap.

Follow ARMY4Palestine on twitter and Boot The Scoot on twitter/insta/tiktok (whichever you have) for more info and help us spread awareness and boycott these shite companies.

I wish I could link to them but this stupid app won't let me.

[hongtonie]

targeted boycotts are as we know the most efficient and this isn’t me calling for a boycott, but to keep people informed below the cut are lists of kpop artists with affiliations to labels mentioned on zionistsinmusic on twitter

UMG (under an american umbrella label it owns or has joint shares in highup ent [kor releases only], yg ent [bp kor releases only], the black label [somi and taeyang's kor releases only]; under capitol music group it owns or has joint shares in sm ent; under republic it owns or has joing shares in big hit [txt kor releases only], jype [twice, skz, and itzy's kor releases only], under universal music japan it has u-cube a "joint venture with" cube ent, virgin music > republic records > used as an imprint for txt jp releases; through third party distribution umg is affiliated with yuehua ent) - 4minute, apink, ateez, beast, bigbang, blackpink, boys republic (actually managed by umg), btob, bts, dean, everglow, snsd, infinite, iu, iz*one, kep1er, lim youngwoong, loona (japan), miss a (since 2012), monsta x, nct 127, p1harmony, psy (since 2012), rainbow, stray kids, shinee, somi, stayc, super junior, t-ara, the rose, triples, tri.be, twice, txt, wonder girls, xikers, and zerobaseone

note: a lot of these have (south korea) next to the name, i don’t know if that means they only have a deal for that country because other artists like stray kids and lim youngwoong don’t have that specification

REPUBLIC (owned by umg) - itzy, nayeon, nmixx, stray kids, txt, tri.be, twice, vcha

SONY (owns columbia, wakeone, dreamcatcher company; distributes modhaus, chrome ent, kq ent, starship, top media, wakeone, wm ent) - riize, ive, ateez, bts, brown eyed girls, wjsn, crayon pop, dreamcatcher, everglow, exid, monsta x's i.m (astrisked, can't find why), kep1er, lim youngwoong, stayc, tfn/t1419, the rose, triples, wings, xikers, zerobaseone

COLUMBIA (owned by sony) - ateez, ive (usa), kep1er, p1harmony, stayc, triples, treasure (usa), xikers, zerobaseone

VIRGIN (owned by umg) - nct 127, shinee (japan)

WARNER (through warner records it owns or has shares in sm [aespa kor releases only]; included in their international labels is warner music korea which is an international copyright holder and distributor for brand new music [younite, ab6ix, as one, eluphant, miss s] and keystone ent [blank2y]) - aespa (outside of sk), b1a4, bigbang, cherry bullet, choi junhee/choi seoah/juniel (taiwan and japan), cn blue, day6, ft island, got7, iu, jyj, kep1er, loossemble, loona, p1harmony, sf9, twice

ATLANTIC (owned by warner) - got7, iu, kep1er, loossemble, p1harmony, sf9

as always if any of this information is incorrect or outdated, please feel free to correct me in a reblog or an ask and i'll update the information in this post. i'll try to keep up with any new companies that are brought up on the twitter account mentioned at the beginning of this post. i'm not here to call for a boycott of every artist mentioned here because i don't feel i am in the position to do so, but i'm not discouraging you from choosing to do so. in fact i encourage you to listen to these artists unofficially at the very least.

i'm not sure the extent to which these companies get revenue from these artists, i don't know if it's just streams or if other things like merch sales and youtube views contribute but quite a few of these artists' companies are being boycotted currently or in the near future anyway, so i would suggest you not buy any merch or watch youtube videos officially from them. this post has more info on downloading music, youtube videos (with subtitles), and the boycotts i mentioned so i hope you all will check that out too. tris @bandzboy has also been posting about and sharing twitter posts about zionism in music, especially in the kpop industry so i suggest you check out her blog as well

[nikonladyz4]

Ador Responds to New Jeans Press Conference to Terminate Contract

I have watched this whole k-drama since March with interest. I was surprised that Hybe would let MHJ and New Jeans continuously drag the company through the mud without really fighting back. But I also had to come to understand the depth of which public opinion plays such a powerful role in politics and companies in South Korea Legally, NJ and MHJ don’t have a leg to stand on based on what has been released to the media, but the damage done to Hybe publicly has been immense.

Then I remember Taylor Swift’s campaign against Scooter Braun and now Drake threatening to sue UMG, his label over a diss track from Kendrick Lamar.

Bottom line, we as Army just need to concentrate on BTS and the solo releases from Jimin, JK, Jin, V, Jhope, Suga, & RM. All the members have fantastic solo projects they have worked on and that is where our attention needs to be. Support all the members with streaming, purchases, music videos, documentaries.

[iwanthermidnightz]

Universal Music Group (UMG) says it will pull its entire music catalog from TikTok when its contract with the service expires on Wednesday (Jan. 31), accusing the platform of “trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music,” according to a new open letter.

In the letter, released Tuesday (Jan. 30) and addressed to UMG artists and songwriters, the company states that it’s particularly concerned about the rates that TikTok is offering to pay for its catalog. Other points of contention include the amount of content on TikTok that infringes its artists’ and songwriters’ works without providing “meaningful solutions” to help them combat it, the level of hate and harassment on the platform and TikTok’s stances on artificial intelligence (AI).

[jazajas]

there is a big likelihood that this will get drowned out by other posts but if you see this i urge you to read it all, and engage with it as an open mind

palestinian army (bts fans) on twitter have started a campaign to boot scooter braun out of hybe due to his zionist views and support if israel, as well as donation campaigns to palestinians in gaza.

here is a link to the petition for braun's removal:

https://chng.it/z465dzw6vK

as well as the carrd for the account army4palestine:

https://army4palestine.carrd.co/

the divestment campaign also include a boycott of hybe products, more so now that hybe participates in dynamic pricing of tickets and have made a 10 year deal with umg which has multiple zionists under its label, supports/funds the genocide in gaza, as well as is a defendant in the case against diddy.

there are many accounts of twitter that have plenty of information available. one is the account /zionistsinmusic wich looks into higher ups/ceos/presidents/etc and their support for israel

an example for scooter braun

and the artists under him

you may ask why this relates to bts and why army care: it is because he has started showing up a lot in the korean side of hybe and so have other zionists - including an israeli that has writing/production credits on a txt song. personally, i only saw him show up more with the korean side of the business after demi lovato, ariana grande, and justin beiber (i believ him, but i may be wrong) dropped him as a manager/producer

if you want more information on braun and his zionist stances/ties, here is a website created that breaks it down created by the account bootthescoot (who also has a more professional account musiclovers4liberation [ml4liberation] for protests, campaigns, and much more:

bootthescoot.my.canva.site/braunburnbook

for the boycott, here is the list of priorities: i urge you to at least participate up to priority 3 for ALL hybe artists:

one of the current fundraising campaigns is almost over, but here is their poster

if you have made it this far, i applaud you. please share and participate if you can

i thank you for your time

[fromtenthousandfeet]

A classic corporate apology (non apology)

Hmmmmm. That wasn't much of an apology from Geffen, not that I really expected anything.

I've made it pretty clear (if you've read my previous blog posts) that I don't think it makes sense to focus on Geffen when BigHit/HYBE is the driving force behind the unforgiveable roll out of Jimin's MUSE. Geffen is simply following orders. That said...

All ire and outrage focused on that Ray dude and Geffen the company, followed by coverage from major media, has the potential to damage the relationship between HYBE and UMG. And for that I cheer.

Read the above if you feel like throwing up in your mouth.

This is only my hunch, but I believe Bang Si Hyuk is really hoping for Universal Music Group to acquire HYBE. I think that's why he's entered into this relationship with UMG for Geffen to promote HYBE Labels groups, even if the terms aren't in the best interest of the artists or HYBE itself. I think that's also why he structured HYBE to look a lot like UMG with multiple labels under the corporate umbrella.

Corporations are always looking for ways to streamline, cost cut, reduce redundancies. From a profitability standpoint, a corporation should run the leanest operation possible. It makes zero sense for HYBE to have so many record labels when most of them have between 1-3 acts. Are you telling me a single label couldn't handle all the groups and solo artists under HYBE? That's absurd. And its inefficient as hell. It's more like delusions of grandeur.

Check out all the artists under IGA (owned by UMG) to see what I mean. This list is just Interscope artists.

I could see a scenario where UMG may want to cut ties with HYBE just because they're too big of a liability. BTS fans are bullies, company oversight is trash (insider trading charges are in the news today), and public sentiment about the labels continues to fall. Will UMG eventually decide that the HYBE partnership is more trouble than it's worth?

Now we wait and see how the Geffen/HYBE joint venture, aka KATSEYE, goes.

Anyway. New music from Jimin is hours away. Yes!!

[spamsbylee]

IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY IF YOU LISTEN TO KPOP, MORE SPECIFICALLY IF YOU LISTEN TO BTS

EVEN IF YOU DONT LIKE/LISTEN TO KPOP PLEASE REBLOG THIS

bang pd, founder of bighit ent, and a major boss for hybe labels --the company that hosts bighit (bts and txt) among other companies and artists has partnered with scooter braun (the news down below)

scooter braun is the guy most known for stealing taylor swift's music and not giving her the money for it, causing her to leave his company.

scooter is zionist and that's obviously NOT GOOD and atp bang pd probably is too (article version that explains it a lot better than me down below)

without bts, bang pd would be NOTHING. that man knows good and well he waited until everyone was in the military, and he probably knows what scooter did and his beliefs.

they're basically helping fund genocide with these people in the company. bighit's original thing was about "healing, diversity, and art". where did that go?

what can you do to help?

comment and make your voices heard under bang pd's posts on insta, his @ is hitmanb72. the goal is mainly to get rid of scooter, and if we can, bang pd himself as well.

reblog this post and spread the word

don't stop talking about this

army has caused big changes multiple times. let's do it again.

[wegonbealright-09]

PJM2 IS COMING !!

So I've just been on twitter and someone recommended I check on Ayrastarr's IG and guess who's she following!!!

And 🤭🤭 there were rumours on twitter that she was one of the artists that jimin is going to collaborate with for pjm2. My afrobeat heart is so happy cause that means jimin listens to afrobeat cause otherwise how would he have heard about a Nigerian singer and jimin is all hands in his every project and song ❤️❤️

And he's rumoured to have a Collab with Normani, Ariana and Bruno Mars too and the Ariana one is highly possible besides the fact that jimin was recording in Ariana's producer's studio but Ariana was also in London during the same period as jimin and so was Normani.

And Ayo the producer admitted to have a song with jimin earlier this year and said it was going to be released but didn't say when he's worked with Chris Brown, Beyonce and Cardi B y'all so whatever it is that they cooked it's bomb

👀👀

I was depressed during the last few weeks because of school nobody told me law was this draining I was studying during recess and then the 🛴 saga and jk happened but now I'm seeing the light I'm so so fking happy!!!

And Universal music group followed jimin at the beginning of the year and now Universal music publishing is credited as a distributor under Like Crazy many guessed that it's because of Blvsh changing her agency and that they've been distributing BTS music blah blah, but I think not, UMG followed jimin at the begging of the year , the only member in BTS and now they are listed as a distributor for LC for me and my delulu mind that means jimin is going to get better advertising and marketing for his song and maybe pjm2 and scooter won't interfere anywhere UMGP is bigger than both Hybe and Geffen combined

I've been knew we're getting new music but I'm always happy and excited for news like this, something positive.

[joonberriess]

the deal between hybe and umg is a slap in the face from bang pd. especially after the work that palestinian armies had put into the hybe divest from zionism initiative. and i say palestinian armies because a lot of armies are harassing and d*xxing them for speaking and standing for what is right. it's morals before kpop, not kpop before morals. baby armies don't know what scooter is capable of, they'll be eating their words when he claims that he was a direct contributor to bts' global success. the worst scenario would be that he makes them perform in isnotreal. he is very capable of that. baby armies shouldn't dickride this man, he is a sick f*ck.

always morals over kpop like idk why it should even be a question to begin with, it’s pretty damn obvious what we should be choosing???

[tiredtriedfailures]

Congrats on Kendrick for being the first rapper to get sued over rap beef

(I know Drake is suing UMG but it's because of Kendrick so)

lmao yes we gotta celebrate our goat hurt someones feelings so bad on a record they went to the cops. WAIT LOL THATS LITERALLY SOMEONES LYRICS. WAIT WAIT WAIT

okay so i found it lmao it was BTS Suga who said "Im succesful if youre so jealous that it hurts, get a lawsuit, sue me" DRAAAAAKE THEY GOT YOU IN 4K IN BTS LYRICS DRAAAAAAAAKE

[youcouldstartacult]

I don’t get it why is Niall’s music not going to be on TikTok anymore? Is it because of Capitol? Whts going on

Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world’s largest music corporation that oversees the production, distribution, and marketing of music worldwide. Niall is part of UMG along with Taylor Swift, BTS, Ariana Grande, Drake, Adele etc. This is because he is part of Capitol Records, which is under UMG, like lots of record labels are.

UMG & TikTok could not come to an agreement over

• fair artist financial compensation

• protection over AI

• meaningful solutions to help combat the level of hate and harassment the artists receive

so now UMG is pulling all of their artists music from the TikTok.

This is UMG’s statement:

This is TikTok’s response:

[taehyungfirst]

🛴in charge of U.S. promotions … we’ll never see Taehyung there (here) again … Hybe and UMG doing artist promotion in U.S. under 🛴. They are already 💯 inept, too.

If it means Taehyung never getting connected to those people, I’ll gladly take it at this point 😭 free bts immediately

[mysmorgasbordoffantabulosa]

Do you know how labels work? If so, can you please answer this

Why isn't geffen pushing for radio? Do labels have to pay to get songs on the radio or how does it work?

I'm just so confused on why they aren't pushing SNTY when they've invested so much on JK. I remember bts got radio for fake love, dynamite, and butter, but now it's nonexistent. It's starting to feel like they're just trying to milk fans out of money by buying the songs while they hardly move a finger 😐 if they would get us radio JK could've easily gotten 3D and SNTY to #1

Well, technically, geffen isn't their label... really, they're just the distributors of BTS's music outside of Asia. Their agreement with HYBE, through Geffen's parent company UMG, probably has stipulations on what it can and can't do and that will have financial implications.

Also, in a lot of cases some companies really only push the lead single for radio play (like fake love, boy with love, butter and Dynamite), and hope the rest get picked up later. Harry Styles Watermelon Sugar was like that, not the lead single, played on radio, but only getting low spins initially, until 9 months later it started picking up momentum which led to the label doing a push on on the radio and it then got to number 1, through radio play along, same with Dua Lipa's Levitating getting to No.2 two years after her album was released.

So in theory, any of JKs other songs could have a similar trajectory months down the line.

[scrumptiousstuffs]

Music tags - tag by @catbiodolor

🎶Rules: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first ten songs, and then tag ten people. No skipping!

Look, my Spotify is a mixture of K-pop (esp BTS), songs from the 1980s to current, Thai pop (I blame Khaotung Thanawat for this and LOLFanfest 😂) plus Only Friends playlist…so, here we go….

1) Night Love - Jekd

Courtesy of P’Jojo Only Friends playlist (do I know what it’s talking about? Not really (because it’s in Thai), but it’s preppy and well…I’m imagining Ray and Sand when they are having a laugh together and good conversations in the middle of the night!! (In between whatever else they are doing, ahem)

2) Can’t fight this feeling anymore (REO speedwagon)

Also from P’Jojo OF list but this is also one of my fav oldies song. Classic!!! And I’m hoping it’s a reflection of how Ray will feel as he hopefully opens up to Sand (I’m sorry, I’m in OF mode so every single song is going to remind me of them 🤣🤣🤣🤣)

3) Tony Montana (AGUST D feat Yankie)

My other big love - BTS!!! (And Yoongi is my bias) He is another human in cat shape (see the pattern here? FK = 🐈🐈‍⬛, well….Yoongi is another 🐱). I will listen to anything BTS related.

4) Seven by Jungkook (feat Latto)

Another jammer by one of the BTS member. This song is stuck in my head 😅 (also…errmmmm, the explicit version…yeah…🫣🫣 probably fit in the OF theme very well!)

5) I wanna be yours (Artic Monkey)

Another of P’Jojo OF playlist. With an opening of “I wanna be your vaccum cleaner, breathing in your dust…” - well, how could I not be intrigue? This reminds me of Nick and Boston dynamic though with Nick being more invested in the relationship then Boston? (But I could be wrong with OF not even airing yet 😂)

6) One (Ed Sheeran)

I will listen to anything by Ed Sheeran. One of the best thing I ever did was going to his concert earlier this year, and actually scoring front line ticket!! So worth it 🥰 (despite the rain that followed after that!)

7) Unidentified wonders (UMG OST) by Nanon Korapat

I like the series, I thought it was an underrated gem. It highlights beautifully of friendship, growing up and letting go (despite the weird premise about the alien). And this song is quite the teeny bop!!

8) A little space (Pentatonix and ATEEZ)

Love the acapella!!! Both Pentatonix and ATEEZ have great songs on their own. So, when they collaborated, I was curious about it! And I don’t regret listening to it!

9) Thunder by Jessie J

Another underrated singer (in my opinion)! She has such a powerful voice…

10) City (Three man down)

I won’t lie, I heard the version/the cover by Fourth and Gemini from MSP first. Then, I heard the original and I was hooked. Also, the lyrics (once I google translate them - it’s FK coded 😂😂😂)…about finding your one true soulmate in a lonely city…yeah…

I had fun doing this random music exercise! I don’t know a lot of people on tumblr. So, whoever wants to do this, by all means - please consider yourself tag!!

(Special mention of the song I listen every single day - Your world, my world by First and Khaotung. 🫣 the brain rot I have for these 2 is real!)