Established in 1996, YG Entertainment (Korean: YG 엔터테인먼트) is a record label and talent agency based in Seoul, South Korea. YGE was founded by Yang Hyun-suk who is also known by the nickname "YG" which is an abbreviation for "Yang Goon". YG is currently the company's chief producer and majority shareholder. His younger brother, Yang Min-suk, is the company's CEO.
YG Entertainment handles everything from casting and talent scouting, recording and distribution, artist management, concert production, and online promotion. Specializing in hip-hop and the now popular K-pop, YG Entertainment currently represents a variety of artists from PSY to idol group BIGBANG to popular indie duo Akdong Musician.
Today, YG Entertainment is known as one of the "big three" record companies in South Korea, along with SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, for their large market share. Official contents by YG Entertainment and its artists have cumulatively garnered more than 5 billion views and are subscribed by more than 12 million users on YouTube, making them the most viewed and most subscribed artists and entertainment agency in Asia-Pacific.
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The record label YGEX - a collaboration between YG Family and AVEX was established in 2011. The two companies have since then been working together hand in hand through numerous projects such as YG artists' concerts, album distribution, and promotional activities based in Japan.
In line with the company's view for further expansion, YG Entertainment finalized a partnership with the top modelling agency K-Plus in 2014. K-Plus is a well-known modelling agency in South Korea and been a pioneer in the domestic modelling field for twenty years, having launched the careers of some of the best known Korean models and currently handles 170 models. Through this partnership with K-Plus, YG Entertainment hopes to expand their business reach and is also continuing to develop its acting department with the recent inclusions of Cha Seung Won, Jang Hyun Sung, Im Ye Jin, and K-Plus model Lee Sung Kyung.
YG Entertainment and Samsung's Cheil Industries (Everland fashion department) have come together to form Natural 9, and have revealed their project: NONA9ON (pronounced Nonagon) which signifies variety and an infinite potential for growth. The brand will target young consumers around the world interested in street culture and hip hop, and in line with its name NONA9ON, the brand launched on September 9, 2014.
On October 2, 2014, YG Entertainment branched out into another line of business and launched its cosmetics brand moonshot. Developed with China's Huanya Group and in partnership with the cosmetics manufacturing company COSON, it is geared towards women in their 20s to 30s. The brand is named after Apollo 11's historical landing on the moon, and just as that event turned dreams into a reality, the brand also has the intent of taking on various challenges and breaking away from the typical makeup lines.
It was officially announced in August of 2014 that LVMH's (LVMH Moët Hennessy, the luxury goods giant that owns notable companies such as Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi) private equity arm L Capital Asia would be investing $80 million into YG Entertainment, resulting in them possessing a large amount of (non-voting) shares & making them the second biggest shareholder of YG Entertainment. This is said to be strategic partnership, and it is expected that this deal will help YGE's entry into the fashion industry.
In October 2014, YG Entertainment acquired a majority stake in the advertising company Phoenix Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Bogwang Group. This takeover was accomplished with the intention to further accelerate the growth of YG Entertainment in fields aside from the music industry and to maximize synergy between the company's music enterprise and cultural content. As a result of this takeover, Phoenix Holdings Inc. is now known as YG Plus Inc., and Yang Min-suk has been appointed as the company's CEO.
According to Reuters, the company has two main business operations: advertisement production business and media agency business. It handles the creation of advertisements, and on the media agency business side, it publishes and broadcasts advertisements through forms of mass media such as television, radio, print, and the internet. Some of its notable clients include COCA-COLA, SK Telecom, and THE FACE SHOP.
To add to YG Plus, YG Entertainment also acquired G-AD Communication which is a golf agency that handles some notable professional South Korean golfers such as Kim Hyo Joo, Lee Dong Min, Byun Jin Jae, and Yoo Go Un. The company has also brought in the talents of the leading golf coach Han Yeon Hee to act as the head instructor of YG Golf Academy. This new venture into the international golf business will lead to activities such as the acquisition of golf courses, scouting and nurturing of talented golfers, hosting of golf tournaments, retailing of golf supplies and fashion products, and introduction of other related businesses.
YGE Business deals, partnerships, and investments:
- T Entertainment merger (acquired actors and staff)
- YG KLIVE HOLOGRAM HALL (partnership with KT Telecommunications)
- YG LAND for the US market (working with M+D Properties to build a multicultural complex)
- YG K-Pop Cluster (expected to open in 2018)
- BEAT App (online Android/Apple Application)
- Happy Bean and YG “WITH" partnership (For expansion of online donation culture)
- MUJU YG Foundation (non-profit organization to help children and teenagers from low-income families)
- Tencent (China’s largest internet company) digital content distribution deal
- Yuehua Entertainment Partnership (movie and drama production)