HYBE has expanded its existing partnership with Universal Music Group.
On March 26 local time, HYBE officially announced an expansion of their relationship with Universal Music Group that will give them exclusive distribution rights to HYBE artists’ music for the next 10 years.
Universal Music Group will also be expanding its collaboration with HYBE’s fan communication platform Weverse, with more UMG artists set to join the platform in the near future.
However, the companies’ new exclusive distribution deal will not include social media sites like YouTube, TikTok, and Meta, meaning that HYBE artists will be able to remain on TikTok despite Universal Music Group’s current licensing feud with the short-form video app.
HYBE and Universal Music Group first began their partnership in 2017, when BTS signed with UMG for distribution within Japan. In 2021, HYBE inked a new deal that gave Universal Music Group’s Geffen Records the distribution rights for BTS in the United States and other regions.