Hybe establishes Mexico-based unit to expand into Latin music market

Hybe, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS and NewJeans, has founded a Mexico-based unit to tap into the Latin music market.

The largest K-pop company in South Korea said Monday that Hybe Latin America will serve as a bridgehead for its artists to enter the Latin music market and a hub for cultivating new artists and content.

The Latin unit will pursue both artist management and the scouting and nurturing of new talents, Hybe said in a press release.

For this, Hybe has acquired Exile Music, the music division of Spanish-language studio Exile Content. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“This acquisition was a move to accelerate our presence in the Latin music market,” Hybe said. “Exile Music has been involved in businesses, such as recording, music publishing, artist management and concert planning.”

Isaac Lee, founder of Exile Content, will become the chairman of the board at Hybe Latin America, Hybe said.

Lee has served as the chief content officer of TelevisaUnivision, which operates the world’s largest Spanish-language content TV channel. He has also worked as a producer of several films and documentaries that have been aired on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

According to Hybe, the Latin American music market was worth US$1.3 billion in 2022, up 26.4 percent from the previous year. This growth is in stark contrast to the global music market, which grew by about 9 percent in the same period.

Latin music is popular in the United States, one of the birthplaces of pop music, alongside Great Britain, since about 20 percent of the U.S. population speaks Spanish. Spanish-language songs account for more than half of the 35 non-English songs that have reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 main singles chart.