Big Hit Entertainment (co-CEOs Bang Si-hyuk, Yoon Seok-jun), the agency of the group BTS,

has acquired Source Music (CEO So Sung-jin), the agency of the girl group GFRIEND.

Big Hit announced on the 29th, "We recently completed the acquisition of Source Music's shares and will incorporate it as a subsidiary of Big Hit."

"Source Music will retain its existing management and operate while maintaining its label identity and independence," it was revealed.

Big Hit, which is promoting label expansion and structural reform by business area, has strengthened its multi-label structure through this acquisition.

In particular, Big Hit has expanded its artist spectrum by quickly securing artists with established fandoms and highly potential trainees in the girl group category.

Source Music will be able to achieve content enhancement and advanced corporate management with the help of Big Hit's creative capabilities and specialized support organizations in the future, and the growth of its affiliated artists through Big Hit's global network and platform know-how is also expected.

CEO So Sung-jin said, "We are happy that Source Music is joining the Big Hit label."

"We believe this is an opportunity for leaps forward in various aspects for all affiliated artists, trainees, and staff," he said.

"In particular, we expect Big Hit's ability to quickly create global artists to be a strong background for Source Music."

"We will repay everyone with better content through organic relationships with Big Hit," he announced.

CEO Bang Si-hyuk said, "Big Hit and Source Music decided to join forces because our philosophies for nurturing and managing artists are similar."

"We expect this acquisition to be successful as we understand each other well."

"We are happy that both companies can now draw a bigger picture," he conveyed.

Source Music is an entertainment company founded in November 2009 by CEO So Sung-jin, and the girl group GFRIEND is currently active as its representative artist.

The two companies previously debuted a girl group together and have continuously collaborated in artist management and production.

Reporter Ahn Jin-yong realyong@munhwa.com 

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.