MBC and the nation's top music agency, HYBE, have dramatically joined hands and reconciled after approximately four years.
In response, the broadcasting and music industries are focusing their attention on whether HYBE-affiliated artists will resume their appearances on MBC programs.

According to MBC on the 30th, MBC President Ahn Hyoung-joon and HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk held a meeting that day. During the meeting, President Ahn expressed his regret toward the artists who must have been hurt by past improper production practices. He also proposed a dialogue with HYBE to establish advanced production practices.

Furthermore, the two exchanged opinions on the development of K-pop and K-content, and plan to announce specific cooperation plans in the near future.

MBC and HYBE have been in a conflicting relationship until now. This is because HYBE-affiliated artists did not appear on MBC's flagship music program "Show! Music Core" or other entertainment shows.

The conflict between the two dates back to 2019. At the time, BTS, who had emerged as world stars, performed on a special New Year's Eve stage in New York's Times Square and did not appear on the MBC "Gayo Daejejeon" (Music Festival) broadcast annually on December 31st. Following that, the relationship between MBC and HYBE (then Big Hit Entertainment) soured.

Not only BTS, but their junior group TOMORROW X TOGETHER (TXT) also did not appear on "Show! Music Core" or the holiday entertainment show "Idol Star Athletics Championships."

In particular, as HYBE grew in size by acquiring other domestic music agencies such as Pledis and Source Music, the appearances of artists like SEVENTEEN (under Pledis) and GFriend (under Source Music before disbandment), who had previously appeared on MBC, also fell through.

Since then, HYBE-affiliated artists have not appeared on "Show! Music Core" or the year-end "Gayo Daejejeon." Even during their "Yet To Come" promotions last year, when BTS carried out their final full-group activities before enlistment, they could only be seen on Mnet's "M COUNTDOWN," KBS2TV's "Music Bank," and SBS's "Inkigayo."

However, as the conflict between HYBE and MBC dragged on, some pointed out that it was a loss for both sides.

MBC was unable to feature top domestic artists under HYBE, such as BTS, SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, and NewJeans, on their programs, and HYBE also lost one terrestrial stage for their new artists to perform on.

In light of this, the meeting between President Ahn and Chairman Bang has raised the possibility that HYBE artists may once again appear on MBC music programs in the future.

Chairman Bang stated, "I am deeply grateful that this meeting was arranged thanks to MBC's sincere apology and our shared empathy for improving the rights and interests of K-pop artists," adding, "I hope this meeting will serve as a starting point to move beyond past practices and establish a healthy content production environment."

During the meeting, Chairman Bang also conveyed his opinion that the rights and interests of artists must be respected for the K-pop ecosystem to grow. He also mentioned that the practice of artists waiting to greet production staff after the end of a program needs to be improved.

Source: ⓒYonhapnews

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