YG Bets Tens of Billions of won per BLACKPINK Member For Recontract

▲ K-pop girl group BLACKPINK is seen in this photo provided by YG Entertainment. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, March 22 (Yonhap) -- YG Entertainment has apparently bet a large sum per member on the re-contracting of BLACKPINK, its biggest intellectual property (IP), for 'team activities', which was finalized in December last year.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 22nd, YG acquired approximately 41.2 billion won as an intangible asset exclusive contract fee last year.

Publicly traded entertainment companies typically initially recognize artist exclusive contract fees as 'intangible assets' and then recognize them as expenses by applying a fixed-rate method (calculating a certain amount every year) over the contract period.

YG signed a group exclusive contract for all four BLACKPINK members in December last year.

Considering the size of the exclusive contract fee of 41.2 billion won, even accounting for other IP contract cases, it is estimated that BLACKPINK members, who command overwhelmingly high prices, would have signed contracts worth tens of billions of won per person. However, it is known that the contract fee for BLACKPINK members did not exceed 10 billion won per person.

Regarding this, YG stated, "Last year, there were re-contracts and new contracts for numerous IPs, not just BLACKPINK," adding, "We cannot disclose the details of the contracts, but the mentioned amount cannot be considered solely as BLACKPINK's contract fee."

▲ K-pop girl group BLACKPINK is seen in this photo provided by YG Entertainment. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

While BLACKPINK has reunited with YG for team activities, all four members have chosen to stand alone individually.

Jennie, Lisa, and Jisoo have each established their own agencies, namely, ODD ATELIER, LLOUD, and BLISSOO, respectively, while Rosé is also exploring solo activities after leaving YG.

As YG poured a significant contract fee only for team activities rather than individual ones, there is speculation that extensive BLACKPINK activities are planned for the future.

A YG official stated, "With Baby Monsters officially debuting in April and expanding their activities beyond Japan into Asia, and Treasure continuing to grow by broadening their activity stage, we are also preparing for BLACKPINK's group activity plans."

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