The investment arm of French multinational LVMH (that’s Louis Vuitton, Moet and Hennessy) has bought a $60 million (£36 Million) stake in Psy’s K-pop label and talent agency YG Entertainment.
YG entertainment has been getting most of its UK hits from some guy called Psy whose songs definitely aren’t still being forced into advertising campaigns by suits getting their youth culture news from Dad magazine.
But, in South Korea they are one of the ‘Big Three’ record companies–their YouTube channel is the most subscribed and viewed entertainment channel in the Asia-Pacific region.
Why should we care? The two companies' upcoming “strategic partnership” is gonna mean K-pop stars releasing their own fashion and cosmetics, and a big ol’ push for Korean artists in Europe. Who knows? Maybe the next Dom Perignon party will get headlined by Korea’s answer to urban culture 2NE1 and your next bottle of Hennessy will come with the next Lee Hi album.
The K-Wave is already at fever pitch in China – to the extent that most bands will have a strategically placed Korean member to impress fans (sneaky!) – and is set to come crashing onto these shores. It won’t be long before your next small town club night starts off with the latest BigBang chart hit and your little sister has pictures of the beautifully named EpikHigh all over her walls.
