HYBE JAPAN CEO Han Hyun-rok makes Billboard's 2026 Global Power Players list, recognized for driving growth in Japan's music market.

Han Hyun-rok, the representative director and CEO of HYBE JAPAN, has been named for the first time in the '2026 Billboard Global Power Players.' The American music media 'Billboard' announced the list on March 9 (local time) through its official site. This list selects leaders who lead the growth and innovation of the global music market, excluding the United States. CEO Han Hyun-rok joined Big Hit Entertainment (now HYBE) in 2019, became the representative of Big Hit Solutions Japan (now HYBE JAPAN) in 2020, and has been in his current position since 2021. He has been recognized for his achievements in driving multifaceted business growth in Japan, the world's second-largest music market, by integrating album performance, concert business, and technology to create fan experiences. HYBE JAPAN is developing multifaceted businesses related to music, performances, and IP in Japan, and its cross-domain initiatives have led to an increased presence in the Japanese market. In music, strategic marketing optimized for the Japanese market resulted in HYBE JAPAN artists occupying 30% of the top 20 works in the Billboard Japan annual album sales chart 'Top Albums Sales' for 2025. Additionally, in the Billboard Japan annual artist chart 'Artist 100' for the same year, 10 groups from HYBE MUSIC GROUP made the chart, tying a historical record. The concert business has also seen remarkable growth, with HYBE rising five ranks in the '2025 Boxscore Annual Report' by Billboard to become the world's fourth-largest promoter (Big 4). This global advancement of HYBE has significantly contributed to its mobilization power in the Japanese market, with total audience attendance in Japan reaching approximately 1.8 million for 112 performances by 12 artists in 2025, a 40% increase from the previous year. Backed by this solid business foundation, the first localized global group from HYBE, &TEAM, debuted in December 2022, embodying HYBE's 'multi-home, multi-genre' strategy. They achieved a historic milestone by becoming the first Japanese artists to reach million-seller status (total shipments of 1 million copies) in both the Japanese and Korean markets in 2025. They have established their position in Japan by winning the 'Special International Music Award' at the Japan Record Awards and participating in the 'NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen.' With this support, they are presenting a new role model for artists expanding their activities from Japan to the world. The next-generation J-POP boy group 'aoen,' which debuted in June 2025, also topped the daily Oricon ranking, demonstrating the successful fusion of Japan's unique sensibility and HYBE's know-how in IP creation. Additionally, the multifaceted 'expansion of fan experiences' based on music has been a significant factor in this advancement. HYBE JAPAN plans and operates event-linked activities such as 'THE CITY,' creating points of contact between fans and artists through various experiences like dining, shopping, and tourism. These initiatives continue to develop as a model symbolizing the contribution to local communities and the fusion of entertainment. Large-scale collaborations with Universal Studios Japan and VR concerts, which are the largest in Japan, also demonstrate the effectiveness of 'expansion of fan experiences' as a next-generation entertainment model. HYBE JAPAN is expected to continue providing new experiential value to Japanese audiences by merging technology and creativity, contributing to the sustainable development of the global music industry.