Big Hit Music
Big Hit Music (; formerly Big Hit Entertainment) is a South Korean entertainment company established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk. It was rebranded as Big Hit Music by its parent company Hybe Corporation, formerly Big Hit Entertainment Co. Ltd., in March 2021. Big Hit Music was divided from Hybe on July 1. As of that date, the company manages soloist Lee Hyun, and boy groups BTS and Tomorrow X Together. It previously managed soloist Lim Jeong-hee, and groups 8Eight, 2AM, and Glam. History. 2005–2020: Big Hit Entertainment. Big Hit Entertainment was founded on February 1, 2005 , and signed the vocal trio 8Eight in 2007. In 2010, the company signed a joint management contract with JYP Entertainment over the boy group 2AM. That year, Bang Si-hyuk signed RM as the first member of BTS and launched nationwide auditions to recruit other members of the group—BTS made their debut under Big Hit on June 13, 2013. In 2012, the company signed Lim Jeong-hee, and formed the girl group GLAM as a collaboration with Source Music. The group was active until 2014 when it was disbanded due to a controversy involving one of its members, Kim  Da-hee—Kim was sentenced to prison after being found guilty of blackmailing actor Lee Byung-hun. Following the end of the joint contract between Big Hit and JYP in April 2014, three members of 2AM returned to JYP, while Lee Chang-min remained with Big Hit in order to continue with his solo career and as part of the duo Homme. The year also saw the disbandment of 8Eight after Baek Chan and Joo Hee's contracts with Big Hit ended. In May 2015, Lim Jeong-hee parted ways with the agency, following the expiration of her three-year  contract. In February 2018, Homme disbanded after member Changmin's contract came to an end. He left the company to start his own agency, while Lee Hyun continued on as a solo artist. In October, BTS renewed and extended their contract with the agency for seven more years. Big Hit debuted its second male group, Tomorrow X Together (TXT), in March 2019. In February 2021, Big Hit announced a partnership with Universal Music Group, which would include a joint venture between Big Hit America and Geffen Records on an Los Angeles-based label and to develop a pop group under  a K-pop-influenced model, and UMG exploring further use of Big Hit's social platform Weverse. As a consequence of this partnership, Big Hit reached an agreement in October for BTS to move its distribution in the U.S. and several other countries from Sony Music's Columbia Records and The Orchard to Universal. 2021–present: As Big Hit Music. On March 19, 2021, Big Hit Entertainment announced that it had been renamed Hybe Corporation to emphasize its wider array of business units and ventures. With the change, the Big Hit record label was renamed Big Hit Music . On April  1, 2021, Hybe announced through a board resolution that it would divide the label business (Big Hit Music) from Hybe to establish new company. Hybe will hold 100% of the stake in new company. On July 1, 2021, Big Hit Music was divided from Hybe and became a subsidiary of the Hybe. Philanthropy. In 2017, Big Hit Entertainment donated ₩30 million to the 4/16 Sewol Families for Truth and A Safer Society, an organization connected to the families of the 2014 Sewol Ferry Disaster. In June 2020, Big Hit, together with BTS, donated $1 million in support of  the Black Lives Matter movement, during the George Floyd protests, and another $1 million to Live Nation's Crew Nation campaign to help support live music personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic.