Six Hive executives, including Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and CEO Lee Jae-sang, were selected as 2026 Billboard Global Power Players

*This content was translated by AI.

Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and six other Hive executives were selected as the 2026 Billboard Global Power Players.

Billboard, a U.S. music media outlet, announced the list of "2026 Billboard Global Power Players" on its official website on the 9th (local time). This list selects leaders who lead the growth and innovation of the music industry in all regions of the world except the United States.

The Hive executives listed on the list include ▲Hive Chairman Bang Si-hyuk ▲Hive CEO Lee Jae-sang ▲Hive CEO Oh Yu-jin, ▲Hive 3SixT business CEO, and ▲Hive America Chairman and CEO ▲Have Japan CEO Han Hyun-rok ▲HiveCoO Kim Tae-ho, who was previously selected. The results demonstrate Hive's overwhelming performance and cultural influence around the world, including not only the largest number of people selected in Hive, but also the management of overseas headquarters, which develops a "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy.

Chairman Bang Si-hyuk is on the fifth list this year after 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2025. Bang has been making progress in the music market in each region, extending the K-pop methodology to a universal global pop success formula. In particular, the global girl group KATSEYE (CatsEye), which he produced, entered the Billboard main chart for a long time, and was nominated for two categories: "Best New Artist" and "Best Pop Duo/Group Performance" at the 68th Annual GRAMMY Awards, which caused a cultural syndrome. In Latin America, boy groups Santos BRAVOS and Musza have been discovered and debuted through reality programs and band auditions, respectively, expanding their K-pop system and influence around the world.

Lee Jae-sang, who was selected for the second time after last year, was credited with strengthening the competitiveness of his core business, the music business, securing platform and tech-based future growth engines, and establishing Hive's presence in the global market. In particular, he established Hive China and Hive India to drive the 'multi-home, multi-genre' strategy in the world's two largest and fastest-growing music markets.

Oh Yu-jin, CEO of Hive 3SixT, was honored to be selected for three consecutive years, overseeing the global tour and festival of Hive Music Group APAC artists. According to Billboard's recently released "2025 Box Score Annual Report," Hive has recorded $469.2 million in tour sales over the past year (from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025, the same basis), ranking fourth in the "Top Promoters" category and entering the global performance market.

The performance of this year's newly listed management was also outstanding. Isaac Lee, chairman and CEO of Hive America, joined the list in recognition of his achievements in solidifying Hive's position in the Latin market, including the successful debut of Moussa, Low Clika, and Destino by placing the audition program "Pase a la Fama," which was co-produced with Telemundo, as the number one audience rating for Spanish broadcasting at the same time in Mexico.

Han Hyun-rok, CEO of Hive Japan, not only led the overall music business of Hive Music Group artists in the Japanese market, such as album distribution, performance promotion, IP business, and marketing, but also successfully led to the discovery and development of local Japanese artists. It was on the list for the first time, contributing to the debut and growth of Japanese localization artists under the "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy, including the achievement of &TEAM's first million seller and the No. 1 ranking of Oricon Daily Singles by rookie group Aoen.

Hive COO Kim Tae-ho was also selected for the first time this year. COO Kim innovated the global fan experience by leading the convergence between entertainment and other industries, including the "THE CITY" project, which expands the fan experience by providing various events and entertainment throughout the city, global pop-up stores, and the "Team Korea Light Stick" provided at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, in addition to the Hive management, Kuroi, CEO of avx, and Victoria Oakley, CEO of the International Music Industry Association (IFPI), were also named in the 2026 Billboard Global Power Players.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.