HYBE, the multi-label K-Pop corporation, has established itself as one of the industry giants, at par with the Big 3 (SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment) within just a few years of its existence. The company is home to big names like BTS, SEVENTEEN, LE SSERAFIM, TXT, and NewJeans.
While all labels under HYBE (e.g., BIGHIT MUSIC, Pledis Entertainment, Source Music, ADOR, and so on) operate independently, some of the systematic operations are run under one umbrella. The trainee development process is one of those.
According to the Training and Development (T&D) team at HYBE, one of the critical parts of training new talents is exposing them to all sorts of musical genres. This part of the system is directly influenced by RM, the leader of BTS.
When BTS were trainees, RM would often compile songs of different genres and hand out the playlist to the trainees to help them expand their taste. Apart from a few occasions where the members mentioned it on camera, it is also touched upon in BTS’s memoir, Beyond The Story.
The head of HYBE’s T&D, Shin Seon Jeong, said she saw first-hand how effective RM’s method proved. She mentioned that TXT was the group that reflected the benefits of this practice to such an extent that she was convinced to incorporate it into HYBE’s training system.
One of the ways HYBE exposes its trainees to different music genres includes a method shared by LE SSERAFIM’s Eunchae. She recalled one of her assignments where she worked hard identifying genres of different songs.
TXT member Soobin said that listening to playlists with a wide variety of songs made him “understand music more.”
On the other hand, his groupmate Taehyun testified that he “received the most positive influence” through this process as he was introduced to his current favorite genres through it.
The T&D team members emphasized that this practice is seen as a necessary step for the trainees to understand and explore their feelings about music more so that they can enjoy the profession of being a musician.
In a way, then, the foundational process of creating genuine artists under HYBE is something spearheaded by RM!
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