News reports on September 20, KST, confirmed that all BTS members have renewed their exclusive artist contracts with BIGHIT MUSIC and, by extension, with HYBE.
The group’s leader, RM, even posted the partial contract document on his Instagram, assuring fans that the seven members are here to stay together.
[rkive] instagram story
(in image)
‘pop culture artist exclusive contract’
@/bts.bighitofficial
#/ARMY2025
— 윤서⁷ (slow) (@btsinthemoment) September 20, 2023
Since the contract renewal wasn’t expected for another few years, it happening this much in advance was a pleasant surprise for ARMYs. But a piece of follow-up news about the new contract left jaws hanging.
According to a DAOL Investment & Securities report, HYBE is estimated to spend around ₩21.0 billion KRW (about $15.8 million USD) on each member just for the downpayment of the contract renewal. This is, reportedly, only a part of the total deposit amount that BTS members will receive for signing the contract.
Interestingly, the last time BTS renewed their contracts with BIGHIT MUSIC in 2018, the total contract deposit amount per member was ₩7.00 billion KRW (about $5.25 million USD). However, later, the members were revealed to have each received 68,385 company shares from Bang Si Hyuk (then CEO), which were, at that time, priced at $7.7 million, minimum.
If the numbers reported are accurate, then the downpayment of BTS’s new contract renewal fee is higher than the total amount they earned while re-signing their exclusive contracts back in 2018.
Additionally, the DAOL report stated that though the renewal period has not been revealed yet, it is expected to be around five years. It is being stipulated that BTS can be active again after the second half of 2025.
