About JYP's rise to the leader of the K-Pop industry!

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In 1997, J.Y. Park founded an entertainment company called JYP Entertainment, laying the foundation for a magnificent career. In the early years, JYP produced massively successful K-pop acts such as g.o.d, Rain and Wonder Girls, actively shaping the K-pop industry. Today, JYP is a multinational company that not only acts as a record label and talent agency, but also covers areas such as event management, concert production and music publishing. As in the past, the entertainment is still one of the leaders in the industry and can now count many other successful K-pop idols such as Twice and Stray Kids to its family.

Especially in recent years, K-Pop has spread beyond the borders of Asia to the whole world and is no longer a niche. If you want to learn more about the origins of this popular genre, you've come to the right place. We're going to introduce you to a few of the biggest Korean entertainers, because they made K-Pop what it is today!

First, we told you the story of SM Entertainment, a veteran of the K-Pop industry. Today we turn to the next leader of K-Pop:

JYP Entertainment

Let's face it, if you listen to K-Pop, you can't avoid groups like Twice, Stray Kids, and Itzy, who regularly storm the charts and have hundreds of thousands of fans around the world! They all debuted under JYP Entertainment. But no less famous than these idol groups is the person behind it all:

J.Y. Park - founder of JYP Entertainment

Some call him by his real name Park Jinyoung, while others use his stage name J.Y. Park or use the abbreviation JYP. We are talking about a legend who is not only known as the founder of one of the biggest entertainments in the Korean entertainment industry, but also as a successful singer, songwriter and producer!

Park Jinyoung began his career in 1992 when he debuted in the trio "Park Jin Young and the New Generation". However, the debut album "Floating Time" was not successful and the trio disbanded. For the next two years, Park Jinyoung applied to countless talent agencies, but received one rejection after another and worked as a backup dancer in between. One of the agencies he tried his luck with was SM Entertainment, then known as "SM Studio"! He was rejected there too, but the founder Lee Soo Man asked Park Jinyoung afterwards if he could have the self-written song that the latter sang at the audition! Park didn't sell him his song "Don't Leave Me" though, and that was a good thing. He released it instead in 1994 on his debut solo album "Blue City" and topped the charts! That was the beginning of a long, successful music career that continues to this day.

Already in 1997, he dared to take a new step and founded his own label: "Tae-Hong Planning Corp".

In the same year Park Jinyoung was asked by the agency SidusHQ - at that time still called "EBM" - to take care of their new boy group g.o.d as mentor and producer. He ended up producing the band's first album - Chapter 1 - along with Bang Si Hyuk, who would later become known as the founder of Big Hit Entertainment (now "Hybe Corporation").

Bang Si Hyuk and Park Jinyoung had met in the mid-1990s. When Park founded his label, Bang Si Hyuk joined as a composer and producer. However, he left the label in 2005 to start his own. At least since the success of g.o.d - the boy group became one of the most popular and best-selling K-pop groups of the early 2000s - both Park Jinyoung and Bang Si Hyuk were known as hitmakers. To this day, they live up to the title.

Park Jinyoung not only wrote hit after hit for the artists in his label, but also for many other stars. He even collaborated with western celebrities such as Will Smith and Jackie Chan, among others!

Although Park focused more on producing music after founding his label, he still successfully releases original songs such as "Who's Your Mama" (2015), "Still Alive" (2016), "Fever" (2019), and "When We Disco" (2020).

J.Y. Park is one of South Korea's most prolific songwriters, earning more than almost anyone else with his songs. From 2011 to 2013, according to an income report by the "Korea Music Copyright Association," he ranked first in copyright income!

Now that we've gotten to know J.Y Park in more detail, let's turn back to his company:

Tae-Hong Planning Corp achieved its first milestones during the 1st Generation of K-Pop.

K-Pop has been divided into generations since its emergence in the 90s. Each is distinguished by certain characteristics. The exact year in which a generation began or ended differs depending on the source, as opinions differ on this. The first generation is generally understood to have begun in 1996 with the debut of SM Entertainment's boy group H.O.T. They are considered to be the very first K-pop idol group.

In 1997, Tae-Hong Planning Corp signed its first artist, solo singer "Pearl." She made her debut the same year. Pearl left the label three years later, but is still active today. In 2001, Tae-Hong Planning Corp was renamed and has since been known as JYP Entertainment! As you can guess, the name comes from Park Jinyoung's initials.

In 2000, JYP signed a contract with trainee Rain , and two years later, they had a huge success with their debut! Rain's debut album "Bad Guy" was already a hit and earned the singer many newcomer awards.

Since 2000, JYP has produced several other artists such as the label's first boy group Noel (2003), the duo One Two (2003), the singers Park Jiyoon (2000), Byul (2002) or the twin duo Ryanga Rhanga (2000). However, they did not achieve the same popularity as Rain or other stars of the first generation.

2003 - 2011: JYP established himself as the leader of the scene during the 2nd Generation of K-Pop.

In 2004, Rain became one of the biggest stars in Asia with his third album "It's Raining", carrying the name JYP beyond the borders of South Korea and Japan. In the same year, g.o.d switched from their previous agency to JYP Entertainment. In 2005, solo singer Lim Jeonghee made her debut, but it was the new five-member girl group Wonder Girlsthat gave JYP its next big breakthrough in 2007. Wonder Girls, the entertainment's first girl group, quickly became a massive hit. They were the first Korean group to make it into the US American "Billboard Hot 100" charts! That same year, in 2009, the Wonder Girls were also an opening act on the Jonas Brothers' world tour!

In 2008, JYP's first survival show "Hot Blood Men" aired. In the show, male trainees competed against each other to debut at the end. Eleven of them eventually remained and formed the group "One Day." JYP then divided One Day into two groups. The four-member ballad group 2AM debuted in July 2008 and the seven-member hip-hop group 2PM debuted just a month later in August. Both groups enjoyed early success and still have a loyal fan base behind them today. 2PM attracted attention at the time with a masculine image that was rather unusual at the time. JYP did not hesitate to take risks and as we can see they often paid off! By the way, 2AM was jointly produced by JYP and Big Hit Entertainment.

In 2010, the girl group Miss Adebuted, three years after Wonder Girls. After JYP produced three popular groups in two years, it was almost guaranteed that any new group from the entertainment would also wow the masses. And so it was! Already the title song "Bad Girl Good Girl" from the debut album "Bad but Good" topped the charts and earned Miss A their first win in a music show on July 22, 2010, 21 days after their debut. With this, they set a record at that time, as no girl group before them had won the first place in a music show so soon after their debut. Their next albums also brought them awards and high chart positions.

2011 - 2020: 3rd Generation of K-Pop

From December 2011 to April 2012, the first season of the casting show K-Pop Star was broadcast. The show caused quite a stir because the jury consisted of none other than representatives of the "Big 3". This refers to SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment. The three are known as the Big 3 because they have produced successful artists continuously since the 90s and have been the undisputed leaders for many years. Park Jinyoung and Yang Hyunsuk, the founder of YG Entertainment, personally sat in the jury. Representing SM Entertainment was veteran singer BoA, who debuted under SM in 2000. BoA was later replaced by You Heeyeol, the founder of Antenna Music.

The winner of the first season was 15-year-old singer Park Jimin. She won a car, money, and had the choice of which of the three entertainments she wanted to sign a contract with. Jimin chose JYP and debuted the same year with JYP trainee Baek Yerin as a duo called "15&".

In 2014, JYP produced the first boy group since the debut of 2AM and 2PM 6 years earlier! The seven-member boy group called Got7 blew up like a bomb. The debut album "Got it?" shot to No. 1 on the Billboard World Album Charts and reached second place on the Korean Gaon Album Charts. And so another successful band was added to the JYP family! In the same year, the third season of K-Pop Star was aired and the winner Bernard Park decided to join JYP Entertainment just like Park Jimin two years before. He made his solo debut in October.

With that, the entertainment added two more artists to the K-Pop industry in one year. However, JYP would not be the label we know today if it rested on that. In 2015, the list of artists under JYP continued to grow.

On January 9, 2015, JYP launched the sub-label "Studio J" with the goal of producing artists who release authentic music instead of the usual mainstream. On the same day, singer-songwriter G. Soul debuted under the sub-label. Eight months later, in September, the rock band Day6 made its debut. The band achieved high chart positions with their debut album and still remains one of the rock bands in the K-pop industry that can successfully compete with the popular idol groups! Day6 is also managed by Studio J.

Just a month later, the new girl group Twice released their first album, "The Story Begins." The nine members were previously selected through the survival show "Sixteen." Sixteen was not the first nor the last survival show JYP produced to form a new group. With success! Twice remains one of JYP's biggest standouts to this day! The group regularly tops the charts, won countless awards and is one of the best-selling K-pop girl groups of all time! So JYP still manages to thrill K-Pop fans worldwide after almost 20 years.

The entertainment definitely didn't give itself a break and presented fans with yet another new band in 2016. This time, a Chinese boy group named "Boy Story" steps into the spotlight. In 2017, it was "quiet" for a while before a new survival show aired at the end of the year, from October to December. In it, the boy group "Stray Kids" steps into the spotlight. In 2017, it was "quiet" for a while before a new survival show aired at the end of the year, from October to December. In it, the boy group "Stray Kids" was formed, which debuted in March 2018 and, as expected, quickly enjoyed great success. Today, the group is No. 1 in the hearts of thousands of fans and is undoubtedly one of the most successful K-pop boy groups today!

Is Stray Kids the end of the third K-pop generation or the beginning of the fourth?

More than any other generation, there are disagreements as to which year the fourth generation began. The disputed period is 2018 to 2020, but the majority would rather call Stray Kids part of the fourth generation.

In the first half of 2018, numbers also showed that JYP Entertainment's efforts have paid off. For the first time, the company's total value surpassed that of YG Entertainment!

JYP owes this mainly to the success of Twice and Got7. SM Entertainment held on to the first place as the years before. However, by August 2018, the value of JYP's shares increased even more, earning the entertainment the top position! Today (2022), however, Hybe Corporation, the label of BTS, is ahead according to statistics. JYP, SM, and YG follow in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place, respectively.

In 2019, JYP debuted a new girl group four years after Twice! The label knows well that K-pop fans can't get enough of new talents! The four-member girl group Itzy broke records just like their predecessors, and they did so already in their first year. The debut song "Dalla Dalla" reached number two on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, and on top of that, by the end of the year, Itzy won more Rookie Awards in Korea's annual awards ceremonies than any K-pop girl group before!

Even before Itzy's debut, JYP had also announced that a new survival show would create a Japanese girl group the following year. So fans didn't have to wait long for news. The show was called "Nizi Project" and was a bit different from JYP's previous survival shows. Instead of having trainees from the agency compete against each other as before, Park Jinyoung held auditions in various Japanese cities to discover new talent. After the initial pre-selection, further rounds eliminated some contestants again until 20 applicants were left, which JYP took to Korea. In the finals, which aired at the end of June 2020, JYP selected nine members to debut in Japan in December under the name "NiziU"! Their digital pre-debut album, which was released just a few days after the finale of Nizi Project, topped several Japanese charts. With the success, it's no wonder that JYP will produce a male version of the show in 2023!

Those who enjoy watching survival shows from JYP didn't have to wait until then, though. In 2021, there was already another new show. This time JYP Entertainment teamed up with "P Nation," the label of "Gangnam Style" singer Psy. Psy and Park Jinyoung recruited talented male singers in the show "LOUD" and both selected members for a new boy group in the finale. P Nation's seven-member group "TNX" debuted in March 2022, and JYP's five-member boy group has yet to debut, but is likely to do so by the end of the year!

Of course, this does not mean that 2021 was already over for JYP after LOUD. In December, the rock band Xdinary Heroes released their debut digital single "Happy Death Day". But it didn't stop there. Just two months later, in February 2022, the first album of the new seven-member girl group Nmixxwas released. The JYP family continues to grow and grow, and the entertainment seemingly has no plans to stop.

It's worth it! In April 2022, new figures showed that JYP's market value increased by nearly $772 million in the first three months of 2022 alone! The shares are worth more than ever before!

JYP Nation

This is the name of the music collective that unites all of JYP's artists. Over the years, JYP Nation has toured together several times, releasing Christmas singles and more.

JYP has missed out on some future stars.

After all these years, I don't think anyone can doubt that JYP has an eye for talent. Still, it's not always easy to see the potential in young people. Some of the hopeful applicants the label rejected have gone on to become big stars! These include, for example, IU, Xiumin (EXO), Sungjae (BTOB), Yuju (formerly GFriend), Hyolyn (formerly Sistar), Hani (EXID), and J-Hope (BTS)! As for IU in particular, JYP's founder Park Jinyoung has often emphasized how much he would like to include her in his JYP family. In interviews, he joked that he would love to fire whoever rejected IU at their audition back then. But as they say, "You can't have it all."

Subsidiaries

Given JYP's size, it's no wonder the entertainment company has also established a number of subsidiaries over the years. These include three foreign companies, for example. Japanese company JYPE Japan Inc, which is primarily responsible for NiziU and presumably also for the planned Japanese boy group, and two Chinese companies. One of them manages Boystory and the other manages Chinese singer Yao Chen, who was part of the project group "R1SE" from 2019 to 2021 after winning in a Chinese survival show. Of course, there is also the Korean sublabel "Studio J", which currently manages artists such as Day6 and Xdinary Heroes, and the fledgling sublabel "SQU4D", which was created for Nmixx.

JYP also has two offices in China (Beijing, Hong Kong), one in Japan and one in the USA. In addition the label also has its own department for producers and songwriters, one for film and series production, and even a bar and two cafes in Seoul. The cafes are mostly used for meetings by Park Jinyoung and JYP's artists.

Furthermore, JYP has entered into many business partnerships with other companies like SM Entertainment, Big Hit Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, China Music Corporation, and the American record label Republic Records. These partnerships mainly help JYP to further promote its own artists.

However, JYP also invests in good causes and works, for example, with the Korean Make-A-Wish Foundation to promote campaigns to benefit children with incurable diseases. So as you can see, the label has long been more than just a talent agency.

Social Media

On Youtube, Twitter and Co you can find official accounts of all JYP Entertainment artists. In addition, the label has its own, comprehensive accounts, where news about all your favorite idols of JYP are gathered.

Youtube // Instagram // Twitter

You can also follow founder and singer J.Y. Park on social media!

Youtube // Instagram // Twitter // TikTok

Currently (June 2022), JYP Entertainment has the following artists under contract:

Groups: 2PM, Twice, Stray Kids, Itzy, Day6, Nmixx, Boystory, NiziU & Xdinary Heroes

Solo singers: Bernard Park, Yao Chen & J.Y. Park himself
In addition, members from idol groups who have released solo albums are of course also named as solo singers of the entertainment. These include several members of 2PM and Day6, and more recently Nayeon from Twice.

JYP's current artists include representatives of all four K-pop generations. The label is a piece of K-pop history and is already a legend in the Korean entertainment industry. So it is still worth watching the development of JYP Entertainment. We will see what else the label will achieve in the future!