Image Credit: Naver

Following their investment in rival K-Pop label, Big Hit Entertainment are now getting a huge investment in their own business.

Korean tech company Naver are planning to invest a massive 354.8 billion won (roughly $317.7 million USD) in Big Hit Entertainment’s beNX. beNX is a subsidiary of Big Hit – the label behind everyone’s favourite K-Pop stars BTS – and developed their direct-to-fan app Weverse.

Naver and Big Hit state that the investment and their new partnership will see them combine efforts to create a huge, new fan community platform that is global. It will see Naver’s own V LIVE division integrated into Weverse, combinging their content, services, and users.

With news of the partnership, Big Hit Entertainment have also announced that they will be changing the name of beNX to WEVERSE COMPANY Inc. Big Hit will lead their combined business whilst they will use Naver to “maximise synergy” as they build on their platforms.

In a statement, Naver wrote: “In order to expand influence in the global market, we need to go beyond competition between domestic platforms and closely cooperate between competitive platforms that can create synergy. The new global fan community platform will become an unrivalled player in the global entertainment market by adding K-content to the globally competitive K-technology.”

Big Hit added: “Since the launch of Weverse in 2019, we have witnessed the necessity and impact of fan community platforms in the global music market through Weverse’s exponential growth. We look forward to the synergy between Weverse and V LIVE through a full-scale cooperation with Naver, through which we will reach an unrivaled position in the global market with our more advanced fan community platform.”

The partnership comes shortly after the news that Big Hit Entertainment and beNX had invested in YG Entertainment, a rival K-Pop label behind huge artists like BLACKPINK and the classic Psy. The Korean music and tech industry are looking forward to a thriving and collaborative 2021, clearly.