HYBE expands global operations with new label services chief

K-pop powerhouse HYBE is sharpening its international operations, appointing industry veteran Juan Arenas to steer a newly streamlined global division aimed at uniting distribution, marketing and artist promotion across its worldwide label network.

The company said Tuesday that Arenas, chief intellectual property officer at HYBE America, would serve as president of the label's Global Label Services, expanding an existing operation into a centralized support organization for labels across all of its global entities.

The division will coordinate global distribution strategies, manage supply chains and oversee relationships with regional distributors and online and offline platforms, while tailoring marketing and promotional campaigns to local markets.

HYBE launched its Label Services operation in the United States in 2024 as part of its HYBE 2.0 growth strategy, subsequently extending the model to Korea and other markets.

The latest restructuring reflects HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s “multi-home, multi-genre” strategy, which seeks to strengthen infrastructure across major music markets and improve collaboration among regional operations.

HYBE also appointed Nicole Csabai as senior vice president of global distribution, drawing on her experience as senior vice president of revenue at Interscope Records, and Melissa Victor-Burkhardt as executive vice president of global artist services, following her tenure overseeing publicity and brand strategy at Epic Records.

The company has established an Artist Success Unit to coordinate artist-specific projects and connect labels with services supporting international activities.

Johanna Fuentes, whose entertainment public relations career includes work at CBS and Warner Bros. Entertainment, will oversee artist public relations alongside Arenas.

HYBE recently created the chief people and transformation officer role and appointed Jenni Pfaff to lead global talent and organizational initiatives across markets including Korea, Japan, the United States, Latin America, China and India.

"In a rapidly changing global music industry, building the foundation for artists to maintain their unique competitiveness and receive long-lasting love across more regions is the essential duty of a music enterprise, as well as the core capability HYBE has cultivated over the past 20 years," said HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang.

"This reorganization of our global label service organization is part of establishing a 'global infrastructure' that strengthens the music distribution, marketing, promotion and public relations capabilities of HYBE artists active on the world stage — spanning hubs in Korea, Japan, the United States, Latin America and India — and marks the starting point for our strategy to expand and refine our business infrastructure," Lee added.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.