Why did BTS leave Sony for Universal? And what's up with Warner Music Group's $10bn value growth? (Talking Trends)

<p>Welcome to the latest episode of Talking Trends, the weekly podcast from <a href='https://musicbusinessworldwide.com'>Music Business Worldwide</a> – where we go deep behind the headlines of two major news stories affecting the entertainment industry.<br/><br/>This week, host Louise Porter and MBW founder Tim Ingham discuss the shock news that, following a long and successful partnership, Korean superstars BTS (via HYBE) have ended their relationship with Sony Music / The Orchard / Columbia.<br/><br/>Instead, BTS will release music through Universal Music Group and Interscope in the future.<br/><br/>Porter and Ingham discuss why BTS might have made this decision – or had the decision made for them – and what the motivations might be in the new deal for both Universal and HYBE, each of whom are publicly-traded companies.<br/><br/>Ingham casts his eye back to a partnership announcement between Universal and HYBE early in 2021. That agreement conspicuously didn&apos;t mention BTS – but he suspects an &quot;all-in&quot; agreement might have been shaken on there and then.<br/><br/>&quot;Looking back now, I wonder if Universal essentially said to HYBE, behind-the-scenes: &apos;We are completely happy to get into bed with you on these [other] co-controlled projects, but we need a guarantee that BTS will come over to our side,&quot; suggests Ingham.<br/><br/>That belief is only made more of a likelihood, says Ingham, by the fact that Sony &quot;barely put a foot wrong&quot; in its multi-year relationship with BTS. That view is especially true, he suggests, when it comes to Columbia Records and the label&apos;s President Ron Perry, who successfully helped BTS cross over from being K-Pop stars to bone fide US pop sensations.<br/><br/>Says Ingham: &quot;This raises the question: why on earth would BTS leave Sony? It strikes me that this must be part of a bigger plan where HYBE and Universal are growing closer and closer to one another.&quot;<br/><br/>Elsewhere this week, Porter and Ingham chew over the news that Warner Mu