Hello82
American label distributing K-pop globally since 2018.
Hello82 is an American music and entertainment company based in Los Angeles, California. It functions as a record label that handles distribution, marketing, event-planning, and content production. The company focuses on promoting K-pop to international audiences.
Quick Facts
- Industry
- Music entertainment
- Founded
- 2018
- Founder
- Jae Yoon Choi
- Headquarters
- Los Angeles, California
- Country
- United States
- Key people
- Jae Yoon Choi (CEO)
- Sang H. Cho (COO)
- Moo Hyun Kim (CSO)
Facts from the source article.
History
hello82, the brand under which KAI Media operates, was launched in 2018 by Jae Yoon Choi in Los Angeles, California, initially as a digital media company. Since 2021, it has also functioned as an independent music label. The company maintains offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Seoul. The following year, hello82 worked with the South Korean girl group Itzy to produce a series called IT'z Playtime.
Also in 2021, hello82 started handling music distribution for K-pop artists, both online and through live events, across the United States and Europe. That same year, during ATEEZ’s tour, hello82 set up more than a dozen pop-up stores featuring photo walls, giveaways, and exclusive merchandise. It also opened its first flagship fan space, hello82 LA. A second flagship fan space followed in Atlanta in 2024.
In March 2024, hello82 announced it had raised $8 million in total funding from CRIT Ventures, Kakao Entertainment, and Snow Corp. The company’s YouTube channel, which has over 1.8 million subscribers, posts content where K-pop stars take on viral challenges, act as babysitters for kids, and sing karaoke in languages they don’t speak.
Releases
In 2024, hello82 released a special vinyl version of that album for Record Store Day, marking its venture into vinyl distribution.
More in K-pop Record Labels
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