BPM Entertainment

Lore & Background

BPM Entertainment was founded in July 2021 by rapper MC Mong and Duble Sidekick member Park Jang-geun. The company signed its first artist, Soyou, on September 29, 2021, after she left Starship Entertainment. Later that year, former GFriend members Eunha, SinB, and Umji signed with BPM and debuted as the trio Viviz in February 2022. Other early signings included Huh Gak, Ha Sung-woon, Lee Mu-jin, Be'O, and Ren. In October 2021, BPM formed a strategic alliance with Swing Entertainment and Million Market. MC Mong resigned as director in November 2022 but remained associated through Million Market; Park Jang-geun became CEO.

Reader's Guide

BPM Entertainment quickly established itself as a notable player in the K-pop industry by signing established artists and forming strategic alliances. The company debuted its first girl group, Viviz, in 2022, and later debuted Badvillain in June 2024. BPM faced controversy in 2023 when SM Entertainment alleged that the company attempted to poach EXO members Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin; SM later withdrew the allegations and apologized, though a leaked transcript suggested MC Mong had discussed recruiting Baekhyun and Kai. In 2024, BPM's parent company One Hundred incorporated Baekhyun's company INB100 as a subsidiary. The company expanded into acting and entertainment with signings such as Lee Seung-gi and Lee Soo-geun. Despite losing several artists over time, BPM remains active with a roster including Badvillain, Ha Sung-woon, and Ren.

Founding & the 2021 Signing Wave

BPM Entertainment (Korean: 빅플래닛메이드, also styled Big Planet Made) was born in July 2021 when rapper MC Mong and Duble Sidekick member Park Jang-geun joined forces to launch a new South Korean entertainment label. Within weeks the young company moved with remarkable speed: Soyou became the first artist to sign on September 29, followed almost immediately by former GFriend members Eunha, SinB, and Umji, who were rebranded as the trio Viviz. Actor Huh Gak, former Wanna One member Ha Sung-woon, and rapper Lee Mu-jin all joined the roster before the year's close, while the company sealed a strategic memorandum of understanding with both Million Market and Swing Entertainment, a CJ ENM subsidiary, to broaden its business reach. Viviz officially debuted in February 2022 with the EP Beam of Prism, and the label continued adding names—including Be'O, actress Jo Soo-min, Mighty Mouth, and former NU'EST member Ren—through the spring. By November 2022, MC Mong had stepped down as director, handing the CEO role to Park Jang-geun while retaining a connection through the Million Market affiliation.

Corporate Restructuring & the One Hundred Era

The period from late 2022 through 2023 marked a dramatic shift in BPM's ownership and leadership structure. After MC Mong's November 2022 departure from the director seat, Park Jang-geun assumed the CEO position, steering the label through a transitional phase. The landscape changed further in November 2023 when Cha Ga-won, chairman of the p-Arc Group, acquired Million Market from SM Entertainment and became BPM's largest shareholder. Just weeks later the company brought in Kim Dong-jun, the former head of SM C&C, as its new CEO with a stated mission to grow MC management and content production. The crowning moment of this restructuring arrived on December 12, 2023, when One Hundred was formally established as BPM's parent company. The venture was a joint investment between Cha Ga-won and MC Mong, with Park Jang-geun serving as general producer. This new corporate architecture positioned BPM not as a standalone indie label but as a division within a broader entertainment ecosystem, granting it deeper financial backing and a more ambitious long-term strategy.

Roster Turnover & the Badvillain Era

BPM's artist lineup underwent significant churn in early 2024, reshaping the label's identity. On January 1, Mighty Mouth publicly announced their departure, and by February 1, Soyou—once the company's very first signing—confirmed she too would be leaving after what the company described as in-depth discussions. The roster also saw the departures of Huh Gak, Kany, Be'O, and Lee Mu-jin over the following period. Into this vacuum, BPM made high-profile additions: Shinee member Taemin signed in April 2024 for solo promotions, Lee Soo-geun became the label's first entertainer on April 18, and actor Lee Seung-gi joined on April 29. The centerpiece of the year's activity arrived on June 3, when BPM debuted its second girl group, Badvillain. Today the label is best recognized for Badvillain alongside soloists Ha Sung-woon and Ren, actor Lee Seung-gi, entertainer Lee Soo-geun, and performance director Kasper, reflecting a more curated and strategically focused roster than the broad 2021–2022 signing wave.

Poaching Allegations & the INB100 Connection

BPM's most significant public controversy erupted in June 2023, when SM Entertainment accused an unnamed external company—widely reported to be BPM—of attempting to lure Exo members Baekhyun, Chen, and Xiumin away from their exclusive contracts. The accusation specifically named MC Mong as the person who allegedly influenced the three artists. Both BPM and MC Mong firmly denied the claim, and SM subsequently retracted the allegation and issued an apology. However, the matter did not fully close: the following month, media outlet TenAsia published a transcript in which MC Mong appeared to describe his own efforts to recruit Baekhyun and fellow Exo member Kai, seemingly contradicting the earlier denials. The situation took a surprising turn in May 2024, when One Hundred incorporated Baekhyun's own company, INB100, as a subsidiary. In the accompanying press release, One Hundred declared that BPM and INB100 had "become one family," framing the arrangement as BPM providing the infrastructure INB100 required while both sides gained a powerful intellectual property asset.

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