BTS Agency Confirms It’s Leaving Sony for Universal Music

An advertisement for K-pop boy band BTS in Seoul.

Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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K-pop boy band BTS is ending its distribution deal with Sony Music’s Columbia Records and will instead partner with Universal Music Group.

The move, confirmed by BTS’s management company Hybe after reports by Billboard and Bloomberg, is a coup for Universal Music, which had been pursuing the tie-up for years. Universal Chief Executive Officer Lucian Grainge had been personally wooing Hybe founder Bang Si-hyuk.