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BTS leaves Columbia Records and heads to Universal Music Group

By Ron Lim
Published October 22, 2021 4:27 PM PHT

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BTS band group


BTS has had a distribution deal in the United States with Columbia Records since 2018, while Universal Music Group handles the group's Japanese albums.

After spending three years having Sony's Columbia Records handle their distribution in the United States, pop supergroup BTS is switching over to Universal Music Group (UMG).

In a report by Billboard and confirmed by Variety, BTS is said to have signed a licensing deal with UMG's Geffen division, with distribution to be handled by INgrooves. The deal is reported to take effect on December 1.

This isn't the first time that BTS or its label, BigHit Music / HYBE, has dealt with UMG. The group's Japanese albums are distributed by UMG, and in the second quarter of 2021, BTS was actually UMG's biggest revenue-generating artist on the strength of their Japanese albums alone.

HYBE also announced a joint-venture label with UMG earlier this year. The two companies, along with YG Entertainment and tech company KISWE, have also jointly invested in the new streaming platform VenewLive.

Aside from the online concerts of BTS, VenewLive has also streamed concerts of other HYBE artists, such as Tomorrow x Together's “ACT:BOY."

VenewLive will also be streaming BTS's newest concert, “Permission to Dance On Stage” this October 24, and probably the four-day in-person BTS concert at LA's SoFi Stadium as well, although no official announcement has been made.


As preparations for BTS' latest concerts are gearing up, check out some of the most talked-about moments in their “Map of the Soul ON:E” virtual concert in the gallery below.