BLACKPINK Renews Contract With YG Entertainment

YG Entertainment has renewed its exclusive contract with all four members of BLACKPINK, the company announced Wednesday (Dec. 6), sending stock in the K-pop giant soaring on news that its most successful act would remain with the agency.

At the market’s open, YG’s share price skyrocketed from 48,000 KRW ($36.57) — its lowest since January — to 61,900 KRW ($47.16), a 29% increase. It has since settled down to 58,700 KRW ($44.72) at time of publishing, which still marks a more than 22% increase since the start of trading on Wednesday and a year-to-date gain of 24%.

YG stock plummeted in September following reports out of Korea that the agency had not yet renewed its contract with the members of BLACKPINK, with Korean news outlet Daily Sports Seoul reporting that three of the group’s members — Jennie, Jisso and Lisa — would leave YG and spend only six months of the year as part of the group. After that report surfaced, the company issued a brief statement saying that the renewal of BLACKPINK’s contract “has not been confirmed and is being discussed.” BLACKPINK is the biggest act on YG’s roster, which also includes Bigbang, TREASURE and BABYMONSTER.

BLACKPINK is to date the most successful K-pop girl group to have impacted the U.S. market, playing Coachella in 2019 and headlining the festival in 2023. In 2022, it became the first K-pop girl group and the third K-pop group overall to top the Billboard 200 with its album Born Pink.

The terms of the new deal were not immediately disclosed.