Hybe consolidates global distribution under one unit to advance 'multi-home' strategy

Hybe will consolidate physical and digital distribution and marketing for all its labels worldwide under a single organization, with Juan S. Arenas tapped to lead the effort after building the company's foothold in the Latin market.

The K-pop powerhouse announced Tuesday it has restructured its existing "Label Services" unit into a company-wide "Global Label Services" division and appointed Arenas, previously chief intellectual property officer at Hybe America, as its head. Under the new structure, once a label produces music, the division handles everything from distribution to marketing and promotion for global release.

The unit will support not only Korean artists expanding overseas but also the domestic activities of artists signed to Hybe's US, Japanese and Latin subsidiaries. It will manage regional distributors and platforms and craft market-specific promotional campaigns.

The reorganization traces back to "Hybe 2.0," a new growth strategy announced in August 2024. The company formally launched "Hybe Label Services" under its US subsidiary in October last year before extending the model to Korea and other markets. The new global division now serves every subsidiary worldwide.

The move reflects Chairman Bang Si-hyuk's "multi-home, multi-genre" strategy — an ambition to bring the distribution and marketing operations of Hybe's bases in Korea, Japan, the United States and Latin America under a single infrastructure.

The restructuring also coincides with a broader overhaul of Hybe's North American business. In the fourth quarter of last year, the company reassessed Hybe America's assets and recorded an impairment loss of about 200 billion won ($151 million) as it shifted its North American operations from a management-focused model to a label-based intellectual property business. In March, it injected $100 million into the US subsidiary.

Arenas previously served as chief operating officer of Hybe Latin America, where he oversaw the debut of Latin boy group Santos Bravos. He was also named to Billboard's "40 Under 40" list this year.

Hybe has also brought in executives from major US labels. Nicole Savai, a former senior vice president of sales at Interscope Records, joins as senior vice president overseeing global distribution and will be based in Nashville to lead physical distribution and digital service provider partnerships.

A new "Artist Success Unit" dedicated to serving individual labels has also been created. Melissa Victor-Burkhart, who previously led publicity and brand strategy at Epic Records, will head the unit as executive vice president. Artist publicity will be handled by Joanna Fuentes, a veteran of CBS and Warner Bros.

Hybe has also created a chief people and transformation officer role to oversee personnel and organizational matters across its hubs in Korea, Japan, the United States, Latin America, China and India, appointing Jenny Pef to the position.

Hybe CEO Lee Jae-sang described the reorganization as the starting point of building a global infrastructure. "It is the fundamental duty of a music company to lay the groundwork for artists to preserve their unique competitive strengths and be loved across more regions for a long time," he said.