YG Fam

YG Entertainment is a record label and talent agency founded by Korean band Seo Taiji & Boys member Yang Hyun Suk and based in Seoul, South Korea. It specializes in producing R&B and hip hop music. YG stands for Yang Goon and are also the initials of the chief executive officer, Yang Hyun Suk.[2] Its current roster of recording artists include Big Bang, 2NE1, Seven and Gummy.

The label is one of the "big three" record companies of Korea along with S.M. Entertainment and JYP Entertainment because of strong market share and international operations. Records release through YG Entertainment's distributor, Mnet Media. Avex Entertainment and YG Entertainment have recently formed a new project in Japan called YGEX.
Contents
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1 History
2 Partnership
3 Philanthropy
4 YG Family
4.1 Recording artists
4.2 Producers
4.3 Actors
4.4 Former
5 YG Family Concerts and Tours
6 Discography
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

In March 1996, Yang Hyun Suk, a former member of Seo Taiji and Boys, founded YG Entertainment. The first group to debut on the label was Keep Six, with their only album Six in tha Chamber released in May the same year. Jinusean was the next artist to debut on the label and was the first to achieve mainstream success. Group 1TYM followed along with CEO Yang Hyun Suk's album release. 1TYM and Jinusean are often credited with bringing hip hop to the mainstream Korean audience. In 1999, the company's artists created a collaboration album under the name YG Family.

The label soon released albums by artists Perry, Swi.T, Wheesung, and a second YG Family collaboration in the following years. In 2003, Big Mama debuted as the first group famed for their voices as opposed to appearance. Seven debuted after, along with Lexy and Gummy. In 2005, the YG Underground label was created and grew to contain the artists 45RPM and Stony Skunk. In addition, Se7en began to go abroad to sell records in Japan in a joint effort between YG Entertainment and Nexstar Records. Big Bang debuted in 2006 and was the company's first idol group.

Big Bang skyrocketed in popularity from the time of their debut to the release of their second Korean album, Remember. 2008 was also marked by new releases from Gummy and Uhm Jung Hwa. In 2009, 2NE1 debuted and also quickly became one of the K-pop industry leaders. Big Bang branched out into Japan during this time and released their first Japanese language album, Big Bang. G-Dragon, leader of Big Bang, released his solo album in Korea and it became the highest selling album of 2009.

Psy, an already renowned rap artist, signed onto the label in 2010 and released the album Psy Five. In addition, the company applied to the stock exchange but was rejected. It is estimated that the reason was because YG Entertainment had too few music groups and an unstable cash flow, despite increasing earnings in Korea and Japan in 2009.YG Entertainment passed the Stock Exchange Commission’s screening to go public on the KOSDAQ. The stock price is anticipated to be set around 24,600~28,800 WON (around $22 – $26 USD with a face value of 500 WON). Around 35 billion won (around $33 million USD) will be up for trade on the initial public offering.[1]
[edit] Partnership

Domestically, YG has had partnerships with M-Boat Entertainment and EunGun Entertainment, Yamazone Music, and Booda Sound. After the contracts for Big Mama and Soul Star ended, EunGun and M-Boat have ended their activities with YG Entertainment.

Starting in 2005, YG expanded into the foreign market. Se7en is the first YG artist to expand into the rest of Asia. YG has partnerships with Nexstar Records, a Nippon Columbia label, to manage Japanese releases for Se7en.[3] Universal Music Japan manage Big Bang's Japanese activities,[4] and Avex Group manage 2NE1's Japanese records.[5] YG Entertainment releases its Korean albums under 21 East Entertainment in China, GMM International in Thailand, and Universal Records in the Philippines.[6][7][8]

In 2011, YG Entertainment partnered up with S.M. Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, KeyEast, AMENT and Star J Entertainment to create United Asia Management in an effort to promote Korean pop music internationally.[9]

On July 21, 2011, it was announced that Avex paired with Korean management label YG Entertainment to form YGEX Entertainment.[10]


2011 SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, KeyEast, AMENT and Star J Entertainment will be joining forces to create a huge Asian management agency named ‘United Asia Management‘! This joint investment corporate body was created in an effort to develop an industry that will push ‘Hallyu’ to ‘Asianlyu’. United Asia Management aims to pioneer a global market, and all artists under the six agencies will be under a database system that manages intellectual property rights. A new contents production system will be utilized as well for movies, dramas, and other media. UAM will also be acting as the global agency for artists planning to advance, or currently promoting, overseas. UAM will be officially established as of April 2011.
[edit] Philanthropy

YG Entertainment is heavily involved in charity work, creating their community service campaign WITH. They donate 100 won for every album sold, 1% of all merchandise sales, and 1,000 won for every concert ticket to charities. In 2009, they raised USD$141,000. They surpassed it the following year with USD$160,000. Of the total, USD$87,000 were towards a scholarship for Holt Children’s Services while USD$69,000 were towards children with rare diseases. YG Family have also directly delivered USD$4,400 worth of charcoal to families in need during the winter time.[11] The company has also announced that it would be donating around USD$500,000 for disaster relief to Japan after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[12]
[edit] YG Family
[edit] Recording artists

Big Bang
2NE1
Seven
Gummy
PSY
1TYM ·
Jinusean
Masta Wu
Perry
Teddy
E.knock
Yang Hyun Suk
YG Family

[edit] Producers

Perry
Teddy
E.knock (aka Kush of Stony Skunk)
Q
Rina Moon
Choice37
Choi Pilkang (PK)
DEE.P
Bigtone


[edit] Actors

Jung Hye Young
Ku Hye Sun
Kang Hye Jung
Sandara Park (Dara of 2NE1)
Choi Seung Hyun (T.O.P. of Big Bang)
Kang Daesung (Daesung of Big Bang)
Lee Seung Hyun (Seungri of Big Bang)
Yoo In-na

[edit] Former

45RPM
Big Mama
Huh E Jae
Ji-eun
Lexy
Park Han-byul
Soul Star
Stony Skunk
Swi.T
Uhm Jung Hwa
XO
YMGA
Wheesung
Brave Brothers

[edit] YG Family Concerts and Tours

One Concert 2003 (South Korea)
Color of the Soul Train (South Korea)
One Concert 2004 (South Korea)
Thank U Concert 2005 (South Korea)
One Concert 2005 (South Korea)
10th Anniversary World Tour 2006 (South Korea, Japan, and U.S.)
One Concert 2007 (South Korea)
Concert 2010 (South Korea)
The Party: 2NE1 Live in Manila 2011 (Philippines)
Nolza! 2NE1's First Concert 2011 (To be Held)

[edit] Discography
Main article: YG Entertainment discography
[edit] See also

Korean hip hop
List of South Korean bands

[edit] References

^ a b Kim, Da-ye (January 5, 2011). "Korean entertainment firms fail to go public". The Korea Times. The Korea Times. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
^ http://www.youtube.com/user/YGEntertainment
^ McClure, Steve and Russell, Mark (June 11, 2005). "Korean Pop Seeps Into Japan". Billboard. Billboard. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
^ "Big Bang". Big Bang - Universal Music Japan. Universal Music Group. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
^ "2NE1". 2NE1 - Avex Official Website. Avex Group. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
^ "It's Confirmed! Universal Records Will Release 2NE1 Albums!". Universal Records Philippines Facebook Page. Facebook. November 20, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
^ "Lucky Number for 2011 is Se7en". Universal Records Philippines Facebook Page. Facebook. December 8, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
^ "VIPs, You're Next". Universal Records Philippines Facebook Page. Facebook. January 13, 2011. Retrieved January 22, 2011.
^ (Korean)Lee, Jung Hyung (2011-04-08). "키이스트, SM, YG, JYP 등 6개사 아시아 매니지먼트 에이전시 'UAM' 설립! (KeyEast, SM, YG, JYP & more join forces to establish a new global agency, "United Asia Management")". Naver.com. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
^ http://www.allkpop.com/2011/07/yg-entertainment-and-avex-announce-the-creation-of-ygx
^ (Korean)"YG, 2년 연속 1억원+@ 금액 기부". Newsen. 2010-12-28. Retrieved 2011-03-05.
^ Lee, Hye-rin (March 15, 2011). "YG, 日대지진 피해에 5억원 기부 결정 [YG Entertainment decided to donate 500 million won to earthquake victims]" (in Korean). Naver News. NHN Corp. Retrieved March 17, 2011.

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