JYP Entertainment, the K-pop agency behind such acts as Stray Kids, TWICE, and DAY6, reported blockbuster quarterly earnings on Wednesday (August 13) in the wake of several major world tours by its acts.
The Seoul-headquartered company reported a 125.5% YoY increase in revenue – yes, more than double – to 215.8 billion Korean won in the three months to end of June. That’s USD $154 million at the average exchange rate for Q2.
Meanwhile, the company’s reported operating profit of KRW 52.9 billion ($37.7 million) was up by a whopping 466.3% YoY. Q2 net profit stood at KRW 36.3 billion ($25.9 million), up 2,734.4% YoY.
A major part of that growth came in the concert segment, which saw revenue growth of 342% YoY to KRW 62.0 billion ($44.2 million).
As major contributors to that number, JYP singled out Stray Kids’ recently completed world tour, which saw the boy group perform 54 shows in 23 cities across Asia, Oceania, Latin America, North America, and Europe. The tour, which started in August 2024, ended a few weeks ago – nearly a year later – with a performance at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
According to Live Nation, Stray Kids’ <dominATE> World Tour is now the highest-grossing and best-selling tour ever by a K-pop act in North America, Latin America, and Europe.
Also contributing to JYP’s concert revenues in Q2 was DAY6’s world tour (45 shows in 23 cities) and performances by girl group TWICE, including its headline performance at Lollapalooza Chicago 2025.
JYP also mentioned the success of the Netflix movie Kpop Demon Hunters in its earnings report.
Three members of TWICE – Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and Chaeyoung – contributed to the soundtrack with the song Takedown, which has become the highest-charting song on the Billboard 100 to have come from a Netflix movie.
Additionally, the TWICE track Strategy featuring Megan Thee Stallion appeared briefly in the movie, and has now entered the Billboard 100.
The tours by JYP artists also boosted the company’s merch sales, which jumped 355.9% YoY to KRW 66.9 billion ($47.7 million).
That was helped along by collaborations between Stray Kids and merch company Tamagotchi, as well as a collab between TWICE and merch company Sanrio.
Ad revenue increased 22.4% YoY to KRW 11.3 billion ($8.1 million), which JYP attributed to “enhanced collaborations with global brands and increased artist awareness.”
One area of weakness in the earnings report was streaming revenue, which fell 10.2% YoY to KRW 11.5 billion ($8.2 million). JYP attributed this to a distortion in the year-on-year comparison with Q2 2024, which included a one-time recognition of streaming revenue from China. Nonetheless, streaming revenue is still down around 7.8% from the same quarter two years ago.
Offsetting the lower streaming revenue is a 100% YoY jump in physical album sales, to KRW 27.1 billion ($19.3 million). JYP said that was thanks to a solid roster of new releases, including a Stray Kids mini-album in Japan.
Japan, where physical album sales remain stronger than in most other developed music markets, has been steadily growing as a source of revenue for JYP. It accounted for KRW 45.2 billion ($32.2 million) of the company’s revenue in the latest quarter, or 21% of the total, up from 10% five years earlier.
The world outside Korea, Japan and China has also been growing as a share of revenue, amid JYP’s efforts to internationalize its business. Ex-Korea, Japan and China sales were 41% of the total in the latest quarter, up from 31% a year earlier, and 13% five years earlier.
JYP isn’t the only Korean music company to see revenue boosted by live events at a time when record sales and streaming are seeing slowing growth.
HYBE, the largest of the Korean music companies, reported a tripling of concert revenue in the first quarter of 2025, and a 31% YoY increase in Q2.
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