In a 90-minute internal town hall at HYBE’s Yongsan headquarters, Chairman Bang Si-hyeok met with Universal Music Group chief Lucian Grainge and described how “being lonely and facing difficulties” can lead companies to satisfy fans’ emotions through music.
By the time Lucian Grainge’s answers ended, the HYBE auditorium had shifted from listening to applauding. Roughly 200 employees packed into the Yongsan headquarters as the two leaders took part in a 90-minute dialogue. sharing how they think about the music industry—and why music still feels like the point. even as the business changes.
Bang Si-hyeok. Chairman of HYBE. and Grainge. Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group. held the internal town hall after Grainge visited Korea to meet Bang. The audience wasn’t limited to the room. Staff from overseas offices in Japan. the United States. Latin America. India. and other regions listened through an online live broadcast. hearing the leaders’ voices as the conversation turned personal.
The discussion began where both said it always begins: with music itself. Grainge told employees. “No matter what responsibility you take on. without music. there is nothing. ” and framed his own management approach as being surrounded by the right atmosphere. saying. “My management philosophy is to work surrounded by good music and good people.”.
Bang offered a different but connected starting point. “I believe companies must address societal discomforts in line with the essence of their business,” he said. He then described the path as something far from easy.
“The way we address this is by being lonely and facing difficulties. ” Bang said. “yet satisfying fans’ emotions through music and giving them strength in their lives.” He added that the goal is not to abandon the business’s core. but to use it to reach people more directly: “We must become a company that. while staying true to our essence. can show fans the reasons for living through music.”.
When Bang finished, Grainge leaned into that idea—specifically what it looks like from the inside. He told the room that Bang. as “a composer and producer. ” had “created a truly special and creative culture as an entrepreneur.” He added that what Bang has built is tied to responsibility and passion. not routine success: “I hope everyone understands that what he has created and achieved with responsibility and passion. following missions he considers important. is not ordinary.”.
Grainge then pushed the discussion toward the work itself. “What we do is create culture,” he said, urging the audience to view their jobs as more than output. “I hope those of you working in the music industry also realize that what we do is truly beautiful,” a line that brought applause.
The leaders also spoke about why they see each other as partners—and what they believe makes the relationship last. When asked why they consider each other the best partners. Bang said he always discusses with Grainge how to advance the music industry and described a shared purpose. “I admire his journey of boldly proposing new solutions whenever numerous external changes have arisen,” Bang said.
He expanded on what he believes Grainge has done beyond any single company. “While many leaders work for their companies. Chairman Grainge has done his utmost to ensure the entire music industry moves forward. ” Bang said. He credited Grainge with creating conditions that make livelihoods possible: “He is a leader who created an environment where those of us in the music industry can earn a living. and I have learned much from his intelligence that made such things possible. ” he added. expressing deep admiration.
For his part, Grainge emphasized the partnership’s foundation. “We have had many discussions about what UMG and HYBE can do for each other. ” he said. and underlined that these conversations are “based on strategy. not transactions.” He described Bang as someone who thinks in a way that fits that approach: “someone who thinks strategically rather than transactionally. ” and said that is why they have worked “together as partners for so long.”.
Grainge also pointed to how Bang blends different ways of deciding. “I believe his ability to combine strategy with emotion and intuition made the achievements he has accomplished possible.”
As the town hall moved toward its closing. the leaders returned to the question that has followed the industry through every new wave of technology and shifting consumption habits—what music means when the world is moving faster than ever. When the moderator asked what music means to them, both defined it as something more basic than entertainment.
Grainge said, “Music is like oxygen to me.” He described what it does during hard moments: “When I’m struggling or feeling down, turning up my favorite music makes everything melt away.”
Bang called music “life itself” and said, “Music is life itself and the reason I live.” He added, “Even when life is difficult, it is the only driving force that allows us to accept it.”
The conversation ended with direct encouragement to employees working in the music industry—especially the kind of encouragement that sounds simple until you hear it inside a room full of people building culture together. Grainge advised. “It is important to keep moving forward without stopping by your own will. ” and added. “While it is important to consider what people think. we should not take it too sensitively.”.
Bang brought it back to work and meaning, and to the danger of losing sight of why you started. “Since we approach music as work, there may be times when we forget what we are doing,” he said. “I hope this session today provided an opportunity to step back and feel the value of the work we do—music.” He concluded by thanking Grainge for the trip: “I thank Chairman Grainge for traveling all the way to Seoul for this meeting.”.
The meeting also sits inside a long-running relationship between HYBE and Universal Music Group. Their cooperation has included close collaboration since signing a partnership agreement in 2017 for the distribution of BTS’s Japanese records. In 2021. the companies established a strategic partnership promoting the integration of UMG artists into Weverse and the establishment of a HYBE-Geffen Records joint venture. In 2024. they signed another partnership agreement covering global distribution contracts for records under HYBE Music Group labels and support for artists’ North American promotions. expanding how far the collaboration reaches.
The leaders’ backgrounds, too, were part of the exchange. Grainge. described as a living history of the music industry. began his career as an A&R in the UK in the late 1970s and spent over 40 years reshaping the industry paradigm while working with artists ranging from Queen. ABBA. and Elton John to Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. Bang Si-hyeok started as a lyricist. composer. and producer. founded Big Hit Entertainment in 2005. nurtured multiple artists including BTS into global stars. and built HYBE into the world’s fourth-largest music and entertainment company.
What stayed with the room wasn’t a polished corporate slogan—it was the repeated insistence that music can hold steady when everything else shifts. and that the hardest part of reaching people may begin with something uncomfortable: “being lonely and facing difficulties. ” and then using music to turn that pressure into strength for fans.
HYBE Bang Si-hyeok Lucian Grainge Universal Music Group UMG town hall Yongsan headquarters BTS Japanese records Weverse HYBE-Geffen Records music industry culture