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HYBE is launching a new girl group-focused label called ABD, signaling what could become one of the company’s most ambitious attempts yet to rethink how K-pop girl groups are developed, positioned, and creatively managed.

The company announced Thursday that ABD will debut its first rookie girl group in the second half of this year. HYBE described the move as part of its broader strategy to diversify its intellectual property portfolio and further specialize its production system as competition intensifies across the global music industry.

The label’s name, ABD, stands for “A Bold Dream.” According to HYBE, the name reflects a philosophy of breaking away from predictable formulas and “imagining D instead of simply following A, B, then C.” The company said the label aims to pursue flexible and energetic creativity while maximizing the fundamental joy of music itself.

That wording may offer an early clue about the kind of group HYBE is trying to build.

More Than Just Another Girl Group Label

The language surrounding ABD is noticeably broader than a standard idol launch announcement. Rather than simply promoting a new rookie group, HYBE repeatedly emphasized “IP diversity,” “new alternatives,” “creative flexibility,” and “expanding the boundaries of K-pop.”

That suggests ABD may be positioned as a structural experiment inside HYBE’s multi-label system.

The company already operates several successful girl groups through different subsidiaries, including LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT, and Katseye co-managed with Geffen. The obvious question, then, is why HYBE felt the need to establish an entirely new girl group-focused label unless it intends to pursue a meaningfully different development philosophy.

For years, K-pop girl groups have largely operated within highly structured creative systems where music, concepts, branding, and public image are tightly directed by management companies. While some artists participate in songwriting or production, genuine creative independence remains relatively rare — particularly for female acts.

One of the few major examples is I-DLE, whose leader Soyeon has become known for heavily shaping the group’s music and identity. Even then, girl groups with meaningful influence over broader creative direction — including storytelling, branding, visual identity, and long-term artistic positioning — remain uncommon in the industry.

HYBE’s wording strongly hints that ABD may explore a more artist-involved model.

The company’s emphasis on “deep understanding of fans and artists,” along with its repeated focus on broader IP expansion, suggests future groups under ABD could potentially participate more actively in shaping not only their sound, but also their overall creative identity across multiple forms of media and content.

The Han Sung-soo Factor

HYBE also announced that Han Sung-soo will oversee ABD’s first girl group as executive producer.

Within the K-pop industry, Han is considered one of the most influential talent developers of the modern idol era. As the founder of Pledis Entertainment, he helped build acts including After School, SEVENTEEN, IZ*ONE, and TWS.

His reputation goes beyond producing hit songs. Han is widely recognized for long-term artist development and for helping establish SEVENTEEN’s “self-producing” identity, which later became one of the group’s strongest differentiators globally.

That detail may be particularly important here.

Self-producing boy groups have become increasingly common in K-pop, but self-directing girl groups remain extremely rare. The decision to pair Han with a project that openly emphasizes flexibility and new creative approaches is likely intentional.

In today’s global music market, audiences increasingly value artists who appear creatively involved in their own work. Authenticity, participation, and artistic identity have become commercially valuable assets, especially among younger audiences who tend to connect more deeply with creators they perceive as genuine and creatively invested.

ABD may represent HYBE’s attempt to apply that model more aggressively to female acts.

Why Girl Groups May Be Strategically Important to HYBE’s Global Expansion

There is also a larger industry reality that may help explain why HYBE appears increasingly focused on girl groups internationally.

Historically, female groups have faced lower cultural barriers entering the Western mainstream compared to boy bands.

While boy bands have often generated massive commercial success and fandom power, they have traditionally struggled to receive the same level of long-term institutional recognition in the West’s music industry establishment. Notably, no boy band ever won a Grammy in a major group category before members eventually transitioned into solo careers. Harry Styles became the first former boy band member to win Album of the Year at the Grammys only after establishing himself as a solo act following One Direction.

Girl groups, however, have historically experienced broader acceptance across mainstream pop spaces, critical circles, radio, and award institutions. Acts such as TLC and Destiny’s Child earned Grammy recognition during their active group years while also crossing into wider cultural and commercial spaces beyond fandom-driven consumption.

Global audiences — particularly in North America — have generally shown greater openness toward female groups operating across multiple identities at once: pop act, fashion brand, cultural figure, lifestyle brand, and mainstream celebrity presence.

HYBE likely understands this dynamic.

The company has spent the last several years building infrastructure, partnerships, and industry relationships in the United States through projects including its collaboration with Geffen Records and the creation of global groups aimed at the Western market. Those ventures have given HYBE direct exposure to how the American music business develops artists, markets personalities, and builds long-term crossover appeal outside the traditional K-pop ecosystem.

ABD may ultimately become part of that broader evolution.

Rather than simply exporting another conventional idol group, HYBE could be positioning ABD as a project designed to operate more fluidly across global entertainment spaces — with greater emphasis on artistic identity, creative participation, and expandable IP that can move beyond music alone.

A Hybrid Management Philosophy?

The choice of leadership may also offer insight into HYBE’s thinking.

ABD will be led by No Ji-won, a longtime entertainment executive who previously served as head of artist planning at Pledis Entertainment before later gaining experience at MORE VISION, the label founded by Jay Park.

That background combines two very different management philosophies.

Pledis is known for highly structured idol development systems and performance-focused artist training. MORE VISION, meanwhile, places heavier emphasis on individuality, artist identity, and creator-driven branding.

That combination could point toward a hybrid approach at ABD: maintaining the infrastructure and polish of traditional idol systems while allowing artists more flexibility in shaping their image and creative direction.

Beyond Music

The repeated emphasis on “IP diversity” may ultimately be one of the article’s biggest clues.

HYBE increasingly views artists not simply as musicians, but as expandable entertainment IP capable of extending into documentaries, gaming, merchandise, publishing, live experiences, social content, and fan-platform ecosystems.

The wording surrounding ABD suggests HYBE may be designing that ecosystem from the beginning rather than building it only after a group becomes successful.

That could make ABD one of the more closely watched experiments in the K-pop industry over the next few years — particularly as companies try to balance large-scale corporate infrastructure with growing global demand for artist authenticity and creative participation.

The timing is also difficult to ignore. Following the highly publicized conflict surrounding ADOR and NewJeans, questions about label autonomy, creative ownership, and artist identity have become increasingly central within the K-pop business itself.

While HYBE has not directly linked ABD to those events, the company’s repeated emphasis on specialization, autonomy, and differentiated creative direction suggests it may also be refining how its multi-label system operates moving forward.

A HYBE representative said the company hopes ABD will introduce “fresh changes” to the global music market through more specialized production capabilities and “new musical experiments” with its upcoming girl group later this year.