BTS, Blackpink economy: Korea’s IP rights trade surplus hits record high

While the economic impact of US singer Taylor Swift is so powerful that pundits coined words like “the Taylor Swift economy,” no less strong is the economic power of South Korean pop artists such as BTS, Blackpink and Twice.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Wednesday, the country’s intellectual property (IP) rights trade posted a record-high surplus in 2023, largely driven by gains in the culture and arts sector as pop artists enjoyed increased world tours post-pandemic.

Korea’s IP rights trade posted a surplus of $180 million last year, a turnaround from the previous year’s deficit of $1.11 billion. Last year’s surplus was higher than Korea’s previous record IP rights surplus of $160 million in 2021.

The IP trade balance represents international transactions of industrial property rights, copyrights and other IP-related rights.

The biggest contributor to Korea’s all-time high IP surplus last year was the copyright balance, which saw a surplus of $2.21 billion, up 27% from 2022.

Of copyrights, cultural and art IP trade ran an all-time high profit of $1.1 billion.

IPs related to the use of software and technology in research and development posted a surplus of $1.11 billion.

K-POP ARTISTS REIGN SOVEREIGN OVERSEAS

The BOK said the cultural and art IP profit portion was primarily boosted by gains from K-pop artists’ overseas concerts. The music and film copyrights segment alone logged a surplus of $950 million.

Buoyed by the popularity overseas of K-pop idols, boybands and girl groups, Korea’s cultural and arts IP trade posted a surplus for the fourth consecutive year in 2023 after turning to the black in 2020.

The size of the segment’s surplus has steadily grown from $170 million in 2020 to $410 million in 2021, $880 million in 2022 and $1.1 billion in 2023.

HYBE Co., the agency behind K-pop sensation BTS, said last month it logged the highest annual revenue for a Korean entertainment company in 2023, backed by significant sales growth in music albums and performances.

HYBE’s global tour revenue reached 250 billion won ($190 million) last year.

The industrial property rights account continued to post a shortfall in 2023.

Of the account, the trademark and franchise deficit widened to $1.17 billion last year from a deficit of $650 million in 2022.

The central bank attributed wider deficits to an increase in imports of licensed clothing and miscellaneous goods brands.

Write to Jin-gyu Kang at josep@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.