K-Pop Giant HYBE & Spotify Lead Music Stocks Amid Bumpy Start to 2024

Music stocks mirrored the poor start to 2024 seen in markets around the world, but K-pop giant HYBE bucked the trend with a 7.9% gain to 252,000 won ($191.67) this week. 

HYBE made the news multiple times during a relatively slow, holiday-shortened week — though none of it was the type of financial news that typically affects a stock price. HYBE and its Pledis Entertainment subsidiary announced the debut of a new boy band, TWS, and the release of the sextet’s debut single, “Oh Mymy: 7s,” ahead of an album launch on Jan. 22. TidalWave Comics unveiled a BTS edition of its “FAME” manga comic book series. And NewJeans, signed to HYBE’s Ador imprint, surpassed 400 million Spotify streams for its track “Super Shy.” 

The 20-company Billboard Global Music Index fell 1.4% to 1,512.40 this week as 13 stocks finished the week in negative territory. Of the six stocks that posted gains, only HYBE and Spotify — two of the index’s most valuable companies — had a 3% or greater improvement. One stock, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, was unchanged from last week at 0.72 GBP ($0.92). 

After gaining 138% in 2023, Spotify continued its winning ways by starting 2024 with a 3.0% increase to $193.52 per share. Three other streaming companies also posted gains this week: Anghami rose 1.9% to $1.06, Deezer climbed 1.4% to 2.16 euros ($2.37) and Cloud Music improved 0.2% to 89.90 HKD ($11.51).

Stocks were generally down this week despite Friday’s positive news from the U.S. Department of Labor that the economy added 216,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7%. Apple, the most valuable public company and a major factor in the Nasdaq composite index, fell 5.9% this week after Barclays downgraded the stock and the New York Times reported the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing an antitrust case against the company. 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 3.2% to 14,524.07 while the S&P 500 fell 1.5% to 4,697.24. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 dipped 0.6%. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index declined 2.9%.