BigBang reappears with "BiiiG" after more than 4 years, quickly leading the Korean music charts. The group's 20th anniversary global tour also kicked off, expected to bring more revenue to YG Entertainment.
On August 19, BigBang including G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung released "BiiiG", marking the group's first new product after 4 years and 4 months. The song also opened a series of activities to celebrate 20 years since BigBang debuted.
Immediately after its release, "BiiiG" quickly topped Melon's HOT 100 and TOP 100 charts. This achievement shows that BigBang's appeal is still maintained even though the group has not been active regularly for a long time.
After activities for fans in Korea, BigBang launched the "BigBang 2026-2027 World Tour XX: COSMOS" tour in Goyang (Korea) on August 21. According to the current schedule, the group will perform 33 shows in 19 cities in North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia.
The 3 performances in Goyang alone quickly sold out tickets. About 210,000 people simultaneously accessed the system on the opening day, showing great interest in the group's comeback.
BigBang's appearance comes at a time when YG Entertainment needs more revenue. Blackpink, one of the company's main groups, is no longer maintaining group activities with high frequency as members are focusing more on their personal schedules.
From July 2025 to February 2026, Blackpink will perform 33 shows in 16 cities around the globe. After the tour, the group continues to release new music products before switching to separate activities.
In the first half of the year, YG recorded revenue of about 274.9 billion won and operating profit of 30.4 billion won, increasing by 37.1% and 69.9% respectively compared to the same period last year. However, maintaining this result in the second half of the year is still a noteworthy problem when Blackpink's group activities decreased.
Babymonster and Treasure are gradually developing but still need more time to reach the scale of leading music groups. Meanwhile, BigBang has a large fan base after 20 years of operation, helping the group to quickly create attraction when returning.
The "COSMOS" world tour is therefore expected to bring significant revenue to YG from ticket sales, souvenir products and related business activities. Although revenue still has to be divided between the company and members, YG participates in organizing and co-organizing performances, so it can still benefit from the scale of the tour.
BigBang's return also shows that YG can still take advantage of the appeal of artists who have contributed to creating the company's name. In 2024, 2NE1 returned with a 15-year anniversary activity. These projects help YG continue to exploit the number of fans that have been built over many years.
With BigBang, the 20th anniversary project is therefore not just a comeback. The achievements of "BiiiG" and the attraction from "COSMOS" may help YG have more revenue at a time when Blackpink is reducing group activities.
If the tour maintains its appeal in international markets, BigBang is expected to become one of YG's bright spots in the second half of the year, and also show that artists who have made a big impression can still bring commercial value after many years.
