Recently, Korean media reported that Mr. Yang Min Suk - CEO of YG Entertainment - has left the board of directors of The Black Label company, marking an unprecedented milestone in the company's history.
Since being founded in 2016 by two producers Teddy Park and Kush, as a subsidiary (label) under YG, there has always been at least one personnel related to YG sitting on the board of directors of The Black Label.
Some analysts believe that The Black Label is eliminating the influence from its old parent company and officially entering the path of completely independent operation, while launching a management restructuring process towards the IPO (initial public offering) goal.
According to industry insiders, Yang Min Suk withdrew from the board of directors of The Black Label from December 20, 2025, after his term ended.
Currently, the company is almost entirely run by former leaders of Pearl Abyss, and is actively seeking new investors such as Krafton and Tencent ahead of the IPO that many people predict.
YG's ownership ratio in Teddy's company also gradually narrowed over the years. Before 2019, YG held 45% of The Black Label's shares and considered it a subsidiary; by the end of 2023, YG's share ownership ratio was only 27.6%; then decreased to 14.55% at the end of last year.
Since 2020, The Black Label is no longer a subsidiary of YG but has transformed into an affiliate company and started an independent management process. Not only producing music for YG artists, the company also actively recruits artists, promotes album releases and management activities.
Currently, The Black Label has signed management contracts with many music groups and solo artists such as MEOVV group, Allday Project group, Rosé (Blackpink), Taeyang (Big Bang), Jeon Somi, Park Bo Gum, Im Si Wan...
However, many fans expressed concern that The Black Label's independent operation process will affect the activities of the artists.
Because this company has long been criticized for scheduling music releases and promotional activities for artists too limited. Teddy Park's production ability has also been questioned many times.
