K-pop in America · 2016 to 2026
How K-pop broke through in America.
This is the year-by-year record of Eshy Gazit's work bringing K-pop into the American market, with each result credited to the artist who earned it and linked to independent coverage where it exists. Gazit was US managing partner for BTS from 2016 to 2018 and has managed Monsta X since 2018 and Wonho since 2020.
Timeline
- 2014Eshy GazitFounds Gramophone Media in New York and Los Angeles, the company through which he later runs the BTS campaign.
- 2016BTSGazit becomes US managing partner for BTS and brokers the US partnership with Big Hit Entertainment. He later tells Billboard that many people in the industry mocked the attempt.
- 2017BTSSold-out US arena dates on the Wings Tour. A&R on "Best of Me" with The Chainsmokers.
- 2017BTSNovember: the American Music Awards performance, then Ellen, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Forbes traces the long push into the US market that led to it.
- 2017
- 2018BTS"Waste It On Me" by Steve Aoki featuring BTS, which Gazit brokered and A&R'd. His term as US managing partner ends in 2018. Monsta X becomes his next US campaign.
- 2019
- 2019Monsta XSigns to Epic Records, covered on the front page of the Los Angeles Times arts section. First K-pop act at the iHeartRadio Music Festival. Headlines Staples Center in Los Angeles. US Top 40 radio singles, a first for a K-pop group.
- 2020Monsta XAll About Luv, the group's first all-English album, debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.
- 2020WonhoSolo career launch under Gazit's management.
- 2021Eshy GazitNamed a Billboard International Power Player. Launches the label Intertwine with BMG to release English-language music by Monsta X and Wonho.
- 2021Monsta XThe Dreaming reaches No. 3 on Billboard Top Album Sales.
- 2022Eshy GazitNamed a Billboard International Power Player for the second year.
- 2023AleXa · VANNERBoth sign for US management (Soompi).
- 2026Monsta XUnfold, released on Intertwine, enters the Billboard 200 and reaches No. 2 on Top Album Sales. The campaign includes Good Morning America and The Kelly Clarkson Show.
- 2026Eshy GazitPublishes What is Asian Pop? in Music Business Worldwide on the new Grammy category.
The approach
The same sequence ran each time: American TV to make the artist familiar, US pop radio to make the song familiar, collaborations with American artists to open doors at radio and streaming, then arenas. The home label stays the home label. The US partner runs America. More on how that works: US management for international artists and international music manager.
Questions people ask
Who helped K-pop break through in the United States?
Several people and companies share the credit: the artists, their Korean labels, their fans, and a small number of US partners. On the US management side, Eshy Gazit was US managing partner for BTS from 2016 to 2018, during the group's first American TV, radio, and awards-show campaign, and has managed Monsta X's US career since 2018.
Who was BTS's US manager?
BTS have always been managed by their Korean label, Big Hit Entertainment (now HYBE). From 2016 to 2018 Eshy Gazit and his company Gramophone Media served as the group's US managing partner, handling the American campaign. In 2021 HYBE acquired Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings, which is a later chapter.
Which K-pop group was first to play the iHeartRadio Music Festival?
Monsta X, in 2019, while managed by Eshy Gazit.
Which K-pop results belong to BTS and which to Monsta X?
BTS: 2017 American Music Awards performance, Mic Drop remix at No. 28 on the Hot 100 and RIAA Platinum, 2017 Wings Tour US arena dates. Monsta X: 2019 Epic Records signing, 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival, 2019 Staples Center headline show, All About Luv at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 (2020), The Dreaming at No. 3 on Top Album Sales (2021), Unfold at No. 2 on Top Album Sales (2026).