NewJeans’ “How Sweet” Music Video Age-Restricted, HYBE Requests Response from YouTube Headquarters

This video is posted on the HYBE Labels YouTube channel.

According to the K-pop industry, on May 27th, the music video for “How Sweet”was classified as age-restricted content just three days after its release on May 24th, sparking a heated debate among fans of NewJeans.

Although the video has high quality, its number of views is increasing at a slower rate in comparison to NewJeans’ “Bubble Gum”, which was released on April 27th.

Within 24 hours of its release, “Bubble Gum” had already accumulated over 10 million views. However, “How Sweet” had only reached 7.6 million views by 5 PM on the third day after its release. Despite its high ranking on domestic music charts, such as 2nd place on Melon’s Top 100, fans are questioning the comparatively low number of views on YouTube.

Despite a lack of evidence, certain netizens have accused HYBE of purposefully placing an age restriction on the video in order to limit its reach. This accusation comes at a time when tensions between ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin and HYBE are already high.

Despite rumors, HYBE has firmly denied any involvement in setting age restrictions for their music videos on YouTube. According to a representative from HYBE, they do not have control over age restrictions as it is determined by YouTube’s criteria. In fact, HYBE has reached out to YouTube for clarification on the specific reasons for the age restriction and is currently awaiting a response.

There has been speculation that the inclusion of Coca-Cola in the “How Sweet”music video may have triggered YouTube’s algorithm to flag it as an advertisement, resulting in its restriction. It has been reported that Google is currently investigating the technical aspects of this situation.