K-Audition Programs Are Back In Full Swing In Search For The Next New Idol Group

According to the import and export trade statistics of the Korea Customs Service, the number of album exports last year increased by 5.6% from the previous year. Korea’s record exports have grown every year since 2017, and most of this was due to the activities of idols, especially BTS.

The recent frantic search for a new idol group in the K-Music industry is in line with the situation in the globalized K-Pop market. With this, audition programs are being held one after another, centered on large music companies that have focused on various genres of audition programs such as trot, Korean traditional music, bands, etc. Now, these companies are back to launching idol auditions again.

First, SM Entertainment will select new faces through a large-scale SM global audition. Starting in Seoul this month, they will travel around Korea to find the next idol to represent SM. JYP Entertainment will also be embarking on a journey to find talent as they open auditions in six cities in Korea starting at the end of this month.

Broadcasting companies are also taking steps to find the next K-Pop idols. The first idol audition program to launch this year will be Mnet’s Boys Planet. This show is a follow-up to Girls Planet 999, which debuted girl group Kep1er.

Subsequently, JTBC will air the program Peak Time the same month, which clearly differentiates itself from other programs. For the first time in the history of idol auditions, the audition will be held as a team battle with boy groups that have already debuted, battling for the position of worldwide idol.

MBC’s Fantasy Boys, a follow up to last year’s My Teenage Girls, will also air soon. It has been know that about 1,000 trainees from Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, and the U.S. have applied to participate in the program.

In the latter half of the year, idol auditions are expected to continue as SBS announced plans to present a girl group audition program, Universe Ticket: The Miracle Of 82, in partnership with F&F Entertainment. This program will depict the journey of 82 trainees going through missions for 82 days and finally debuting as an 8-member group.

The movement to actively accept foreign members into idol groups is also a change in accordance with the globalization of K-Pop. A music industry official stated, “There was a moment of hesitation in recruiting foreign members due to various problems, including COVID-19, but as K-Pop’s globalization is in full swing, the trend is to recruit foreign members again actively. Through auditions, we can find talent in Korea and abroad and meet more diverse candidates that can attract the fandom of the foreign members’ countries.”