by The 4th generation girl group Daejeon ignited. As the K-pop market is expanding worldwide, 4th generation girl groups boasting their concepts and charms are making their debut. Newcomers from large agencies such as group Nmix and I’ve and Kepler, a former audition program member, are competing fiercely.
The achievements of the 4th generation girl groups are worth noting. They are rapidly breaking the record of Initial Chodong (sales in one week after album release), and the girl group competition is growing. Recently, Hive, the agency that created BTS, also announced the launch of a girl group with 2-3 teams a year, drawing attention worldwide attention.
Ive·Nmix, large entertainment agency girl groups are active.
JYP Entertainment, a ‘girl group famous song’, released Nmix last month. Although the concept of the debut song was somewhat tricky to understand, fans liked and disliked it, but the single ‘Ad Mare’ achieved a new record of over 220,000 copies in the first week. Recently, it was selected as ‘Radar Korea’, an artist support program of the global music streaming platform Spotify. JYP is expanding its scope worldwide by establishing a local subsidiary in North America and establishing a foothold for overseas expansion, such as Nix.
I’ve, a six-member group that debuted in December last year, attracted great attention even before their debut thanks to Wonyoung and Eugene of IZone. They were selected in the Mnet survival audition ‘Produce 48’ under Starship Entertainment. After their debut, other members such as Leeseo, Lay, Gaul, and Liz also received great love from music fans for their outstanding visuals and unique charms. They climbed to the top of the domestic music charts with their debut album ‘Eleven’, and after seven days of their debut, MBC M’ Show! Champion’s first-place trophy and set a record for being the main character on a music show in the shortest time for a girl group. The second single, ‘Love Dive’, will be released next month.
Kepler and Klassie. Applicants from audition programs
Kepler is a multinational group of 9 members selected from Mnet’s audition program ‘Girls Planet 999’. Kepler set the Initial Chodong record of 200,000 copies immediately after his debut with ‘First Impact’, breaking Ive’s record of 150,000 copies. After that, he formed a rivalry with I’ve and showed off his presence. They will also participate in Mnet’s ‘Queendom 2’, where six idol teams compete from the 31st and compete with senior singers such as Hyorin, WJSN, and Brave Girls through performances.
At the end of next month, Classi will debut. They were selected through the survival audition program ‘After School Excitement’, which ended on February 27. Finkle Ock Joo-Hyun, Girls’ Generation’s Yuri, (G) I-DLE’s Soyeon, and Aiki from the choreography department, representing the 1st to 3rd generation idols, appeared as teachers and trained applicants. Seven members (Jimin Won, Seonyu Kim, Hyungseo Myeong, Hyejoo Hong, Boeun Park, Riwon Kim, Chaewon Yoon) were selected as the debut group average age of the team is 16 years old. After three days of confirming their debut group, Classi performed on Mnet’s ‘M Countdown’, appearing on music programs of three terrestrial broadcasters and cable channels. They plan to release their debut album at the end of April and hold a concert.
‘Hive = male idol?’ Now accepting girl groups
Hive, which has taken over the K-pop market worldwide, is also predicting the debut of a girl group. Hive’s label, Adore, is attracting attention as it is a girl group that Min Hee-jin, a former visual director of SM Entertainment, oversees and introduces. Representative Min Hee-jin revealed that she was preparing for a girl group to debut this year on tvN’s ‘You Quiz on the Block’ last December.
Belief Lab, a joint venture with CJ ENM, also announced the airing of Mnet’s ‘I-Land 2’ featuring a female trainee. In addition, Hive’s label Source Music recently announced the recruitment of Sakura and Kim Chae-won from IZone, announcing their preparations for a girl group debut. Hive, the creator of BTS, and Source Music, the creator of GFRIEND, are expected to enhance their competitiveness by joining members from IZone, who already have an intense fandom.
After BTS, they mainly released boy groups such as Tomorrow by Together and N Hyphen. However, Hive plans to expand its lineup from boy groups to girl groups starting this year while debuting two or three girl groups.
