HYBE-Universal Music Group Project 'The Debut: Dream Academy' Draws Global Interest with 120,000 Applicants

HYBE, in partnership with Universal Music Group (UMG), is set to launch a global K-pop girl group via a joint venture labeled, 'HYBE x Geffen Records.' 

This notable union will unveil participants selected from the U.S. audition show, 'The Debut: Dream Academy' on the 29th of this month.

HYBE began its global efforts to discover new talent by establishing a joint venture with Geffen Records, a label under UMG, in 2021.

The audition show taking place in the United States, 'The Debut: Dream Academy,' carries the meaning of young individuals from various parts of the world, united by the dream of becoming musicians, challenging themselves towards their debut goal together. 'The Debut: Dream Academy' will run for 12 weeks.

HYBE is not merely pursuing K-pop but, under the vision of Chairman Bang Si Hyuk, aims to globalize the K-pop production system. Chairman Bang has been overseeing the 'The Debut: Dream Academy' project for nearly two years, living in the United States.

In a conversation video released on YouTube with John Janick, Chairman of Geffen Records, Chairman Bang expressed, "I had a dream of offering talented young people worldwide the opportunity to become members of a fantastic group based on K-pop," and he added, "I believed that the U.S. market had to be a part of making this happen."

Through a press release distributed on this day, he emphasized, "For K-pop to truly become mainstream worldwide, it should evolve into 'just pop' without the 'K'."

Over the past two years, 120,000 applicants have participated in this audition program. Within the first week of the audition announcement, an astonishing 70,000 individuals submitted audition videos.

Among them, the debut candidates selected through in-person and remote auditions will undergo a 12-week competition, with the final decision on their debut to be made through a live broadcast.

The competition process will be made public worldwide through YouTube.