SM-YG-JYP Entertainment New Idol Group War? WINNER, GOT7, SM Rookies

TVXQ, Girls' Generation, Super Junior, SHINee, f(x), Big Bang, 2NE1, Wonder Girls, 2PM, and miss A are some idol groups from the Big 3 entertainment companies in Korea. This year they will be debuting new groups to go head to head with each other.

SM Entertainment has created one of the hottest idol groups that rose to the top within 2 years of its debut. Can you guess which group that is? It's EXO! SM Entertainment has released groups such as H.O.T. and SHINee, and EXO was its latest hot group. EXO has breathtaking dance moves that are sharp and well-defined, as well has great harmony and teamwork among its members.

EXO is made up of 8 Korean and 4 Chinese members. The group was split into subunits EXO-K and EXO-M, which were catered for Korea and China, respectively. They gained a massive fanbase with both sub-units.

Their 1st full-length album XOXO made over 1 million sales last year. XOXO was released on June 3rd, and sold 471,570 copies. The XOXO repackage album was released on August 5th and sold 536,007 copies. That totals to 1,007,577 copies of EXO album sales alone. Kim Gun Mo's 7th album and GOD's 4th album also sold over 1 million copies, but that was in 2001. EXO was the first group in 12 years to record such numbers.

EXO's winter special album Miracles in December sold approximately 430,000 copies. EXO's "Wolf," "Growl," and "Miracles in December" were all hit songs that hit the number 1 spot on music charts. EXO won the MelOn Music Award and the 2013 Mnet Asia Music Award. They were even recognized by Billboard as being the top K-pop group.

YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment are debuting new boy bands WINNER and GOT7 in hopes of competing with EXO at SM Entertainment.

YG's new boy group will be the first in 8 years since Big Bang. WINNER first appeared on YG's new boy group debut project Mnet's "WIN: Who Is Next." Team A was the winning team, and earned themselves the title of WINNER. The group consists of "Superstar K2" contestant Kang Seung Yoon, SBS' "K-Pop Star" contestant Lee Seung Hoon, Song Min Ho, YG veteran trainee Kim Jin Woo, and the youngest member Nam Tae Hyun. The 5 members have an average age of 21 years.

Currently they have their own reality TV show on Mnet's "WINNER TV." WINNER performed at Big Bang's Dome Tour for their opening stage in Japan. Despite being rookies, their fan meeting gathered 8,000 fans. WINNER is currently preparing for their official debut, which could be as early as this month.

GOT7 is JYP's first new boy group in 6 years since 2PM. JYP is putting everything into this new group. JYP used to be the leading agency, especially with Wonder Girls' debut in America, but have since then fallen behind SM and YG.

JYP's Wonder Girls members went their own way and 2PM isn't as big in Korea as they are in Japan. Miss A made a hit with their debut single "Bad Girl Good Girl" but their popularity isn't what it used to be. Former Wonder Girls member Sunmi did her share with her solo debut single "24 Hours." From this we can see that JYP is debuting this 7-member group on the 20th in hopes of remedying the situation. The members are of different nationalities, ranging from Taiwanese, Chinese, Thai, and American. JYP's duo "JJ Project" is included in this group as well.

What's interesting is that this will be JYP's first hip hop group. The group will showcase martial arts tricking, specializing in performances. Marital arts tricking involves martial arts moves and special techniques from different martial art forms. It incorporates an aesthetic blend of kicks, flips, and twists. GOT7 will reveal their title song music video on the 15th, and hold their showcase. They will have their first ever debut stage on Mnet's "M Countdown" on the 16th.

There are two main reasons why these 3 main agencies are debuting boy bands. The agencies are looking for new avenues of growth for the company, and many of the popular boy band members will soon be enlisting in military service.

One music rep stated that it's important for these three companies to look for projects that offer a steady return on investment, the key to which is new groups. The rep said, "The boy band's greatest vulnerability is military service enlistment. Fans could leave. This could be avoided if the same agency releases a new group to take their place."

Of course the Big 3 are also preparing girl groups, which have greater impacts in albums, events, and advertisements. Each of the agencies has dozens of trainees for upcoming debuts of new groups.

SM has a pre-debut team called "SM Rookies." These are the trainees that are currently being trained for their debuts. Super Junior member Kyuhyun had previously mentioned Seulki (20) on MBC TV's "Radio Star." Taeyong has a unique look, and is already attracting attention before her actual debut. The rookies even performed for the opening stage of SM's end of the year concert 'SM Week.'

YG also has a girl group in the making. This group will be the first girl group to debut in 5 years since 2NE1 first appeared in the music world. The members are in their late teens and are fluent in foreign languages as well. They were supposed to debut last year, but it seems as if their debut has been pushed back because of WINNER's activities.

JYP will be launching a girl group this year as well, the first in 4 years since miss A debuted. Rumor has it that these new girls will be the prettiest of any other girl group members JYP has revealed so far. Unlike Wonder Girls and miss A, who perform a lot of retro music, this new group will be a sexy team that brings chicness to the table. JYP will also be debuting the boy group 5Live. The boy band has already made their name known to the public with their OST for "Pretty Man," titled "Lovely Girl." They even appeared on YG's "WIN" as JYP's trainee group who battled against YG's trainees.

Tags
TVXQ
Girls Generation
Super Junior
SHINee
f(x)
Big Bang
2NE1
Wonder Girls
2PM
miss A
SM Entertainment
EXO
H.O.T.
EXO-K
EXO-M
Miracles in December
XOXO
Wolf
Growl
YG Entertainment
JYP Entertainment
winner
GOT7
Winner TV
Sunmi
24 Hours
SM ROOKIES
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