[SpoTV News = Reporter Gong Mi-na] If 2022 was the year of the girl group, 2023 is expected to be the year of the boy group. This is because a large number of rookie boy groups are expected to emerge next year. The industry has already dubbed them the "5th generation rookie groups," showing anticipation for a generational shift in boy groups.

According to the industry, next year will see more debut schedules for rookie groups from the four major music agencies (HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment) than ever before. There are plans for over 10 rookie groups to debut across South Korea, Japan, the US, and China from these four agencies combined, and notably, seven of these teams are boy groups.
HYBE plans to introduce new boy groups through Pledis Entertainment, home to SEVENTEEN, and KOZ Entertainment, led by ZICO. JYP Entertainment will launch a boy group selected through the SBS audition program "LOUD," the Chinese group Project C, and a boy group version of the girl group NiziU, which is gaining massive popularity in Japan. SM Entertainment is scheduled to debut a new boy group not affiliated with NCT, as well as NCT Tokyo. YG Entertainment has stated they have no plans for a boy group.

Audition programs are also being organized with a focus on boy groups. Mnet will air "Boys Planet" and MBC will air "Fantasy Boys" this year. These are the boy group versions of "Girls Planet 999," which birthed the girl group Kep1er last year, and "My Teenage Girl," which birthed CLASS:y, respectively.

In addition, many small and medium-sized agencies are also reported to have plans to debut boy groups this year.


Over the past two years (2021-2022), the debut of new boy groups has been rare. The total number of boy group debuts was only 13-15 per year, and the "Big 4" agencies only debuted two teams, including Japanese localization groups. Conversely, in 2017, a total of 57 boy groups debuted, and from 2018 to 2020, 4th generation boy groups flooded the market from the Big 4 agencies.

The analysis is that 2023 is the time for a natural generational shift as 4th generation boy groups enter their 4th to 6th year. Furthermore, there is talk that the boy group market is entering a new phase as BTS, who boasted an overwhelming presence, has begun their military service hiatus.

A music industry official predicted, "In the past, boy groups that represented a generation would have a hiatus due to military enlistment or disperse due to contract renewal issues, leading to a natural transition to the next generation. With 4th generation boy groups gaining experience and the start of BTS's military hiatus, the emergence of 5th generation boy groups will now begin."

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.