--- title: K-Pop Agency Holds Global Auditions for Girl Group description: SM Entertainment announced its first-ever global audition to assemble a new girl group as K-pop looks worldwide for its next generation of idols. canonical: https://time.com/6985315/k-pop-sm-entertainment-global-audition-girl-group/ author: Koh Ewe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-06-04T09:35:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T17:43:22.513Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: K-Pop Agency Holds Global Auditions for Girl Group og:description: SM Entertainment announced its first-ever global audition to assemble a new girl group as K-pop looks worldwide for its next generation of idols. og:url: https://time.com/6985315/k-pop-sm-entertainment-global-audition-girl-group/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb292324c58af4e7c/698a578fd0753360f2e70db1/SM-Entertainment-K-pop-Global-Auditions-Girl-Group.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SM Entertainment Holds Global Audition for Girl Group og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: K-Pop Agency Holds Global Auditions for Girl Group twitter:description: SM Entertainment announced its first-ever global audition to assemble a new girl group as K-pop looks worldwide for its next generation of idols. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb292324c58af4e7c/698a578fd0753360f2e70db1/SM-Entertainment-K-pop-Global-Auditions-Girl-Group.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Major K-Pop Agency SM Entertainment Holds First-Ever Global Auditions to Form Girl Group > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Jun 4, 2024 9:35 AM UTC  The SM Entertainment building in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 10, 2023. The SM Entertainment building in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 10, 2023.Han Myung-Gu—WireImage/Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Jun 4, 2024 9:35 AM UTC As K-pop increasingly [looks beyond South Korea](https://time.com/6339859/k-pop-school-international-singapore-sopa-srmc/) for its next generation of idols, one of the genre’s leading entertainment agencies is holding its first-ever global audition aimed at assembling a new girl group. SM Entertainment—the company behind some of K-pop’s most successful acts, including Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, Shinee, NCT, and Aespa—is opening auditions to girls of any nationality who were born between 2005 to 2011\. (Those under 14 years old will need parental consent.) SM Entertainment has also shared multi-language posts for its [application](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7vpw3oSGAT/) and [audition tape](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7vpRsmSpTq/) requirements. The application is open until June 22, after which a select few will be invited for in-person auditions. SM Entertainment has held annual global auditions for [over 10 years](https://www.soompi.com/article/482551wpp/sm-entertainment-invite-you-to-2013-sm-global-auditions), but this is the first time that it is holding them specifically for a new girl group. In 2021, it similarly [opened auditions for a boy group](https://www.instagram.com/p/CKEeWqFnII-/?img%5Findex=1). SM Entertainment said that it would [debut four new groups](https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240208000566) this year, including a British K-pop boy band and a virtual artist. Last month, Big Hit, the company behind [BTS](https://time.com/entertainer-of-the-year-2020-bts/), [announced](https://www.bighitaudition.com/?lang=en) its own global audition for a new boy group. And YG Entertainment, which gave rise to [Blackpink](https://time.com/entertainer-of-the-year-2022-blackpink/), has since March been holding idol auditions across the world, from China to Australia to Indonesia to the U.S. Once they’ve passed the auditions, aspiring K-pop stars usually spend several years as trainees—some can even [take over 10 years](https://www.allkpop.com/article/2024/02/10-years-as-a-trainee-these-6-k-stars-had-the-longest-training-periods-before-finally-debuting)—before they debut as idols. Behind the glamor of stardom, though, is the grueling pressure of staying in an industry known for churning out pop stars with more efficiency than empathy. A whopping 63 K-pop groups [debuted just last year](https://trends.kpopmap.com/41-new-kpop-groups-set-to-debut-in-2023/); meanwhile, celebrities have become increasingly vocal about rampant mental health challenges in the industry. **Read More:** [_Eric Nam Wants to Remind Everyone That No One Has ‘Perfect’ Mental Health_](https://time.com/6313009/eric-nam-time100-impact-awards/) But such concerns haven’t dampened youths’ dreams of breaking into “Hallyu-wood,” with the [proliferation of boot camps](https://time.com/6339859/k-pop-school-international-singapore-sopa-srmc/) and schools aimed at helping young K-pop hopefuls, no matter where they come from, get their foot in the industry. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6985315/k-pop-sm-entertainment-global-audition-girl-group/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6985315/k-pop-sm-entertainment-global-audition-girl-group/"},"headline":"Major K-Pop Agency SM Entertainment Holds First-Ever Global Auditions to Form Girl Group","datePublished":"2024-06-04T09:35:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T17:43:22.513Z","description":"SM Entertainment announced its first-ever global audition to assemble a new girl group as K-pop looks worldwide for its next generation of idols.","url":"https://time.com/6985315/k-pop-sm-entertainment-global-audition-girl-group/","keywords":["Music","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb292324c58af4e7c/698a578fd0753360f2e70db1/SM-Entertainment-K-pop-Global-Auditions-Girl-Group.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Koh Ewe","jobTitle":"Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore.","url":"https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb292324c58af4e7c/698a578fd0753360f2e70db1/SM-Entertainment-K-pop-Global-Auditions-Girl-Group.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SM Entertainment Holds Global Audition for Girl Group","caption":"The SM Entertainment building in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb. 10, 2023.","creditText":"Han Myung-Gu—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/music/","name":"Music"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6985315/k-pop-sm-entertainment-global-audition-girl-group/","name":"Major K-Pop Agency SM Entertainment Holds First-Ever Global Auditions to Form Girl Group"}}]}] ```