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Reading paths · Deep dive · 10 articles

How Agencies Make Idols: Big Four, Auditions, Platforms

Start from the fact that Stray Kids belong to JYP: J.Y. Park and Twice, SM and YG, HYBE founded by a former JYP composer, CJ ENM and the Mnet audition that formed Iz*One, and the fan platform Weverse.

Start the path →

This course starts from a single fact — Stray Kids belong to JYP — then moves through J.Y. Park's JYP and Twice, the major agencies SM and YG, Hybe founded by a former JYP composer, Iz*One formed through a CJ ENM/Mnet audition, and the fan platform Weverse. It widens from knowing one group to the agency, audition and platform structure around it.

  1. 1Stray KidsK-pop groupsOpens with Stray Kids, the eight-member JYP boy band, and its run on the Billboard 200.
  2. 2JYP EntertainmentCompaniesMoves to JYP Entertainment, the agency behind Stray Kids, shifting to the industry's company side.
  3. 3J.Y. ParkSingersContinues to J.Y. Park, the singer-producer who founded JYP in 1997, the source of its name.
  4. 4TwiceK-pop groupsCrosses to Twice, another flagship group produced by J.Y. Park's JYP.
  5. 5SM EntertainmentCompaniesMoves to SM Entertainment, another major agency often named alongside JYP.
  6. 6YG EntertainmentCompaniesContinues to YG Entertainment, the second entertainment company to list directly on Kosdaq after SM.
  7. 7HybeCompaniesCrosses to Hybe, founded by former JYP composer Bang Si-hyuk, adding another lineage of agency.
  8. 8CJ ENMCompaniesMoves to CJ ENM, the broadcaster behind audition shows, entering the channel through which TV creates groups.
  9. 9Iz*OneK-pop groupsContinues to Iz*One, the Korean-Japanese group formed through Mnet's Produce 48 audition.
  10. 10WeverseCompaniesCloses with Weverse, the fan platform Hybe built, completing the line from agencies and auditions to platforms.

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