TOKYO, Aug 8 — K-pop entertainment juggernaut Hybe is once again partnering with Geffen Records, a label under Universal Music Group, to launch a new global girl group next year.
In an announcement yesterday, they launched the new project, titled “World Scout: The Final Piece,” will begin with a large-scale audition tour across Japan.
On its audition website, it said the chance is open to females and non-binary candidates between 15 and 24 years old.
Those who pass the audition will undergo specialised “K-pop-style training”, adapted for the US market, from October to December.
Selected trainees will then move on to an advanced training camp in the US, where they will compete for a spot in the final debut line-up.
The debut is slated for 2026.
The entire journey from auditions to the group’s formation will be exclusively broadcast in the spring of 2026 via Japanese streaming platform Abema.
In 2023, the two companies launched the audition programme “The Debut: Dream Academy”, which led to the formation of the multinational girl group Katseye.
