In the first episode of Netflix’s new docuseries Pop Star Academy: Katseye, HYBE chairman Bang Si-hyuk, the K-pop mastermind behind BTS, explains that he has a straightforward rule: He only meets the young hopefuls training to become idols at his company in person after they debut as part of a group. He prefers to watch their monthly skill evaluations on-screen instead.
“Most people become fans when they’re watching content such as music videos or shows, which is why I think that I should also watch the trainees through the screens,” Bang says in the docuseries, which debuted on Aug. 21.
This on-screen connection is necessary for building a loyal fanbase, and the billion-dollar K-pop industry is especially adept at it, with a host of survival shows and digital content that allow the audience to be part of an artist’s journey. It’s something Bang’s label and Geffen Records are trying to replicate stateside with Katseye.
Described as an “international group based on K-pop methodology,” Katseye is a flagship effort from Hybe x Geffen meant to blend the Korean entertainment industry’s meticulous training and development system with a global perspective. Besides the Netflix docuseries, Katseye’s formation also got the survival-show treatment via The Debut: Dream Academy, a 12-week YouTube series that debuted in September 2023. Where Dream Academy offers a curated, social media-driven look at forming a girl group, Pop Star Academy: Katseye presents a meta view of how Hybe and Geffen are bringing the K-pop model to Western audiences.
K-pop’s expansion into global markets isn’t new; it has been doing so for decades in nearby countries. In 2018, JYP Entertainment (home to TWICE, Stray Kids) founder J.Y. Park called this strategy “globalization by localization,” or adapting content for specific markets. It’s been a successful model in Japan for years. JYP has its Japanese girl group NiziU, formed through the competition series Nizi Project, and HYBE Labels Japan manages &Team, a nine-member boy band created on the audition program &Audition — The Howling.
Now, K-pop is setting its sights beyond Asia. The popularity of acts like BTS and Blackpink abroad has increased K-pop’s visibility and profitability in markets where Korean artists have historically struggled to gain traction, like the U.S. According to Luminate’s annual report, K-pop albums made up seven of the top 10 best-selling CDs in the U.S. in 2023.
However, the mega-success of a handful of groups can’t sustain the vitality of an entire industry. To truly expand K-pop’s global influence, it’s crucial to leverage its proven expertise in creating and managing groups, while maximizing the fan experience, and apply these strategies to new markets. Hybe’s Bang understands this, telling reporters last summer, “For K-pop to truly become mainstream worldwide, the ‘K’ in K-pop needs to be removed, and it should just be ‘pop’ in itself.”
The first step in envisioning K-pop beyond the “K” is the creation of more groups like Katseye and more ventures like Hybe x Geffen that combine K-pop’s high production value and artist development model with a major label’s understanding of an evolving global pop market.
Here, too, there’s precedent. Last year, JYP and Republic Records recently debuted VCHA, an American girl group formed on the competition series A2K (“America2Korea”). The sextet, ages 14 to 19, spent months training at JYP’s headquarters in Seoul before settling in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, K-pop titan SM Entertainment is teaming up with UK production company Moon&Back—founded by Nigel Hall, the cocreator and executive producer of The X Factor—for Made in Korea, a series about the formation of five-member British boy group Dear Alice. Katseye stands apart in its global lineup, featuring girls from various cultural backgrounds, allowing them to draw from a wider range of influences. So far, the group has already seen promising success, with its debut EP landing on the Billboard 200, signaling its potential to resonate with a broader audience.
Notably, these groups aren’t made in a vacuum. Their origin is being filmed for public consumption, distilling charisma into fan cams and edits on TikTok and X. Dream Academy eschewed the episodic format popularized by K-pop in recent years to offer a fan-first interactive experience across social media platforms, and Pop Star Academy: Katseye ups the emotional ante. That connection between an artist and their fans is a crucial element of what makes the K-pop methodology so lucrative. Nowhere is that more apparent than in a competition series where fans bear the emotional weight of their idol’s survival.
But can these programs have the same effect outside of the K-pop market? Hybe x Geffen is banking on it, and the stakes are make or break for their buzzy joint venture—and the future of music marketing.
The success of the survival series format
Following the release of its first EP last July, boy group Zerobaseone set a sales record in South Korea, becoming the first K-pop group to sell two million copies of a debut album. The group’s meteoric rise has much to do with Boys Planet, the Mnet survival show through which it was formed.
During the show’s live finale telecast, which recorded over 10 million views across all platforms, including broadcast, people from 184 countries cast more than 9.3 million votes. Throughout its 12-week run, Boys Planet accumulated more than 140 million votes, roughly 70% of which came from regions outside of South Korea.
The audience-participation aspect of these shows isn’t new, but the appeal, according to Boys Planet producer Kim Shin-young, is the connections fans make with contestants. “The success or failure of a show largely depends on how charming the participants are,” Kim says. As an example, Boys Planet runner-up Sung Han-bin’s strong performance was fueled in part by a following that grew out of his older dance clips that went viral when the show aired.
The Dream Academy contestants were encouraged to post on social media to connect with fans, and a part of their appeal was their relatability—the idea that a K-pop fan from the Philippines like Sophia Laforteza could not only debut as an idol but meet her favorite idols Enhypen in person.
The shows incorporate the audience element into how they frame the competition, Kim says. Audience members are known as “star creators,” a term that puts the contestants’ dreams in the hands of their fans. “Viewers don’t just watch the show; they get to participate and experience it,” Kim says, adding that part of that experience is watching an unpolished trainee transform into an idol, culminating in “the moment the star is born.”
“This nuance is part of the identity of K-pop idol survival shows,” Kim says. “What pushes viewers to vote is how much the participants want this dream to happen. The participant must have the passion [and] the drive to give their all to this.”
It’s why, he says, “There is a difference in the relationship between the fandom of a group that debuted from a label versus the fandom of a group that was born from a survival show.”
Remixing the format for global viewers
Though inspired by the success of a K-audition show, Dream Academy didn’t follow the norms of a typical one. It maintained the essence of the format by creating a platform for talent discovery and engaging fans in the group’s journey from the beginning, but it largely unfolded on YouTube and social media.
“We were trying to create something different,” says Mitra Darab, the president of Hybe x Geffen. “However, we completely understand the power of an audition show because it is a fundamental part of building the fandom in K-pop. It’s that connectivity at a very early stage. And we wanted that because we knew we were creating something different that the average K-pop fan may not completely buy into.”
So Hybe and Geffen designed the type of show that felt true to the project—something that hadn’t been done before, a more interactive initiative for fans “that wasn’t this competitive cutthroat program.”
From over 120,000 global applicants, 20 finalists were selected to compete in the show. Fans could follow their journeys through team missions and performance videos shared across YouTube and TikTok and ultimately vote on the final lineup via the fan app Weverse. The multinational, multicultural members of Katseye—Daniela, Lara, Manon, Sophia, Megan, and Yoonchae—were unveiled during a live broadcast on HYBE’s official YouTube channel in November.
Dream Academy focused on teamwork, emphasizing how “these girls supported each other and wanted to see each other win,” Darab says. “You look for idols that have those characteristics, right? That camaraderie, that sisterhood, is so important. Fans are smart. Fans can tell a million miles away if it’s fake or you just put something together. That’s why some of these groups do well and some of them don’t. You just don’t want to have that disingenuous nature to it.”
Yet, they were still making a TV show, and producers found ways to add tension and generate tears. When each contestant was asked to choose the five members they wanted to debut with, the girls felt they were being pitted against one another. The fallout is captured on Pop Star Academy: Katseye, leading one promising contestant, Lexie Levin, to drop out of the project entirely, saying, “It didn’t align with my values.” However, Darab insists that the decision was made with the fans in mind. “We needed a more compelling storyline,” she says in the series. “Yes, you’re creating the group, but equally important is that you’re building that fanbase.”
The drama ultimately fosters a more intense sense of loyalty and investment in the group’s success. On Weverse, HYBE’s digital destination for superfans, the members of Katseye post regular updates and host livestreams for their more than 311,000 followers, allowing fans to witness their artistry and growth as people in real time. Their impact extends beyond superfandom. Following the release of Pop Star Academy, daily streaming numbers for the group’s second single, “Touch,” surpassed over one million and it continues to climb.
The Hybe x Geffen approach represents a shift in the global perception of what K-pop can be. The core of its identity has little to do with the music itself, where you can hear the pervasive influence of Western trends—elements of pop, rock, and hip-hop reflected through a Korean lens. It’s pop music that transcends geographical boundaries, but more notably, it’s a cultural export that guarantees quality, charisma, and high production value.
The real challenge now is whether Katseye is the first of many Western labels can effectively harness these elements and apply them to a new generation of global pop stars.