K-pop, also known as Korean Pop, which has been popular since 2012, has taken the United States by storm, with their bands continuing to gain popularity worldwide.

As K-pop’s popularity grows, so does the demand for new groups, so Korean companies hold auditions. One unique audition process for K-pop hopefuls is starring in the company’s survival shows: contestants “battle” to survive and earn a chance to debut in a K-pop band. 

K-pop bands work slightly differently than American boy bands, who use the term “title track” for a song on the album named after it, but in K-pop, the title track is often the track teased first. Also, band performers are called “idols” in Korea, and like all Korean citizens, male idols complete a two-year, mandated military service. However, K-pop idols have the ability to push it back to 28 years old rather than enlist at 18, according to npr.org. 

K-pop idols also have to go through years of rigorous training to perform highly synchronized choreographies. Therefore, K-pop idols usually get put under a training debt system, which they need to repay before their company will start paying them.  American boy bands, however, focus mainly on songwriting, individual branding, and usually get paid upfront and receive bonuses. 

Furthermore, K-pop idols under contract don’t disband until their contract ends, but American boy bands have contracts as well and disband but will disband sooner if people no longer have any interest in the group. K-pop idols sometimes even renew their contract. BTS will have their 13 year anniversary with HYBE on June 13, according to The Guardian.com.  

While American pop groups usually only have around five members, K-pop idol groups will usually have seven to nine members, or depending on the company, over 20 members: NCT has 25, and TripleS has 24.

At this school, a survey was conducted to determine how many students listen to K-pop. Nearly 26 percent said yes, showing that one out of every four Thunderbird students listens to K-pop.

The driving force behind K-pop is the companies that create the bands; each one has multiple idol groups, and the companies are often as popular as their bands are.

HYBE Entertainment is a highly popular company due to its various groups, headlined by  BTS, also known as Bangtan Boys. The band was formed in 2013 back when HYBE was Big Hit Entertainment. The members of BTS are RM, the group’s leader; Jin; J-Hope; Suga; Jimin; V; and Jungkook, the youngest. BTS’s debut album, 2 Cool 4 Skool, featured the title track “No More Dream,” which has over 220 million streams on Spotify.

BTS’s most popular and first all-English song is “Dynamite,” which was released on Aug 21, 2020. However, it is not on their most popular album, which is Map of the Soul: 7 with over 6.5 billion listens; it’s the best seller in South Korea and globally with over five million copies sold. BTS is set to come back in March from their four-year hiatus due to the members being in the military. Their new album will be titled ARIRANG, according to Spotify. 

Enhypen debuted back in November 2020. They were formed from the survival show I-Land. The band members were announced two months earlier in September when the show ended. They are Heesung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, Ni-ki, and Jungwon, who is 21 years old and the group’s leader. Jungwon was picked as the leader due to his maturity. 

Enhypen’s debut album was BORDER: DAY ONE with title track “Given-Taken.” Nevertheless, their most popular album is their newest album, released last month, THE SIN: VANISH, featuring the title track “Knife,” which sold over 1.65 million copies on its release date and garnered 7 million listens. However, “Bite Me” is Enhypen’s most popular song on Spotify, with 461 hundred million listens. 

Tomorrow X Together is the third most popular boy group at HYBE. This five-member boy group was also formed when HYBE was known as BigHit Entertainment. It consists of Yeonjun, Soobin, Beomgyu, Huening Kai, and Taehyun. This group was formed in 2019, with the release of their first album, The Dream Chapter: Magic, which featured the title track, “Crown.”

Their most recently released album, titled The Star Chapter: TOGETHER, features the title track “Beautiful Strangers.” Some companies allow their artists to make solo albums while they are still in a group, so Yeonjun, one of the members, released a solo album on Nov. 7 called No Labels: Part 1, with the title track being “Talk to You.” It has over 31 million listens.  

The best way to audition for HYBE is on their website, hybecorp.com. HYBE has many labels that hopefuls could try to join, with some requiring experience while others require none. To audition, one must be 13 or older and prepared to go to South Korea if they pass the audition. Something interesting about HYBE is how they pick the group’s leader: depending on the label within HYBE, they choose the person with dimples or the most experience.

HYBE albums can usually include many promotional materials, like posters, photo cards, photo books, a lyric book, stickers, and a CD. Depending on the group, there will be up to two or four photo cards. This is the same for most companies, but the number of photo cards depends on the group; for example, YG’s Baby Monster adds a photo card for each member.

JYP is the next most popular company, as voted by Korean citizens, according to koreaherald.com.  This entertainment company was founded in 1997 by Park Jin-Young, better known as J.Y. Park or by his stage name, JYP. JYP has founded many popular groups such as GOT7, Stray Kids, Itzy, and TWICE, JYP’s most popular group. 

Stray Kids is JYP’s second most popular group. This group was formed back in 2017 on the survival show Mnet. Their debut album, I Am NOT featured “District 9,” with over 40 million listens. Bang Chan, the leader, picked the members who debuted with him: Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, I.N, and Seungmin. A ninth member, Woojin, left the group in 2019 to pursue solo activities. 

Stray Kids released two new albums in 2025, one in August (Karama), and one in November (Do It). “Do It” is the title track of the latter, with over 61 million listens for the Do It album, and “Ceremony” is the title track of the former with over 95 million listens for Karma. 

ITZY is the third most popular girl group at JYP. Unlike Stray Kids and TWICE, ITZY wasn’t formed through a survival show: its members were scouted. The members are Chaeryeong, Ryujin, Yuna, Lia, and Yeji, the group’s leader. 

Chaeryeong was on Sixteen, the survival show for TWICE, as she was set to debut in TWICE originally, but was eliminated. Yeji and Yuna had successful auditions and trained for three years before debuting. Ryujin was scouted at a GOT7 concert and trained for four years, and Lia, who was a trainee at another company before switching to JYP.

ITZY’s most popular song is from their newest album, Tunnel Vision, with the title track “Tunnel Vision” having over 12 million listens on Spotify. 

YG Entertainment is the company home to the famous girl group, BLACKPINK. It’s a four member girl group formed back in 2016. Its members are Lisa, Jennie, Rosé, and Jisoo. This girl group has no leader, but they do have over 109 million followers on TikTok and Instagram alone. On Spotify, this girl group’s most popular song is “How You Like That” with over one billion listens. Like BTS, BLACKPINK is set to have a comeback this year on Feb 26. The name of their album is going to be DEADLINE, which will feature “Jump,” released back in July 2025, according to Spotify. 

Baby Monster, also called Baemon by fans and the eight band members, is also under YG. Baby Monster has no appointed leader, just like BLACKPINK. This group, however, is newer, having just debuted back in November 2023 with their single, “Batter Up”, with 246 million listens on Spotify. 

Back in October of 2025, Baby Monster released their newest album, We Go Up. The song that’s driving Baby Monsters’ popularity is “PSYCHO.” Seven members make up this group, but one member, Rami, is on hiatus due to undisclosed health reasons since May 2025. 

Many companies create K-pop groups, but the “Big Four” companies are HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and YG Entertainment. HYBE is the most popular company at this time. JYP Entertainment comes in second.  Other companies are CUBE Entertainment (I-DLE), KQ Entertainment (ATEEZ), Starship Entertainment (IVE), FNC Entertainment (P1HARMONY), and many others.