A new entertainment company founded by former HYBE executives is holding global auditions for their first boy group after helping build BTS into a global phenomenon.
The new company called RETOPIA SALON will hold auditions across 18 cities globally including Japan (Sendai, Okinawa, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Chiba, Fukuoka), Indonesia, (Jakarta) Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane), the United States (Los Angeles, Orange County, Honolulu), and Canada (Toronto).
The company is in search for members of a boy group it plans to debut in 2027, and says it is also identifying candidates for a future girl group, according to separate announcements from RETOPIA SALON. Applicants born between 2008 and 2014 are eligible to audition regardless of nationality, and can audition in vocal, rap, dance, or acting.
RETOPIA SALON said: “We aim not only to select the final members of our first boy group set to debut in 2027, but also to discover hidden talent for future girl group projects. We look forward to passionate applicants from around the world who dream of becoming global stars.”
The company was founded by CEO Bang Woo Jung, former Creative Studio Leader at HYBE Media Studio; CCO Kim Serene, former VP of HYBE LABELS JAPAN; and COO Park Jun Soo, former SP at HYBE Original Content Studio.
“We aim not only to select the final members of our first boy group set to debut in 2027, but also to discover hidden talent for future girl group projects. We look forward to passionate applicants from around the world who dream of becoming global stars.”
RETOPIA SALON
The trio has production credits that include BTS member Jin‘s YouTube variety show Run Jin and the Disney+ series Are You Sure?! Season 2, featuring Jimin and Jung Kook.
Their new company has yet to debut its first act.
The auditions come amid a flurry of similar activity from HYBE itself. On March 31, HYBE launched a nationwide talent search in India to form a new girl group, accepting applications through July 31 from girls born between 2005 and 2011. Auditions will be conducted both online and across 10 Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. Indians outside the country can audition at locations in London, New York, Singapore, Toronto and Sydney.
HYBE set up its Indian subsidiary in Mumbai in September, citing the country’s growing streaming market and rising K-pop consumption. The India search is part of HYBE’s strategy of exporting its training-and-development model — used to produce BTS and other K-pop acts — worldwide.
HYBE’s most recent talent development success is KATSEYE, its first Western girl group formed through a partnership with Universal Music Group‘s Geffen Records. The audition for Dream Academy, which produced KATSEYE, attracted 120,000 applicants.
KATSEYE’s singles Gnarly and Gabriela saw multi-week runs on the Billboard Hot 100, and the group has since earned Grammy nominations and an MTV VMA win.
Last year, the HYBE-Geffen alliance launched another talent search for a second girl group, which kicked off in Japan. Three contestants from the 2023 Dream Academy, which produced KATSEYE, were confirmed as members of the unnamed group, set to debut this year.
Through HYBE Latin America, the company also produced a Latin boy group called SANTOS BRAVOS.
Aside from HYBE and RETOPIA SALON, SM Entertainment has also started holding auditions globally. In December, the agency behind aespa, NCT and RIIZE announced the 2026 SM Global Audition, which began in Busan on January 10. Following the South Korean leg of the auditions, the search will move to 21 locations worldwide, including Bangkok; Fukuoka, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka in Japan; Shanghai, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, Beijing, Changsha and Chengdu in China; Los Angeles and New Jersey; and Sydney and Brisbane in Australia.
Speaking with MBW in March, SM Entertainment Co-CEO Dmitry YJ Tak said: “We must continue evolving how K-pop is made. SM has never relied on chance success.”
Elsewhere in January, Pledis Entertainment, owned by HYBE and the manager of SEVENTEEN, announced its 2026 Pledis Audition Wonder Teens in Korea, which accepts applications for singing, rap, dance, modeling and acting.
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