SM Entertainment Partners with US Producer MGM to Bring K-pop to Hollywood

Participants Selected Through Auditions to Shine as 'NCT Hollywood' Members in the US Music Market

Producer Lee Soo-man (left) and producer Mark Burnett.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] SM Entertainment is partnering with American producer Mark Burnett and major production company MGM to bring K-pop to Hollywood.

On the 7th, SM Entertainment announced that it will release an audition program within the year to launch 'NCT Hollywood,' which will be active in the global music market including the United States, in collaboration with Hollywood's MGM, known for producing popular American audition programs such as 'The Voice,' 'Survivor,' and 'Shark Tank.'

This project combines the artist and music content producing expertise of producer Lee Soo-man, who has pioneered the globalization of K-pop for 30 years, with the content production capabilities of producer Mark Burnett, who directed famous American audition programs like 'The Voice.' Attention is expected to focus on the maximized synergy from the meeting of these two influential masters from the East and West.

The global audition will be held in Hollywood, USA, to discover new members of NCT, and any male aged 13 to 25 worldwide can apply. The final selected participants will receive producing from producer Lee Soo-man and mentoring from NCT members based on SM Entertainment's core system 'CT (Culture Technology)' in Korea, and will embark on global activities as newly launched members of 'NCT Hollywood.' Through this project, SM Entertainment plans to lead K-pop as a central culture in America’s Hollywood together with MGM.

Producer Lee Soo-man said, "I am pleased to conduct this global audition project with producer Mark Burnett and MGM, and I want to create a new type of audition program that music fans worldwide can watch with interest," adding, "I will produce participants with unlimited potential so they can develop their abilities as artists."

Producer Mark Burnett stated, "This global audition is an innovative program that MGM is producing to make on a global scale," and said, "K-pop holds a meaning beyond just a music genre; it is a cultural phenomenon."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.