CJ E&M, one of South Korea's most influential entertainment agencies, is investing in a new male K-pop idol project.
On Friday, CJ E&M's Music Business Unit announced that it will be investing 25 billion won (around $21 million USD) in a new project titled "Boys 24." "Boys 24" will aim to put together a group of male trainees hoping to be K-pop stars and bring them together to perform every day for a year.
The year-long project is stylized after daily Broadway performances, according to CJ E&M, and was developed to attract tourists as a way to expand the Korean Wave (Hallyu).
"Boys 24" will integrate K-pop, musicals, and acrobatics into their performances, which will begin in Seoul in August.
"′Boys 24′ isn′t just a male idol group, we are building a new business model that brings entertainment and the tourism industry together by producing content that integrates K-Pop and performances," CJ E&M Music Business Unit's Ahn Suk Joon said.
"We will do our best to establish CJ E&M′s 25 billion won grand-scale project ′Boys 24′ as a new kind of hallyu content that leads our country′s culture industry."
Each week will bring new performances to the production, and the most popular members will be given an opportunity to debut in a K-pop group following the year.
Lifeworks Company, whose roster includes Shinhwa's Shin Hye Sung and Lee Min Woo, will take a key roll in the project.
The project is reminiscent of the "idols you can meet" format introduced by J-Pop girl group AKB48.
AKB48 was the first Japanese group to set itself up as a performance act that fans can visit, rather than a group that holds occasional concerts and appears on television.
Several other acts in Japan, including SKE48, NGT48, and Korean idol group Apeace all have used the same sort of format.
"Boys 24" will begin performances at the Mesa Building Popcorn Hall in Myeondong, Seoul in August.
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Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy, Noisey, and Paste Magazine.
