CJ ENM’s Mnet & Universal Music Group’s Republic Partner To Launch Global Girl Group
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- CJ ENM's Mnet partnered with Universal Music Group's Republic Collective on 'Girls Planet 2027,' with Republic collaborating across production through U.S. promotions and global rollout in 2027.
- Girls Planet 2027 sits inside CJ ENM's Music Creative eco-System (MCS), whose prior projects produced Kep1er via Girls Planet 999 (2021) and Alpha Drive One via Boys II Planet (September 2025, backed by 26 million votes from fans across 223 regions and countries).
- Alpha Drive One released debut album 'Euphoria' in January 2026 — over 1.44 million copies sold, the second-highest-selling debut album in K-pop history.
- Mnet Plus opened online applications on May 1 and has drawn a record 36,000+ submissions, with the Americas making up nearly a third; entries accepted in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish.
- KCON LA 2026 will host large-scale on-site auditions August 14-16 in downtown Los Angeles, with applicants required to be born before January 1, 2013.
Why it matters: With Republic attached to U.S. promotions and global rollout from production onward, CJ ENM is plugging a major-label U.S. infrastructure partner into the K-pop pipeline. The 36,000+ applications already in (nearly a third from the Americas) confirm the sourcing is being run as a worldwide talent hunt rather than a Korea-first search.
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