TWICE

 

Twice commonly stylized as TWICE, is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine Twice was formed under the television program Sixteen (2015) and debuted on October 20, 2015, with the extended play (EP) The Story Begins. In 2019, they became the best-selling Korean girl group of all-time.

Twice rose to domestic fame in 2016 with their single "Cheer Up", which charted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, became the best-performing single of the year, and won "Song of the Year" at the Melon Music Awards and Mnet Asian Music Awards. Their next single, "TT", from their third EP Twicecoaster: Lane 1, topped the Gaon charts for four consecutive weeks. The EP was the highest selling K-pop girl group album of 2016 Within 19 months after debut, Twice had already sold over 1.2 million units of their four EPs and special album. The group has sold over 10 million albums in South Korea and Japan as of December 2020. In 2020, Twice signed with Republic Records for American promotions as part of a partnership with JYP Entertainment.

 

^Members

·         Nayeon (나연)

·         Jeongyeon (정연)

·         Momo (모모)

·         Sana (사나)

·         Jihyo (지효)

·         Mina (미나)

·         Dahyun (다현)

·         Chaeyoung (채영)

·         Tzuyu (쯔위)

 

The group debuted in Japan on June 28, 2017 under Warner Music Japan, with the release of a compilation album titled #Twice. The album charted at number 2 on the Oricon Albums Chart with the highest first-week album sales by a K-pop artist in Japan in two years. It was followed by the release of Twice's first original Japanese maxi single titled "One More Time" in October. Twice became the first Korean girl group to earn a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for both an album and CD single in the same year. Twice ranked third in the Top Artist category of Billboard Japan's 2017 Year-End Rankings. They have been dubbed the next "Nation's Girl Group",and their point choreography—including for "Cheer Up", "TT" and "Signal"—became dance crazes and viral memes imitated by many celebrities.

Twice have been well received in South Korea, ranking second in the top ten artists of the Gallup Korea survey for three consecutive years, becoming the highest-ranking Korean group in 2016 and 2017, and the highest-ranking girl group in 2018. Since 2016, members regularly have placed in the top 20 of Gallup Korea's annual poll of the nation's favorite idols. In 2017, Twice was included in Forbes Korea Power Celebrity at third overall and first among recording artists. The group's success and domestic popularity was key in the rise of JYP Entertainment's stock, which increased in value by a factor of seven in less than three years; since the group's debut in 2015, prices rose from ₩4,500 to ₩31,400 in 2018. During the 2017 South Korean presidential election, then-candidate Moon Jae-in from the Democratic party and candidate Yoo Seong-min from the Bareun party both used Twice's song "Cheer Up" with modified lyrics as their campaign jingles. In Japan, the group's positive reputation and relatability amongst fans were attributed by local media to the presence of Japanese members Momo, Sana, and Mina and gained Twice fame in the country even before their debut. NHK News credited the group's commercial success with helping mend relations between Japan and South Korea. Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun called Twice the "new protagonist in the dominance of Japan's Korean wave content market", while Korean press remarked that the group is "reigniting the heat of K-pop in Japan"

Even before the official debut of Twice, the nine members had signed contracts as exclusive models for school uniform brand Skoolooks, alongside J. Y. Park. By December 2015, Twice had signed ten CF contracts, totaling earnings of KRW1.8 billion. By February 2017, they had one of the fastest growths in the advertising industry as the group's rate charged for endorsement hit 200 million won for 6 months and 300 million won for a year.^]

Twice is one of the celebrity endorsers of Lotte Duty Free. They also collaborated with shoe company Spris and created their own shoe brand called "Twice by Spris". In early 2017, Twice was selected by beverage maker Donga Otsuka to promote the company's flagship sports drink Pocari Sweat on its 30th anniversary. They became the first idol group to model for the brand. Pocari Sweat recorded 100 billion won sales for the first half of the year, a 10% increase over 2016's sales.

As of 2017, Twice has represented about 30 different brands including cosmetics, clothing, online and mobile games, food and beverages, credit cards, and more. Twice's first TV commercial in Japan for Ymobile was aired nationwide starting February 2, 2018, incorporating a pop arrangement of "Y.M.C.A." and Twice's signature "TT pose In 2019, Twice was selected as South Korean ambassador of Estée Lauder. The group also become "Global Benchsetters" for Philippine clothing brand Bench.

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