Confessions of a Former K-pop Idol (ft. Crayon Pop)

[hillando.livejournal.com]

Source: Asian Boss yt

Really interesting interview, she is very candid about her experiences but keeps it polite. Asian Boss is killing it with the interviews lately.

Comments

[peachypearl.livejournal.com]

It’s pretty interesting but also super tame since as a ex idol youtuber she is still pretty reliant on idol fans their support.

Also Asian Boss is indeed doing great. I love it that they are tackling a wide variety of topics but also more than just Korea/China/Japan.

[baekpedaling.livejournal.com]

Hiellin has a youtube channel too. I'm surprised to hear they had to take out loans just to live, I wonder if other idols from small companies have to as well.

I used to stan Crayon Pop hardcore and wanted to cosplay on their BarBarBar outfits. I thought they had been around for a long ass time! If it was just 5 years I was a fan for most of their run, dang

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

i didn't realise they had to take out bank loans. i thought the company would still pay for stuff and would take that out of their monthly paycheques. i refuse to believe gaga didn't pay them. even if it was a pittance, they would've been paid something for their work as an opening act. the company must've just taken it. from her words, they seemed weirdly upset about them doing it

[scionofawhisper.livejournal.com]

The company would have signed a contract with gaga and the money probably all went to pay for their mvs, and whatever. And on that note, I don't really think idols get that bad of a deal with the percentages the company takes since the company does all the business and creative work...

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

they were most likely paid, all opening acts on tours of that side get paid. however, the performance fees for openers is usually just enough to cover the expenses of being on tour. most openers bank on selling merch to end up taking home enough to make a profit on legs like that, however crayon pop being completely unknown + foreign probably meant they sold no merch.

I'd be frustrated too if I were here because it sounds like they never explained or understood how taking a tour like this would pan out for the group financially and the members probably couldn't turn it down even if they did know.

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

did their company even try to sell merch on the gaga tour? from what i heard it's not common to have opening acts at korean concerts, so maybe their company didn't even know that was a thing they could do

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

no clue tbh I would just expect that if they did they wouldn't have sold enough to make a profit.

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

that makes sense tbh. their company probably just saw it as a quick cash grab/ good publicity opportunity but for the girls themselves it would've been better to be an opener for a tour in asia where they are already more well-known. that sucks that they were working the whole time for free basically during that tour.

[mya13.livejournal.com]

barx3 was a verrrry big hit tho but also their mv's/outfits are very cheap compared to other groups. im sure their expenses were half of other idol groups from bigger companies. when they debuted their company made the girls promote themselves on the street. im honestly surprised they didnt make more money. the bar x3 mv looks like it was made with an iphone

[lizanka23.livejournal.com]

yeah that's sketchy. the company probably took all of the profits for themselves and didn't even tell the group that lady gaga's camp would pay them for their performances or they were expecting the money but the company never told them where the money went

[markama.livejournal.com]

I don't know, is she 100% telling the truth? :/

[gigabytexx.livejournal.com]

Definitely not 100%. I think she might also sugarcoat a lot to keep her from legal trouble I think.

[scionofawhisper.livejournal.com]

When she mentioned that they threatened to not have a comeback because of dating or whatever I couldn't help but think that maybe some groups have such long breaks because a member got caught dating and they are being punished. oop

I feel like they purposely keep them so busy, hungry and tired, not just cause of schedules, but also because that means they will be a lot less likely to date, get in some sort of trouble and also easier to control. Like who has the energy to fight back when tired and hungry...

Overall, kpop seems super, super exploitative of young people and their dreams, when they don't know what they are getting into, have no idea about money or what they giving up. :/

How does she make enough money as a content creator to live? She must be doing stuff alongside that she didn't mention... =-=