Surviving School of K-Pop

[sgcharbor.livejournal.com]

Success comes at a price for Korean stars, with some training for up to seven years before making their debut


U-Kiss


Shinee


SNSD


F.cuz



Say K-pop and what comes to mind are sleek sexy stars, complete with strong vocals, fancy grooves and good looks, who offer glitz and glamour in well-packaged sound bites.

The K-pop industry, which churns out countless pretty-faced boybands and girl groups yearly, was almost unheard of in Asia a decade ago.

Now, it is a regional powerhouse. Witness the bedlam when popular groups such as FT Island and Brown Eyed Girls visited Singapore for showcases last year. Fans camped overnight at venue entrances to get up close and personal with their pop idols.

Last year, Financial Supervisory Service (South Korea), the country's integrated financial regulator, revealed the earnings of the top three talent management companies in the country, namely SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment.

SM Entertainment, which manages some of the biggest pop idol groups in South Korea, including Super Junior, SNSD and Shinee, earned more than 61.8 billion won (SGD68 million; USD49 million) last year.

Rivals YG Entertainment, which produced popular groups such as Big Bang and 2NE1, pulled in more than SGD41 million (USD29.5 million), while JYP Entertainment, which pulls the strings for Wonder Girls, earned more than SGD11 million (USD7.9 million).

Now, K-pop has its sights set on the international market, with singers such as Rain and Wonder Girls attempting to break into that Holy Grail of all pop markets - the United States.

How did the Hallyu pop wave go from zero to hero in just a few years? The answer is pop cram school.

Korean pop stars are literally the assembly-line products of a lean, mean pop machine operated by talent management agencies.

Before they make their debut, pop-star wannabes have to first get through tough auditions. SM Entertainment, for example, holds weekly walk-in auditions in South Korea and also accepts e-mail auditions from hopeful teenagers who send in video clips. JYP Entertainment holds auditions fortnightly, with as many as 1,000 people turning up for each one.

Although there is no age limit, Ms Mei Han, JYP Entertainment's publicist, says the hopefuls are getting younger, with some just 10 years old.

She tells Life! over the telephone from South Korea: 'As there are many good and talented young people who turn up, we usually look at their potential and choose those whom we feel are very passionate and really want to be stars. Sometimes, we can choose up to five people from one audition session, and sometimes, we won't choose anyone at all.'

Once they are picked, the applicants become trainees in a tough regime aimed at manufacturing pop stars. They have to learn singing, dancing, hosting, acting and foreign languages. They can train for anywhere between one and seven years, or sometimes even longer, in courses organised or sponsored by the talent management agencies which have cherry-picked them for grooming.

Jo Kwon, leader of ballad boyband 2AM, for example, trained for seven years and 10 days before he was selected to debut.

And training is not the only hurdle. Trainees have to pass the equivalent of performance examinations.

Ms Han says JYP Entertainment sets monthly tests for its trainees and holds an in-house showcase twice a year to gauge their standards.

She says: 'The showcase is also for trainees to gain stage experience. From these tests, we grade them and place them in different challenge projects, before selecting a few to form a group.'

There are now 40 trainees in the agency and it will be debuting a new five-member girl group before September.

DSP Entertainment, which has popular boyband SS501 and girl group KARA on its roster of artists, also sets singing and dancing practical tests for its trainees before launching them.

Mr Choi Seong Pil, the agency's senior chief manager, tells Life!: 'Trainees usually spend many hours training very hard so that they can get chosen. Now, we have about 15 trainees and we will debut a new boyband of five to six people in November.'

The lengthy training period does not come cheap. Korean talent management companies pay not only for the classes, but also for the trainees' accommodation, food and allowances. Then, once they debut as performers, the companies pay for their clothes as well as extensive grooming which, given the norm in the Korean entertainment industry, could include plastic surgery.

Industry insiders in Singapore estimate that the total costs can range from SGD50,000 to SGD300,000 (USD36,000 to USD215,500) or more for each trainee, depending on how long he trains.

Comedienne-actress Irene Ang, founder and chief executive of artist management agency Fly Entertainment, says: 'It is important to train a star first before debuting him because looks can only go so far. He must have talent and substance.'

Xiao Han, co-founder of Funkie Monkies Productions which also grooms local talent, agrees: 'Companies are willing to invest in trainees because the group which debut represent the company and in turn become spokesmen for the company.'

Eric Ng, co-founder of Funkie Monkies, adds: 'After receiving training, the artists become more aware of the industry and know what to expect from the media, clients and fans. This will help prepare them as the industry can sometimes be cruel.'

The Korean companies' investments have obviously paid off in the past five years as K-pop groups now command thousands of fans and earn huge sums of money for them.

K-pop fan Sheralyn Tan, 19, says: 'Korean groups can sing and dance extremely well. They are also good-looking and well-packaged, which appeals to me.'

But the price of stardom is steep and exacted with bottom-line ruthlessness by the firms. For one thing, pop singers are signed on for lengthy contracts. Mr Choi says: 'Our stars usually sign a five- to seven-year contract with us after debuting.'

That is reasonable compared to some other contracts such as that of now-inactive Dong Bang Shin Ki, whose five members signed 13-year deals with SM Entertainment.

Small wonder then that some former pop stars, such as Han Geng from boyband Super Junior, have quit or are embroiled in legal tussles with record companies, claiming that the contracts are unfair.

Financial imbroglios aside, the training and constant pressures also take a psychological toll on the stars.

Kevin Woo, 19, a member of boyband U-Kiss which were in town recently, says of the tough training period: 'We were far away from our families and we missed them so much. We were homesick and depressed, but we told ourselves that since we have already started, we should not give up.'

Min Sun Ye, leader of Wonder Girls who were advised by their company not to date for the next two years, says: 'I had wanted to give up but kept telling myself not to because it has always been my dream to perform in front of many people. Thankfully, I focused on my training and I am grateful to be here now.'

=====

Life of a Wannabe

A typical day in the life of a pop-star wannabe starts with school. In previous years, talent management agencies would sign up hopefuls in their late teens, but nowadays, candidates aged between 10 and 12 are becoming more common.

After school, instead of going shopping or hanging out with their friends like typical teenagers, trainees would rush to their respective talent management companies to attend classes, be it singing, dancing, acting or learning a new language.

Ms Mei Han, publicist at JYP Entertainment in South Korea, says: 'The classes usually last four to six hours. After that, the trainees would stay back and train on their own as they want to hone their skills and be better than the others.'

Many of them, hoping to get picked for a group, would practise for extra hours before going home to do their homework and rest.

This routine could continue for years before star hopefuls are launched on their glittering careers.

After they make their debut, there is yet more work. Their daily lives will revolve around promoting their albums, attending television and radio shows, appearing for autograph sessions and travelling to different parts of the world to meet their fans.

As Park Ye Eun, 20, from popular girl group Wonder Girls says: 'Being a star now, I get very tired as I have to wake up early a lot. We have to wake up at 4 or 5am and catch up on sleep on planes. I miss sleeping comfortably on my bed the most.

'Also, I miss not being able to see my friends and family when I am on tour. As we are currently promoting our album in America, we can't talk much to our family in Korea due to the time difference. It is quite sad.'

Boyband F.cuz's members agree, saying in an e-mail interview: 'Our everyday life consists of going to the television and radio stations, going to the dance studios to practise our dance steps and vocals and going home to rest.'

=====

"..candidates aged between 10 and 12 are becoming more common." o_O
Doesn't that count as child abuse?


Reported by: Joceyln Lee for the Straits Times (Singapore) [accessible to paying subscribers only]

Comments

[sgcharbor.livejournal.com]

LOL! I've always loved you..and your writings <3

I just never really dare to declare publicly XD

[superjesster.livejournal.com]

10. 10. 10?! the fuck is this shit.

[fynrile.livejournal.com]

Really too long for me to read...

[epona.livejournal.com]

do you not read books or what

[akari-hayashi.livejournal.com]

Well, they have always been training from a super young age so it's nothing too surprising. Sungmin trained from 13? It's not just the Kpop industry too.

Key looks so fine in that pic~~~ :D

[kickangel.livejournal.com]

SM probably declined to comment. Either that or their answers were too PR and not quote-worthy and hence are not used. I'd like to think it's the former.

[light-lee.livejournal.com]

DSP Entertainment, which has popular boyband SS501

orly, now

[xblackchristmas.livejournal.com]

adfihasdfafsd if only.. :[

[thugkitten94.livejournal.com]

Hasn't G-D been training since like forever?
And Yoochun since he was in middle school...

[vanillacat.livejournal.com]

Yoochun left America when he was 15~16, before finishing his sophomore year of high school. Not middle school.

[kimishim.livejournal.com]

I can't help but mention. So many of the idols say that when they were trainees, they spent most of their time at school or at the studio, but why are they so talentless now a days? I mean... they can sing a little, but for those idols that have spent 7+ years training and can barely sing, I wonder about them lol. How do they spend their time when they're training? I think companies now a days try to train their artists in too many different things all at the same time. Sometimes when you see their audition videos, they sound exactly the same 5+ years late when they debut.

[x3sarang.livejournal.com]

They train them on different things, and each person also has different physical constraints. Some people are naturally better at dance and pick that up faster, while some people have better vocal cords and learn to sing better.

I know Hyoyeon focussed on dancing which is why her singing isn't the strongest (but it's improved so much over the last few years). Some trainees do get in for the looks and aren't trained as much in singing/dancing but those people tend to go the acting route, or for those that really can't sing but dance really well, rap or variety programs (personality).

But thinking about it, if a normal person with a lot of willpower was given 7 years to train...yeah, maybe they'd be able to be better than the people debuted now, but generally those people have dropped out. There have been plenty of talented trainees who didn't agree to terms or found the pressure to much and given up. So don't overlook the people now, they had to have SOMETHING for them to survive this far, be it talent or sheer luck.

[taecish.livejournal.com]

it's such a shame they put jo kwon in a ballad group, 7 years of training made him an amazing dancer and it's mostly gone to waste asides from on variety shows :'[

[locofruitcake.livejournal.com]

I'm glad there's at least 2AM as the idol group representative for ballads though. The ballad singers are always so overshadowed by the idol groups even though they are the ones that can really sing :(

I think Kwon's training didn't really go to waste at all since it fully prepared him for the idol lifestyle and he's good at what he does which makes it more enjoyable to watch him on TV :]

[purinyappykura.livejournal.com]

49mil is really not a lot for an entertainment company, I'm kind of surprised. XD

[u-niverse.livejournal.com]

well..its Korea. there's like insiginificant physical album sales.

[gummylovesme.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised why a lot of trainees drop out. Training that could last up to seven years, depression, homesickness, and the uncertainty if you even are going to debut. As far as I know there are a lot of trainees just in SM alone that have been training for ages. Think Han Kyuwan, the guy who was supposed to be in SS501 I think. He still hasn't debuted hasn't he?

The idols we have now must have a lot of willpower. If I were a trainee I could probably have dropped out.

[kmrawr.livejournal.com]

me too. almost exactly, besides the not being asian part.

[umbrella-smile.livejournal.com]

Doesn't that count as child abuse?
Depends on what the child labor laws are there.

It is sad that they are picking up kids younger and younger, most likely because it is easier to mold the mind of someone at 10 than it is at 16.

[miyavi-type.livejournal.com]

I don't really think there are that many protections within the entertainment business, unless it concerns sex.

[heyahala.livejournal.com]

You know people at omona are overreacting *sighs*

[kiku-cha8-8.livejournal.com]

I wonder how many of these kids are pushed to becoming trainees because of parental expectations. I've read several times that some parents bribed their kids to auditioning (well for JE that is but idol business is idol business)

I personally would never become an idol---I am not musically talented and the schedules look ridiculous.

[x3sarang.livejournal.com]

I don't get it, why would anyone want their kid to go through that? You'd never get to see them, they'd be overworked, underpaid, sleep deprived, treated like products, operated on, and be forgotten in 5 years unless they're REALLY GOOD. I wouldn't want my kid to go through that, unless they themselves suggested it and I knew that they could stick it out ;____;

[yunho.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the world of showbiz. I hope fangirls aren't that stupid that they think being a KPop idol is easy. If anything, life gets even shittier after they debut, because then they get to deal with obsessive, selfish fangirls, a darker side of the entertainment business, longer hours for promoting/practicing/performing, stricter rules from the company...the list goes on.

Ah well, it'd be stupid to tell them to stop or whatever because that's like asking them to throw away years upon years (not to mention their childhood/teenage years) of hard training. If they're willing to put up with the bullshit, who am I to not enjoy it? That's what they do for it after all-entertaining the masses.

[yunho.livejournal.com]

Sorry, don't know what I was thinking, the last line was supposed to be:

That's why they do it after all-- to entertain the masses.

[unreal.livejournal.com]

Say K-pop and what comes to mind are sleek sexy stars, complete with strong vocals
Uhm strong vocals?? Some have them yes. But most artists with strong vocals are underrated.

[law-oneofmany.livejournal.com]

this!

[paigeeybby.livejournal.com]

VERY interesting read!

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

ikr? I always love these articles :)

[izon-no-niwa.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I think it would be cool to be on the other side of KPop, but nah, I think I'd rather stick to art and design |D

[miyavi-type.livejournal.com]

Thank god I ain't an idol. Doesn't matter 'cuz I don't like to do much of anything.

[nezumi-kenka.livejournal.com]

How on God's name did Hara pass DSP's singing test?

[nishiio.livejournal.com]

A+

well...

[love-keiko.livejournal.com]

i'll never forget that MTV Iggy article about kpop idols where he went to interview shinee but their manager took out like half the questions he wanted to ask including one that said, "How do you guys deal with anti's" to which the manager sternly responded, "shinee doesn't have anti's" the interviewer also noted that his interview ended up being not even 10 minutes long because the boys all gave him cookie cutter answers.

not this is not to slam shinee, but the thing about idol groups is that they r more a well oiled machine than legit artists. they aren't given the chance to musically grow, half because they're been trained the second they enter their company and half because in order to stay relevant they have to keep releasing "trendy" music.

the problem with grabbing these kids so young is that inspite of the lawsuit issues, all they can see is the glitter of kpop so they just want to be famous and parents dont' think about the long term effect of their actions. so these young'uns sign mini slave contracts and end up not debuting for the longest time. training and trainging just to end up in a group or fail as a solo artists because all ppl seem to want to see these days r idol groups.

what's even MORE sad is that the artists who DO grow musically and understand the difference between making a hit song and making good music, get little recognition. so now what we have in kpop is this stale merry-go-round of new artists that look and sound exactly like the artists before them...

in my opinion, these years of training makes no difference. there r memembers in the groups that can't sing OR dance, lol. but as long as they hit music somehow they're still ok...

Re: well...

[chiamharkem.livejournal.com]

omg this so much

some idols have admitted to not even knowing what they're singing. There is just no more genuine sincerity and they can almost pass off as robots. Thats just not what music is about =/

Then again idols aren't all about music. They're just all rounded entertainers.

[asianized-x.livejournal.com]

Well. The 10-12 year old trainees aren't much of a problem imho. The Japanese entertainment scene has WAY younger people. JE has like. freaking 8 year olds okay? But that gives them more time to train and well -- It's kind of an advantage to them. Younger kids can pick things up quicker.

I like these types of articles, they're always so interesting 8D

[maharetishtar.livejournal.com]

I was just going to comment that too
Almost all Arashi members became traine around 12-14, Yamapi entered JE a 11, members of Kattun, Kanjani and News too arounf 12-14 and they usually go on tv even as trainers in the Shounen club and do a lot of concerts and backdancing activities.

[quinnsan.livejournal.com]

DSP Entertainment, which has popular boyband SS501 and girl group KARA on its roster of artists, also sets singing and dancing practical tests for its trainees before launching them.

Mr Choi Seong Pil, the agency's senior chief manager, tells Life!: 'Trainees usually spend many hours training very hard so that they can get chosen. Now, we have about 15 trainees and we will debut a new boyband of five to six people in November.'

Hmm, interesting. Lets see if they actually debut that boyband in November. xD And to be honest I hope they don't fuck this one up and end up disbanding the group like they did with A'ST1. Look forward to it though~