Unique Music Industry

The social institutions within South Korea had experienced a dramatic shift from the late 1980s to the early 90s, on a global historical scale, this is very recent. Political leftists within Korea were repressed with the help of the U.S out of the association of political leftism with communism- this allowed for Korean non-communist dictators to rise from the late 1950s-to 1988. After this period, Korean student protesters stretched out to influence civilians to join the liberation movement of South Korea.

This essentially was brought about with presidential elections being a large governmental structural change, and with the election of Roh-Tae-woo. With the enactment of these democratic reforms, Roh-Tae-woo brought about the liberalization of South Korean culture which was long-awaited though out Korean history. Roh-Tae-woo led multiple anti-corruption campaigns, largely inspired by his long life witnessing the systematic abuse South Koreans had endured throughout history. While his presidency ended in 1993, it is important to note that he enacted the expansion of South Korean rights.

The two channels on Korean television discussed earlier still had the focus and coordination of looks, fashion and choreography reflected today within their pop-idol groups. The music segments on the T.V channels were called “The Star System” this station would provide studio bands, choreographers, music arrangers, music writers, etc. Then requiring the stars to sing and perform on stage with them. However, the songs were not written by these artists but by the government which held a large monopoly on South Korea’s history at the time.

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This is an unchanged aspect of Korean pop music seen today- while many of these songs from popular idol groups may give off an appearance on the surface of seeming original- their managers would dictate what could be talked about within these idol groups and have a large influence to filter music created by popular performers in South Korea, however, this was only done when K-pop reached a global scale of popularity. During the 90 one of the first independent K-pop idol groups- “Seotaiji and the Boys” was among the first to incorporate Western musical trends into Korea; including R&B influences, techno, EDM, and Rock to their musical works. In addition to the influence of the internet, the mid 90’s marked a rapid shift in Korea’s economy from production and manufacturing-based economy to one that focuses on the export of cultural products.

The Korean’s focus on cultural exports led largely to the rise in songwriters and aspiring idols, which, in turn, incentivized artists’ managerial companies, the most popular of which being: JYP entertainment, S.M entertainment, and Y.G entertainment. These companies initially experienced failure, resulting in severe loss of assets for the company. Amongst the most notable failures involved S.M Entertainment supporting the debut of musician Hyun Jinyoung, costing S.M Entertainment a massive amount of money. Lee-Soo-Man, the CEO of S.M Entertainment decided to create a new system, in which the creation of K-pop idols would be largely systemized and calculated under the control of the company, allowing for minimal individualism amongst endorsed groups. Many of the aspects of the artist’s carrier would be shaped to suit the company’s objectives, limiting the creative expression of the idols.

These managerial companies had experienced great success by having complete control of the singer’s career. The process of creating an idol is long and complex first, young students participate in company auditions. If an applicant is talented enough they would be a trainee, as a trainee they would participate in intense musical and choreographical training, they need to sacrifice their personal lives and social comforts; living within very small apartments usually, having their weight routinely checked, their diet’s are constantly altered by the company based on how much a particular trainee weighs; some contracts require certain trainees to alter their facial appearance and figure with plastic surgery options, mostly funded by the company with the attendance of several hours daily of choreography training while completing mainstream schooling. The training period could last almost a decade, and at any point, trainees could be dropped from the company if they do not hold up to the company’s standards. Trainees are often criticized in front of their peers for the “increase mental endurance” of the trainees. Idols are required to be on a consistent weight loss program to keep their weight within a range below 48 KG as the national standard is below 50 KG, companies often heighten the standards of beauty to make their idols and public figures even more polished to present to the public. When nearing the end of the trainee period idols are no longer allowed to participate in social media and they can not date anyone of their choosing as romantic relationships are seen as a distraction to the idols, and public opinion of whomever the idols choose to date could affect their reputation negatively. Idol J-park had reported being physically abused during his training period, being hit frequently for messing up lyrics or dance moves.

Images and videos circulate of idols walking half-asleep and even fainting on stage multiple times. Groups reported removing all their furniture in their living spaces to make room for late-night dance practices. Even after all of these hurdles and difficulties faced by K-pop groups the contracts signed as trainees often have long-term effects with accumulated debt from choreography lessons, living costs, and wardrobes among other costs. There is even a popularized term for these contracts- slave contracts specifically referring to unfair K-pop contracts some of which lasted over a decade. The unrealistic and extreme body standards persist in the industry idols often being encouraged to undergo plastic surgery among other appearance modifications. Even after all of their efforts, idols are often surprised by the small wages they receive. Idols agree to these contracts mostly as a result of the lack of employee rights within the country, unions often being put down in extreme and violent ways as a result job security is almost non-existent. Secondly, the lack of leisure and the need for intense studying and work leaves little to no time to independently start a musical group without the help of a managerial company capitalizing on music entirely. In addition, many of these idols are so young when they start their careers that when auditioning, many of the trainees site nursery rhymes while auditioning as Seo Hyun, a member of Girls Generation, had cited a nursery rhyme while auditioning. While many of the members of popular K-pop groups join as a result of these economic and social conditions, members are encouraged to compete with one another sometimes bullying other members, Girls Generation’s Sunny was accused of bullying other members of the group based on their weight and personal habits. These scandals surrounding the industry show just how much these idols are sculpted to be tools of their managerial companies having their personal lives robbed from them, their control extends far beyond their singing and dancing capabilities and reaches into almost every other aspect of their lives. The companies don’t have any regard for the emotional traumas it causes, the family-like dependency it creates amongst idol groups only to break them later, resulting in terrible mental health traumas that many of its trainees have to endure, and from the moment these contracts are signed the potential idols have no control of their personal lives thereafter.

Another problem rose quickly within the music industry- music piracy with the rise of piracy idols needed to secure another means of profit. The next development was to connect idols to certain products in the fast food and fast fashion industries in highly saturated media advertisements. Conversely, K-pop music videos had incorporated advertisements for profit. The importance of reputation and a positive public perception of idols as them being a physical and social model of perfection rose above that of reality because of this, K-pop idols became sign influencers of fashion and almost all cultural products and appliances. South Korean pop culture quickly became a carefully calculated and manufactured process in conjunction with popular brands, creating copies of each other without an original format. The nature of the business gives individual idols no creative autonomy in the production process. The division of labor is extremely strict and disciplined with each department trying to surpass its latest production.

This is why K-pop appears to be so overproduced; compared to its Western counterparts K-pop music videos are brighter and more saturated, the choruses are larger and the hooks are sharper; it is all delivered with forcefulness. Over-the-top fashions, color schemes, and elaborate visuals are crammed into single music videos- desperately trying to fit the visions of every possible demographic. Everything is characterized by an excess- an excess in the visual and the sonic, an excess in restrictive structures, and in touring/expansion. This type of excess can only be produced by contradictions of cheerful, carefree appearances and strict discipline, and restricted freedoms- the confident, independent attitudes and complete dependency on a corporate system, contradictions of sexual objectification, and innocent appeals to Korean values can all be seen within the appearance of K-pop music videos. Knowing the reality of K-pop’s bright and glamorous appearance makes it almost morbid as it reveals the absolute incongruity of capitalism’s appearance and reality. As a result, it becomes an industry uniquely characterized by the complete disposability of its icons.