Strict Rules To Be A KPOP Idol

First bit of trivia for the day – K-pop is short for Korean pop – and any avid K-pop fan will know that the Korean music industry is unlike anything you’ve ever imagined before! There’s also J-pop, which is short for Japanese pop, but even their rules are not as strict as those that apply to the K-pop star!

11 - You’re only as old as you feel
When you look at J-Pop or K-Pop stars, they all look very young, and it’s hard to believe that one of the oldest performers is actually close to 50-years old! One of the youngest members began at the age of 12 when she had a brief stint with “Orange” and then went on to release her debut track at 14 called “Hot Issue”. Her name was Sohyun. The oldest performer was born August 17th 1969 and the honor goes to the ever-beautiful Uhm Jung Hwa.

10 - I’m watching you, always watching
Monsters Inc quote that perfectly applies to the K-Pop trainees and members. They’re not allowed to go anywhere without their Korean manager – no shopping, movies, lunches and so on. If the tales are true, they even have a guard standing outside the bathroom when they do their business and are on camera 24/7! They’re a huge financial investment, so they’re protected at all costs.

9 - Slave Driver
I don’t’ use the term lightly either! ‘Slave Contracts’ are common in Korea and many can last for up to 10-years! SM Entertainment have come under fire a few times with their hardcore contractual agreements. Han Geng from Super Junior sued them in 2009 stating that they made him do things against his wishes and claimed that they wouldn’t allow him sick leave, despite him suffering with kidney problems and gastritis. In the same year, former members of TVXQ also brought them to court with allegations that pay wasn’t distributed fairly, even though they were only sleeping 4-hours every night and had pushed themselves to their breaking point. These cases brought minimal change, with contracts allowing for 7-years as opposed to 10-years to be tied down to one company.

8 - Try and try again
Auditioning is a common practice world-wide, but usually after a few failed attempts, we bury the dream and move on, K-Pop hopefuls are resilient and audition dozens and dozens of times. Many are turned down before they even sing, which must be heart-breaking.
IU auditioned several for JYP Entertainment and other agencies and was told no over and over again. Eventually Loen Entertainment recognized potential and debuted her as a solo artist in 2008.

7 - Draconian rulers
Those that look after the K-Pop crews and the trainees are said to be notoriously draconian. We’ve learnt that every aspect of their lives is controlled, and the minders take it one step further and even control what kind of questions the interviewers are allowed to ask. No photographs are allowed, no videos and don’t even think about asking a personal question!

6 - On friendly terms
Fraternization is a big no no and members of the various K-Pop bands are not allowed to befriend members from other bands. And that’s not even referring to dating, we’re purely referring to platonic friendships.

5 - Sing my song
So, we’ve just heard that platonic are not allowed, but some companies don’t even allow girl groups to sing songs originally sung by boy groups and vice versa!

4 - Out of sight, out of mind
The Korean music industry is flooded with idol groups with new ones emerging almost weekly. Those that fail to wow end up failing and with all the groups vying for the same opportunities, you can imagine how stressful this would be. In Korea, there are weekly music programs that allows the audience to vote for their favorite groups, songs and records, plus they consider album and digital sales. Those that are high up in the rankings get opportunities to work in TV and do public appearances, which means they’re constantly in the public eye and the others fall by the way side. If nobody sees you, they forget you exist.

3 - 7-year itch
There’s a myth doing the rounds that any K-pop group doesn’t last longer than 7-years without either experiencing a member change, or worst-case scenario, disbandment! Part of the reason is that their contract is so long that by the time they’re performing, they’re either just exhausted or have pursued other interests. Bands that have succumbed to the 7-year myth include 4minute, BEAST, TVXQ and Wonder Girls.

2 - Be all and end all
For these K-Pop bands, their public image is everything. 2NE1’s Park Bom tried to bring prescription medication into Korea from the USA and despite explaining to the public her reasons for doing so, the public didn’t take kindly to it at all. She ended up with depression, was removed from a variety show and hardly seen again after that. 2NE1 couldn’t survive the “scandal” and disbanded shortly thereafter.
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