As someone who listens to music all hours of the day when given the chance, I am often
extremely interested in what happens surrounding process of creating the music. One of the most
interesting and horrifying music industries in the entire world is the Korean pop, or K-Pop,
industry.
K-Pop is unlike any other genre of music. The companies take gifted people from all over
different countries, almost all of which are of Asian descent, and train them for years to become
the ideal singers, dancers, and rappers who are able to perform for hours every day for months.
They have to be perfect right from the beginning, and in order to make sure that happens, the
restrictions the companies put on them are very severe. Many idols start off in the industry at an
extremely young and impressionable age. Kids as young as eleven begin training under these
companies, and debut into their groups at twelve and thirteen years old. Their education and
social lives are taken away from them, as they are now expected to train all hours of the day to
debut as soon as possible. South Korean beauty standards are also very strict, not only within the
entertainment industries, but the country as a whole. Companies seek out the children who have
the most ideal faces that fit the beauty standards because they know they will gain the most
attention. Recently a new group debuted with all nine members under the age of eighteen, which
caused a lot of controversy internationally, and thus drew more attention to them. It is very
common for groups to have at least one or two members debut underage, while the oldest
typically aren’t older than twenty two.
Another extremely horrifying issue is dieting. Idols have come out saying their
companies are restricting their food intake to one meal a day, and on some occasions less.
Certain idols take their diets into their own hands, seeing themselves as overweight and thinking
they need to lose some before their next album release. There are many idol diets on the internet,
claiming that a certain idol lost a certain amount of weight in a small time, which is not only
harmful for the idol, but for the fans as well. If you look at the entire K-Pop industry, you will
only see extremely thin people with only a few exceptions. Fans who have different body types
see their idols, and global beauty standards will tell them they need to be just as thin as the
people they look up to, and they’ll start trying to diet like them, or develop eating disorders
because they no longer want to look the way they do.
Fans are also another issue in K-Pop. The fanbases of the larger groups are ginormous,
meaning that there is almost always a group of fans who take their love for idols to an unhealthy
level. To a degree, this delusion is created by companies who force the idols to act almost like
they’re in a relationship with their fans. When dating rumors begin spreading about an idol, they
will often say they couldn’t be in a relationship, because the only thing in their hearts are their
fans. This makes the fans feel loved individually rather than as a fandom and makes them want
to support the artist more. It also means dating for idols is extremely difficult, as rumors
surrounding the relationship of two idols can start if they do so much as look at each other. Fans
also spread incredulous amounts of hate to the person their favorite idol could be dating because
they believe there is a possibility they will be able to meet and start a relationship with the idol. It
also makes idols uncomfortable as most of them genuinely don’t want to be talking like this to
their fans and the responses they get from certain people are extremely inappropriate. Fan calls
are another thing that K-Pop groups do, and it further encourages that unhealthy para-social
relationship. Fans can win video calls that range from thirty seconds to a few minutes to talk with
people from a group, and sometimes they cross the line when talking to certain idols. It is clear
that the idol is uncomfortable based on their body language, but they cannot say anything or
leave the call until the time limit is up. While in theory it is a great way for fans to connect with
the groups they love, it can also be extremely damaging to the idols.
It is very rare that youll see a company that truly cares about their idols and puts them
over their income. Many idols cannot talk about their mental health, as it is a pretty taboo subject
in South Korea, and oftentimes they arent able to take a mental health break until it is too late.
They then must take months off at a time to receive treatment for something that could have been
prevented if they were given regular days off by their companies. Stray Kids is a group that I
follow avidly and love the most out of any other K-Pop group. This year alone they have gotten
about a month and a half total where they had no schedules they had to attend. During that time
off, based on what they share with fans through platforms that allow them to speak with their
fans, they did not rest hardly at all during those periods, continuing to sing, dance, and compose
new music for their future projects. Even when they were able to have a group vacation, they had
to film everything for a reality show, meaning they were never able to fully relax and still had to
put on their idol personas.
Considering there are so many issues with the K-Pop industry as a whole, once you get
attached to a group and start realizing the amount of effort theyre putting into making the music
you love, it’s very hard not to support them. It’s a very beautiful thing watching the people you
look up to and inspire you every day make their dreams come true, despite everything being
thrown at them all at once.