Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Ask Asian Junkie looks into why Korean companies don’t debut more solo idols.
I know the training systems are expensive, so wouldn’t it be cheaper to train one artist that is good in all areas rather than a group full of mediocre people like the Wonder Girls’ Sohee?
Damn son, that shit is cold blooded, singling out Sohee of the Wonder Girls like that.
:o
Anyway, yeah, it’s always better to find elite talents who also happen to have model level attractiveness. That’s obvious.
It is, however, easier to find talents who have either ability, personality, or visuals, but not all of the above. Hence, groups!
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Additionally, being a soloist is risky, both for the company and the idol.
It’s risky for the idol because that person now only has one person to blame and one person to rely on if things go south. Similarly, the company takes risk by investing a ton into the marketing and production of one person, but if the public doesn’t like that individual, all that shit is down the drain.
In a group, however, there’s diversity. Within the idol group, there’s a deeper support system and others are there to balance out any deficiencies of any individual member. For the company, there’s the ability to appeal to a bunch of different people. Even if a consumer doesn’t like one or two or three members, they may like the other six. Surely you’d have to like somebody, which is what will get you to watch and maybe become a fan. Simplified, it’s a risk averse way of recruiting fans, and you generally only need the same amount of standout talent to get there: one. Hell, sometimes it’s zero and it still works.
With that said, it’s now getting to the point where the only thing companies could do to stand out is by debuting a talented solo idol, because that’s the only thing that would be newsworthy to me, as it would put them above the rising tide of boy band and girl group robots.
It’s a risk, but it’s one I wish the major companies would take.
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I have nothing better to do, so send me your questions here: Ask Asian Junkie.
Besides being less risky and easier to produce from the management company’s standpoint, idol groups are also more in-demand than solo acts. Since K-pop fans prefer groups, the companies are simply giving them what they want.
So, a follow-up question would be: why do K-pop fans prefer groups?
Well, there are several reasons, but I think a big part of the appeal of K-pop, in general, is the strong visual element. Watching a group of people perform is more interesting than watching a single person.
Even though fans may have their own favorite idols within a group, I think most of them still like the fact that those idols perform as part of a group. In most cases, the most popular and/or talented idols in each group wouldn’t be as popular as a solo act.
So, the bottom line is, the reason there aren’t more solo acts is mostly because the fans prefer groups.
Regarding the expense of developing a group – I think a lot of the numbers that the management companies throw out there are exaggerated. If they create the perception that it is extremely expensive to produce a group, it may scare off potential competitors from entering the market.
Even if some of the “pre-debut” investment figures are correct, I’m sure if you broke those figures down, you’d find that teaching some kids to dance and housing them in a dorm is a small percentage of the total. I think the biggest expenses are the promotions and producing the music. Thus, a solo artist isn’t likely to be significantly cheaper to develop than a group.
They prefer groups because they can stan multiple members instead of deciding whether they can hate or love the one individual.
I’m quite sure a significant portion of the investment and risk is in housing, feeding, and training the potential members for years.
I prefer groups because I’d rather see a group dance than one person dance and I’d rather hear harmonies than one person singing (although really sadly, out of all the fucking groups out there, very few of them are using harmony on fucking any of their tracks.)
For me it has nothing to do with one idol making up where another one lacks. It’s not like a song sounds better when it’s mixed with good and bad vocals.If the bad vocals are there, good vocals don’t save it. I suppose I get how that mentality could apply in ways of like appearance for example, where we’re gonna be attracted to at least one, but I think that more applies to keeping people interested than to getting them interested?
Just myyy thoughts.
Right, they generally all suck at harmonies, so what is it that appeals to you about it, really?
:o
DBSK~~ lol there’s a select few that occasionally do some good harmony and whenever they do I get eargasm. Plus, the dancing is still a big factor. I’d rather watch a cool 13 person dance than Rain playing with a cane any day.
Hm, I guess that’s a personal preference.
BoA/Rain dancing solo has more of an impact for me because they’re doing it solo and all eyes are on them.
Id rather watch Rain over those 13 pricks.
Rain over Suju any day. Sorry.
uh don’t apologize, It was a bad example from me because truth be told I’d rather watch Rain dance than almost anything. (and frankly I hate Super Junior’s choreography – they don’t use thirteen people like they should.)
Also having groups benefit you on dramas and tv shows. The interactions between them interest fans.
… That’s a good point.
I prefer solo artists. I dislike that groups have main vocal, dancer, visual, charismatic, rapper, attached to 1 member. I find it much better when the solo, like Rain, can say “Hi I’m Rain and I can do all of that on my own.”
I think it’s going to be focusing solely on ability as opposed to image…like that new group, with the “PainKiller” song. They’ve got amazing vocals. They’re not exactly the most gorgeous (from what I can make out to be Korean Standards) but I think that’s the only way to go.
SPICA is fucking awesome.
Yeah, my jaw dropped like 5 inches.
I don’t know what they’ve been putting in their food/water, but some of these new rookie groups are impressing the shit out of me (though, I think SPICA debuted a few months ago?).