tags: #kpop #infinite #translations #2012

[TRANS] Why is there an idol debut rush? 

needsmoarinpiniteu:

Translating because of a mention of Infinite, few words from Boss-nim and other information I found interesting. This is only a partial translation of what I found interesting, not a full translation.

***Please do not repost on Tumblr. If taking out of Tumblr, link back to this post AND repost with these instructions. Translated by needsmoarinpiniteu@tumblr. DO NOT ADD YOURSELF TO THE CREDITS.***

• So far this year 53 idol groups have debuted, but few are successful.
• The investment cost of creating a girl group that will debut next month was calculated: Over the past two years, members’ contract fees, dorm rent, office rent, gas money, food costs, music composition costs, music video production costs totaled 640 million won (USD 578,562).
• The total differs by company, but on average the cost is about 400 million won (USD 361,597).
• Only about 2-3% of the groups will survive the competition.
• Of the 53 groups debuting this year, there are almost no groups that have received a rating as “successful”.
• Despite the low chance of success, idol groups continue to debut because if they do succeed, the result is like winning the lottery.
• A group representative of success, Infinite. cost 1.7 billion won (USD 1,536,759)  to create. In the two years after debut, their earnings from performances, appearances on shows, and 3 concerts total 12 billion won (USD 10,847,800).
• Representative Lee Jungyeop (Woollim’s CEO) said: “Recently, if [you artist] is not an idol, can’t make any money, right? Because you have to create a product, you have to create an idol. But [idol debuts] are increasing so much, as they increase the standard declines…”
• Because competition is heating up, companies are spending their money more thriftily, shortening training periods and debuting groups earlier, leading to the sudden increase in idols.
• Im Seunghyun (Idol group producer): From an investor’s point of view, the less time it takes, the less money it takes, so groups keep debuting. People are pointing out that it is more and more fatiguing as groups debut with no difference in concepts, similar faces and music that only emphasizes electronic sounds.
• It seems that the music industry is disregarding these points and in the wake of the continuing Kpop wave, steadily cranking out new groups.

***Please do not repost on Tumblr. If taking out of Tumblr, link back to this post AND repost with these instructions. Translated by needsmoarinpiniteu@tumblr. DO NOT ADD YOURSELF TO THE CREDITS.***

tags: #u-kiss #zea #kpop #this all started when i mistaken zea's song as u-kiss today

Why hasn’t U-Kiss won any awards? 

needsmoarinpiniteu:

Every time U-Kiss comes back, this questions is inevitably brought up.

The simple answer: They just aren’t popular enough. But that begs the question: Why aren’t they more popular?

The reasons that any particular group succeeds or fails are many and complex. Here I will only attempt to explain why I think U-Kiss is not more popular. (TL;DR at the end for your convenience)

Disclaimer: The following is my opinion only. There is no way of proving causes of a particular group’s failure or success. In order to do that, one would need to run a controlled experiment—something we do not have the liberty of doing.

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I doubt that they will disband, they seem to be quite popular in other parts of Asia… awkwardly I think their situation relates with ZE:A, who are also struggling to establish a consistent image and has yet to win any award. Not to mention that they have members with talents but just don’t have the right song.

tags: #kpop #melon #this is why i always and only check melon for rankings

needsmoarinpiniteu:

Market share of the five largest Korean music sites

Melon was responsible for over 50% of the music sales in the first half of 2012. Mnet comes in a distant second at 18.3%.

Significance: If you want to know what songs are popular, Melon is the chart to watch. Comparatively, the other charts are weak indicators of a song’s success. (i.e. bragging that your idol got to the top 10 on Soribada is basically worthless if it’s not even in the top 50 on Melon)

tags: #what is a ''genetic'' song lol #kpopsecret #kpop

kpop labels getting dumber?  

needsmoarinpiniteu:

kpopsecrets:

I don’t understand why so many labels this year think it’s a good idea to debut their idol groups. I mean wouldn’t it be better for them to debut their group when not that many are debuting instead of doing it while 50 other labels also do it, which gives a smaller chance to success? How much would it hurt them to hold on the trainees for a bit longer and prepare them better? A lot of the groups debuting are just average in both talent and concept. They don’t bring anything new or interesting to the table. It just feels like their label rushed to debut them just for the sake of debuting somebody.

Genetic song + averange skills + unprepared + boring concept + unoriginal promoting + bad timing + ridiculous group name = failure

How is any of this good business? What were they thinking?

s!b: some fans of one of the 50+ new groups might get offended

Why do people buy lottery tickets? Repeatedly? The odds of you winning the lottery are far worse than any given group becoming wildly successful. And yet people do it again and again in hopes that they’ll hit the jackpot. The mentality is much the same.

This question has been repeated too many times. The whole point of this is making money and it is working. There’s so much demand these days from fans that many companies are trying to get a piece of the pie.

People complain how “back in the days” kpop didn’t have that many debuts in a year, but it’s because there are many groups that didn’t succeed and eventually disappeared. It may be that there are more groups debuting today, but sooner or later they will end up the same.

Apparently weird group names and engrish lyrics are the trend and it really makes their songs and group stand out so I don’t think that is a failure.

tags: #kpopsecret #kpop

it’s exhausting 

inspiritforsungjong:

kpopsecrets:

There’s all of these rookie groups that are debuting and its so exhausting to stan/support them. On Wiki, only 4 groups debuted in 1996. 6 groups debut in 1997. 6 in 2003 and 2004. In 2012, there’s 58…

I just wish we could go back to those years before where not a lot of groups debuted and we just took our time to stan them and everything. Also not to mention that the rookie groups will probably split up or some members will leave in due time. Majority of these groups are from “unknown” companies, and to be honest, they won’t really stand a chance against the bigger companies. I know this has been said before but god can SK’s groups just slow down on debuting.

idk I just needed to get this out

s!b I feel like most people will just say shut up and enjoy the new rookies debuting but it’s just too much

I am confused….

Am I the only person that believes in free market mechanisms?

This happens all the time: an industry becomes profitable, so more competitors enter the industry to try to get a piece of that pie. It happens with ANY industry, jeans, computers, microwaves, shampoo, books, duct tape, toothpicks…but I don’t ever see anyone complaining saying “there are too many clothing brands, no way these new ones stand a chance so why do people keep starting new brands?”

New competitors enter the industry. If they fail, they exit the industry. It’s that simple. You’re the consumer and you make your choices. More suppliers is actually good for you as a consumer because you have a better chance of finding an option that satisfies your taste. It really is none of your business how many suppliers there are, your consumption is fixed at some limit.

I am sick of people saying “there are too many rookies, I can’t keep up with them all”. Pardon me but who is making you study all of these rookies? Do you feel compelled to try every new brand of cereal, chicken noodle soup, shampoo, clothes, perfume, floss and toothpick when they pop up? Seriously? No one is forcing you. If you don’t want to get personally invested in a group because you’re afraid they might be one of the ones that fail then just avoid them altogether. Wait until the winners and losers are clear and then go get to know them once there’s no danger of them disbanding due to lack of success. (Yes, this means you’ll probably always end up stanning the successful groups and overlook good groups that got unlucky, but if you’re really afraid of losing a group you’re personally attached to, this is the way to go)

This is how a free market works. Just let it be.

Majority of these groups are from “unknown” companies, and to be honest, they won’t really stand a chance against the bigger companies.

LOL…Secret, Sistar, B2ST, U-Kiss, Teen Top, B1A4, and many more idol groups were able to establish a decent fanbase in their so-called “unknown companies” and they end up making great profits for their company, and some of them end up debuting more groups.

No matter how many groups debut, there will always be several that succeed. Based on survival of the fittest, other groups will be eliminated and over time you will just end up forgetting them or not even get a chance to know them so why bother? If you want to stan your own group, no one else is stopping you. But if you constantly feel disturbed because of new groups ruining your “bias list”, then it’s just your own preference to choose which ones to like. The blame should not be on South Korea at all (and not the companies either), it’s fans that are spending their money on them! I agree that all these debuts are exhausting and I think OP will find it less frustrating if you don’t go on allkpop so often…

Soon the kpop market will become saturated and the debuts will stop anyways; but when there’s demand, there will always be a source that supplies this need.

tags: #kpopsecret #submission #text #kpop

Sexiness in Kpop 

kpopsecrets:

I hate how people are acting like girls being sexy in kpop is new. It seems like they think female singers weren’t sexy up until 2009. Sure singers might not have been dancing like Hyuna or Minzy but they were still sexy. Lexy, Ivy, Harisu, BoA, Swi.T,Chae Yeon, Lee Hyori, Um Junghwa, and Baby V.O.X. have had some of the sexiest videos in kpop. There is nothing wrong with a singer having a sexy image unless you they are a child. These women are not sluts and whores because they are sexy but calling sluts and whores makes you immature and look stupid. If dancing sexy makes idol girls sluts, then your precious perfect oppa is a man whore.

s!b: The “oh so conservative and pure” Hyuna and Minzy haters will have an issue with this.

I would like to add that the gender equality problem is the most obvious when it comes to new debuting groups and these comments irritates me the most.

Whenever a new girl group debuting, fans will be like:

“Stop f**king debut groups!!” “Another fail KPOP girl group.” “The cutesyness gotta go.” “That girl reminds me of Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon! LOL.” “She looks like a toad…” “Their name is spelled UGLY!!” “SNSD/2NE1 WANNABES” 

exception: YG (SM/JYP) new groups

Whenever a new boy group is debuting, fans will be like: 

“aww these guys are so cute, what’s their name?” “My babies!! Noona crying happily <3” “They deserve it because they have been working so hard!” “HOLY SHIT THEY DIDN’T LIPSYNC!!” “MY BODY IS READY”

-credits to numerous users from allkpop