The Horror of the K-pop Industry

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The Awfulness of the K- Pop Industry
Outline
* Thesis
Despite the growing popularity of K-Pop music and the attention the Korean pop stars receive today, there is a dark side and challenging experiences that the pop stars have had to endure, and the ordeals are not any different for one of the top K-Pop bands, Blackpink.
* Introduction
1 Brief history
2 Influences
3 Characteristics
4 Popular Pop idols (Blackpink), stats, and struggles
* Hardship in training
1 Extreme training routines
2 Poor dieting
3 Harsh criticism
* Scandals
1 Alleged mistreatments from the management
2 Betrayal from the management
3 Harsh criticism from the haters
4 Racist comments
* Conclusion
The K-Pop music industry is undoubtedly on a growing trend. However, the Korean pop stars’ ordeals on their way to success right from training and even at the peak of their success are sometimes heart-breaking and unbecoming of such a global phenomenon.
The Awfulness of the K- Pop Industry
The roots of Korean popular music, commonly termed as K-Pop, can be traced back to the mid-1990s when the country experienced dramatic political changes that led to elements of democracy being witnessed in a region dominated by autocracy at the time (Oh and Lee 111). The western culture that had infiltrated the region also played a part in the establishment of the music category. Some of the distinguishing characteristics of the music genre are its composition of several members, hard-hitting sounds, choreographed dance movements, and a unique style of dressing (MasterClass staff par. 8). South Korean population contributes the largest percentage of K-pop music audience at 10.1 percent, and it is also receiving audiences from across the globe, with the U.S and Asia emerging among top followers (So par. 2). The most popular K-pop band across the globe are BTS, Blackpink, Twice, Momoland, and Exo, contributing up to 54.3 percent of the genre’s YouTube views in 2019 (So par. 1). Despite the growing popularity of K-Pop music and the attention the Korean pop stars receive today, there is a dark side and challenging experiences that the pop stars have had to endure, and the ordeals are not any different for one of the top K-Pop bands, Blackpink.
The cruelty of the K-pop music industry starts right away from the training. The training routines that succeed rigorous and competitive audition is almost the same path for the young talents aspiring to be K-Pop artists. However, some, like the members of the Blackpink girl band, had a terrifying experience during their training. Aside from the long hours of dance practices, vocal lessons, learning different languages, and no dating rules common for all the K-Pop aspiring artists, all of the Blackpink members had the longest training period in the early ages of their K-Pop careers. “Jennies has to deal with almost six years of training, Lisa for five years and three months, Jisoo for five years, and Rose for four years and two months” (Staff Reporter par. 5). Such a long training period is highly exhaustive as it is coupled with poor dieting aimed at maintaining a slim body. In addition, they r...