Oh oh oh oh, I'm late to this party, but you HAVE to get in to the crazy world of K-Pop. Because it is amazing and terrifying and wonderful. You see the best and the worst of people in this fandom, I think, both in the artists and the fans and the anti-fans. PREPARE FOR ME TO RAMBLE AT YOU.
On SM - SM Ent is scandalicious at the moment. They sort of function like JE, except that the trainees don't really do the years of crushing backdancing thing that JE does - it's both good and bad, the artists don't get the same amount of stage experience before debuting, but the fans can't get attached to anyone who isn't ever GOING to debut either (I see you, Toma and ABC).
SM - and well, the Korean pop companies in general - also have their artists all living together in dorms, which JE doesn't do anymore (since they were banned from it, haha). This means you get some AMAZING lol-tastic hidden camera footage from their homes sometimes, but it's also a bit uncomfortable because seriously, when do these artists get a break? This however, did not stop me watching Super Junior's 'Full House' where they had to share their dorm with two female exchange students for like, three months (hilarious, A+ viewing).
Other people have talked about the current DBSK lawsuit, and there was a similar one a few years back for Shinhwa I believe. The short is, DBSK are all on these ridiculous 13 year contracts, get no time off, are averaging like 4 hours sleep a night, and there are some shading things built into their contracts - which they apparently were not shown in full before signing. Eg. - they don't get any money from CDs sold in Korea, unless the CD sells over 500 000 copies. Only their most recent album managed this. :/ Also, there is some pretty convincing evidence to suggest that they haven't had full profits passed along to them and SM has being cooking the books - and when demanded to present said books to the courts, SM got really cagey about it and didn't provide, so.
And they really do strain their actors, it's terrible. Earlier today I saw a fancam of Leeteuk, Super Junior's leader, on some sort of variety show - he was obviously ill and whenever the host/cameras weren't near him he was wobbling dangerously, and at one point seemed to throw up into a napkin on stage - but the moment the host came over, he was all smiles and stage presence, and it was just heart-breaking. D: Also, the latest SM boyband, SHINee (who are made of TINY ADORABLE WIN) to maintain their appearance aren't allowed to eat after 7pm at nights, and once they confessed in an interview that sometimes they sneak food late at night, and it was just so sad. D:
Despite this though, all the SM groups seem to really love Lee Soo Man, the Johnny Kitagawa equivalent for SM. Except he's not the CEO anymore, apparently, which could be why they still love him despite being given the shaft.
Oh shit, lol, this turned out really long...
On SM - SM Ent is scandalicious at the moment. They sort of function like JE, except that the trainees don't really do the years of crushing backdancing thing that JE does - it's both good and bad, the artists don't get the same amount of stage experience before debuting, but the fans can't get attached to anyone who isn't ever GOING to debut either (I see you, Toma and ABC).
SM - and well, the Korean pop companies in general - also have their artists all living together in dorms, which JE doesn't do anymore (since they were banned from it, haha). This means you get some AMAZING lol-tastic hidden camera footage from their homes sometimes, but it's also a bit uncomfortable because seriously, when do these artists get a break? This however, did not stop me watching Super Junior's 'Full House' where they had to share their dorm with two female exchange students for like, three months (hilarious, A+ viewing).
Other people have talked about the current DBSK lawsuit, and there was a similar one a few years back for Shinhwa I believe. The short is, DBSK are all on these ridiculous 13 year contracts, get no time off, are averaging like 4 hours sleep a night, and there are some shading things built into their contracts - which they apparently were not shown in full before signing. Eg. - they don't get any money from CDs sold in Korea, unless the CD sells over 500 000 copies. Only their most recent album managed this. :/ Also, there is some pretty convincing evidence to suggest that they haven't had full profits passed along to them and SM has being cooking the books - and when demanded to present said books to the courts, SM got really cagey about it and didn't provide, so.
And they really do strain their actors, it's terrible. Earlier today I saw a fancam of Leeteuk, Super Junior's leader, on some sort of variety show - he was obviously ill and whenever the host/cameras weren't near him he was wobbling dangerously, and at one point seemed to throw up into a napkin on stage - but the moment the host came over, he was all smiles and stage presence, and it was just heart-breaking. D: Also, the latest SM boyband, SHINee (who are made of TINY ADORABLE WIN) to maintain their appearance aren't allowed to eat after 7pm at nights, and once they confessed in an interview that sometimes they sneak food late at night, and it was just so sad. D:
Despite this though, all the SM groups seem to really love Lee Soo Man, the Johnny Kitagawa equivalent for SM. Except he's not the CEO anymore, apparently, which could be why they still love him despite being given the shaft.