(This is in no way an attack on the big name music companies in Korea. However you simply cannot talk about this subject without bringing them into the conversation.)
So as 2012 comes to a close, I would think it has not escaped the attention of any avid kpop fan that this year marked, what is perhaps the largest influx of rookie groups in the history of kpop. Now while I can understand why people are upset with this, and why it is a bad thing, let's stop for a moment and look at things from a different perspective.
(This is not even half of the rookies that debut this year)
-More groups means more people get to live their dream (albeit for however little time they last): With the ridiculous standards the music industry has, it is inevitable that a hand full of talented people will fall through the cracks. People who auditioned for the big name companies and were turned away because maybe they were an amazing singer but could not dance, or they had a great voice but refused to comply with the companies demands to get plastic surgery, or because they weren't pretty or skinny enough. I mean let's not kid ourselves, as talented as kpop stars are, at the end of the day their company is trying to sell a product and that product is the singer. There is typically a standard that is set (the skinner and prettier, the better for the girls, and the taller and the more muscular, for the guys).
-More groups means the power in the music industry is spread out: There is a formula for success in the music industry, and the big name companies know it well. You are very naive if you think they don't treat everything related to their artist like a business, and new artist debuting with other companies are a threat to their, dare I say the word, their monopolies and strangle holds on the business. More companies, help spread out the power in the industry. I've read articles about big name companies pressuring tv companies, to not let certain artist appear on their shows, and guess what, the tv stations complied. Why, because those big name companies have a product that is special and rare and that will bring in ratings and the tv companies know it could mean the death of a show if the ratings drop. Now imagine if there were multiple successful companies, if one of those companies threatened a tv station, with the threat that if that station let's a certain group on their show they would pull their artist from that show. The tv station could say, "go for it" we will just get someone from another company to take their spot.
-More companies mean new music: The big name companies have a formula that works and as the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke why fix it." Now while some of those companies do try to expand their horizons they will never venture too far away from the beaten path, because they know what works, and they know what their stock holders expect. With new companies, they are in the unique position to try something new, because let's face it, they have nothing to lose.
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Now before someone goes on a tangent in the comments i'll bet you to the punch.
Numerous rookies groups are bad because, "They lack training, their companies don't have enough money to put into promoting them, they are unskilled vocally and make up for it with auto-tune, they will be overshadowed by big name company rookie groups, IT'S SIMPLY TOO HARD TO KEEP TRACK ALL OF THEM."
There, I think that covers most of the complaints i've heard on various websites and forums. Now allow me to give you another way of looking at it.
They lack training: True, many of the groups I've seen that debut seem to need more dance practice and vocal training. This being said, it's only to be expected, many of these companies don't have the funds or the means to hire the amount of staff required like the big name companies. However I can still see potential in many of the groups that have debut. There is always room for improvement, and as a kpop fans for a few years now. I've seen my fair share of groups/solo artist from fairly big name companies, looking very "green" when they first debut however they improve over time. Lastly, I would like to argue that people should criticize singers who debut from music competition shows, who only train for a few months before they debut, if they are going to criticize people who have trained under a smaller company for a few years when they debut. I think it can be said that there are some people out there who simply have the natural born talent to be a star and stand on stage. However there are other that even after years of training they just can't seem to look comfortable on stage. It truly depends on the individual.
Their companies don't have enough money to put into promoting them: It is a little unfair dislike a group simply because they don't have high music video production cost. I mean shouldn't you judge them on their singing talent instead of how pretty their MV is (yeah right, not in this industry). This is where the creativity of the company comes into play. I've seen some pretty cool MV's made on a very low budge. Smaller companies can help their groups pull away from the others (that will clearly fall to the way side) if they can be creative at how they produce a music videos.
They are unskilled vocally and make up for it with auto-tune: Honestly I can't really argue with this one. Way too many groups are either lacking in talent, so their company makes up for with it with auto-tune, or they have talented singers, but their company wants to make a dance hit. And let's face it, dance songs that have a good beats get you noticed, the group can show off their vocals later, they have to get noticed first.
They will be overshadowed by big name company rookie groups: This fall on you as a fan, they will only be overshadowed by the big name rookie groups if you let them. If you find a rookie group and they are from a small company and you think they are worth the effort, why not tweet about them or post a link to their MV on facebook.
It's simply too hard to keep track of all of them: I say to you, you're just lazy. Of course you are not going to like every single one of them, so who would expect you to remember them all. However sticking to listening to just your bias will come back to haunt you when your favorite group breaks up and you don't have a new group to support since you shunned them all.
So after writing this, I can't clearly say if a bunch of new rookie groups are a good thing or a bad thing. However I know one thing for sure. Please stop whining every time you see that a new group is debuting. New rookie groups from no-name companies are not going to hurt your bias in anyway, so please stop complaining and give them a chance. Who knows, you might just like one of them.
[Feel free to plead your case in the comments, however please keep your comments on topic and tasteful.]
