[REAL TALK] Toxicity within the Korean music industry and it's effect on real people

[CreepyPanda]

So I've been thinking about Minzy's abdication from 2NE1, and I think we can trace the whole issue back to Bom's scandal. Now, this is not a blame thread, it isn't, just bear with me here.

Bom's scandal was obviously fake, I'll believe that she had the pills or whatever, but if it was a real issue and if she was really culpable for a crime she would have been sanctioned in some way, which she wasn't, making the whole thing a non-issue.

However, Korea, and YG, did not treat it as such. The whole scandal blew up, the hate bandwagon started rolling, and promotions for Crush, 2NE1's most prosperous era yet, were brought to a halt. Not just a temporary halt, but a 2 year standstill. This constitutes the root of all the problems.

 

Now, I want to use this thread to discuss a number of issues that concern me within the industry, I'll lay them out as formulaically as I can:

 

      1. K-pop fans are addicted to hate
 

The K-pop industry is very competitive; different groups and soloists are constantly fighting for the best sales, image, popularity etc. This translates, even more fervently, to the fans, both korean and international. You all know it, K-pop fans are very confrontational. This is not a positive thing, because it births hate. K-pop fans are incredibly hateful, we have fanwars, huge amounts of bandwagon hate etc. This is one of the reasons why Bom's fake scandal, a non-issue, was made into a real issue - haters wouldn't let it go. Some of those people are here on OH among us. 

 

      2. Idols have no autonomy

 

K-pop idols are not treated like people by their agencies. They have no say over the direction their career goes, they don't control their own moves, they just wait for their agencies to tell them what to do. This is true even for 2NE1, and this constitutes a lot of the problem with Minzy's situation as I see it. She wanted to do something of her own volition, she had her own thoughts and ideas, but at the end of the day, YG still controlled her. She couldn't make her own decisions or do her own thing, she was owned, under contract.

 

      3. Idols aren't allowed to communicate

 

When there's a scandal in K-pop, you don't hear from the idols. Never. As soon as a scandal happens, the idols social media and public appearances are shut down and the crisis management teams are brought in. This happens for every scandal - Bom's scandal resulted in her being absent from social media entirely for over a year. Ailee's leaked picture scandal, no comment from her for months, SNSD's scandal with Jessica, none of the members said a thing - and now 2NE1's scandal with Minzy - she, nor any of the other members, are saying anything, because they're not allowed to. 

 

All this says to me that Bom's FAKE scandal, which was made up by a shitty news outlet looking for page clicks, ruined 2NE1's career. 2NE1's ENTIRE career was ruined by a LIE. The reason that a single lie could do that? Fans are evil, agencies are evil, the media is evil and K-pop is a ruthless industry. 

 

If Bom's fake scandal had been cleared up properly, if Bom herself had actually been allowed to say something about it, then 2NE1 wouldn't have been in the dungeon for 2 years, and Minzy would still be in the group, because the group would still exist. But now it doesn't, all because of one rumour.

 

Here's hoping CL's solo goes well. Here's hoping it still happens and she can get out of YG as well, because it's not fair to any of the girls to be owned.

[Krystal Meth]

K-netizens are the biggest hypocrites. Every time Bom showed her face they were quick throw her in hot lava. 

 

"Why is this monster showing her face?", "Go and reflect" and now Minzy leaves they blame Bom for 2ne1 not being able to come back. They'll do anything to make a persons life miserable, but get angry when they read about another person being bullied. Maybe you guys should take a seat, look in the mirror and realise you guys are bullies too before crying about others.

[ElleMae]

K-netizens are the biggest hypocrites. Every time Bom showed her face they were quick throw her in hot lava. 

 

"Why is this monster showing her face?", "Go and reflect" and now Minzy leaves they blame Bom for 2ne1 not being able to come back. They'll do anything to make a persons life miserable, but get angry when they read about another person being bullied. Maybe you guys should take a seat, look in the mirror and realise you guys are bullies too before crying about others.

Bom has had plenty of Korean fans supporting her since her scandal. 

[taebb]

the kpop industry is structured in a way that encourages fans to view idols in a possessive manner. 

 

 

less emphasis is placed on music and more emphasis is placed on getting people to like a certain group of idols. someone else made this comparison earlier, but i'm repeating it here because it's relevant. bon jovi has a lot of fans, but those fans are there because they like rock (or whatever music bon jovi makes). if bon jovi were to release a jazz album, those fans won't listen to it. this is obviously not the case in kpop. fans follow a group, and listen to whatever genre of music they make. 

 

 

fans are also implicitly encouraged to 'get to know' idols through variety shows. again, this has no parallel in mainstream english-medium music. 

 

 

because of this, and because idols are marketed towards teens/young adults, there is a lot of scrutiny on idols. they're not allowed to speak their minds because, let's be real, if they're allowed to, they'll come across like justin bieber, ariana grande, taylor swift etc.

 

 

 

i wouldn't say that kpop fans are addicted to hate. they're given this bunch of idols and told 'pick your favourite'. when you do pick a fave, they tell you to buy their album, send them food support, buy them birthday gifts, come take pretty photos of them - in short, invest a whole lot of time and money to make them famous. 

 

 

it stands to reason, then, when the idols 'screw up', fans get really petty/angry about it. they think "i starved myself and paid for your albums, and this is what you're doing with my hard-earned money???". this is not something that happens in other music industries. nobody starves themselves to buy bieber's album - they just pirate it. nobody takes up photography lessons, sets up a fansite and pays for flights + hotels to different countries just to photograph bieber. 

 

 

if you expect fans to respect kpop idols and give them the space american/western musicians get, the entire kpop industry would collapse. 

[+CIEL+]

very well said

[Temptastic VII]

1. K-pop fans are addicted to hate

 

 

T-ara

Bom

Tablo

Kara

 

 

2. 2NE1's ENTIRE career was ruined by a LIE. 

 

idk I think they'd still be able to do well if they had come back. 

 

also now do you get how i feel about T-ara. 

[ningenvoo1]

Bom has had plenty of Korean fans supporting her since her scandal. 

have you seen comments on posts that are not from 2ne1buzz or read the ones about minzy???'

[Mr. iCanDoItAll]

I don't get why 2NE1 never had a comeback the past 2 years. Even with the whole "drug scandal" thing, which only the Koreans care about tbh, they would've done extremely well just because they're 2NE1. They're an internationally famous group that's almost 7 years old ffs, not some rookie that heavily relies on how the Korean public sees them. 

[Iceprince]

Bom's scandal wasn't fake. She broke the law and should have been punished

[Top Box]

2ne1 spends more time being on hiatus then actually promoting i mean crush came out in 2014 and before that their last korean album was a mini in 2011

[RETIRED WAIFU]

2. 2NE1's ENTIRE career was ruined by a LIE. 

 

 

idk I think they'd still be able to do well if they had come back. 

 

also now do you get how i feel about T-ara. 

What was the lie? Am I missing something here?

 

EDIT: Thanks for the neg, I wasn't even being shady but I guess that means that there wasn't a lie? Ugh, blackjacks need to stop denying the truth and fucking accept that your idol broke the law.

[a(mber)]

also now do you get how i feel about T-ara. 

 

tbh

[Sunny_]

You make very good points. The one I agree with the most is the idols not being able to communicate when in the middle of a scandal. This is toxic, not only can it destroy an idol's career, it also gives fans, haters, whatever the freedom to say whatever they want and not see what that hate might do to a person. Let's take Beast's Hyunseung for example. His whole bad attitude issue is still going on and because Hyunseung and Beast members are not allowed to address the issue and how much it might be affecting them, people continue to hate him and dig up more stuff. It could be cleared up quickly if only the members said anything, if only they were allowed to fight back the hate they are getting.This is whole idols are not human, they're not affected by haters idea needs to go. 

[Is there a problem?]

LMFAO classic

[Eddy]

Wasn't 2NE1's korean promotion of Crush done like at the end of May 2014/beginning of June 2014 ? Coz in June they did some promotion for the japanese version but japanese promotion never last long for 2NE1's case

 

As for idols not allowed to speak or whatever, i think that most of them have not guts and care too much about that 'idol life' and are scared of losing their annoying 12yo groupies and lose some followers on social media. Also their label are probably pressuring them a lot so that's probably why they don't want to go against the 'machine' plus without mentionning the impact on their career if they do so

[shocking blue]

OP, you make many good points. And yes, it is certainly not k-fans as people like to transfer the blame to them all the time. It's the whole kpop fandom, i-fans included

[RYUZAKI]

More like idols aren't allowed to speak for themselves.

 

this industry is manufactured.

[blank_stare]

Bom's scandal wasn't fake. She broke the law and should have been punished

You're kidding right? Because she has doctors note. As long as you have proof of why you have the medications and proof that you didn't sell it or addicted to it then no toy shouldn't go to jail. She was investigated but was found not guilty. Go do some research and reflect yourself. Stop spouting BS!

[ElleMae]

have you seen comments on posts that are not from 2ne1buzz or read the ones about minzy???'

Just the same as how YGPress of 2ne1buzz isn't representative or all korean netizens, NB or other translation sites aren't either. Korean netizens are not a monolith. Popular opinion may not be in Bom's favor but she does have fans. 

[Iceprince]

You're kidding right? Because she has doctors note. As long as you have proof of why you have the medications and proof that you didn't sell it or addicted to it then no toy shouldn't go to jail. She was investigated but was found not guilty. Go do some research and reflect yourself. Stop spouting BS!

Darling, doctor's note doesn't make illegal things to legal. Stop being delusional!!!

[blank_stare]

Darling, doctor's note doesn't make illegal things to legal. Stop being delusional!!!

 

It's only illegal if it's being taken agaisnt the prescribe ordered, selling, and or unauthorized distribution. A doctor's note is a legal documentation and can be used as a proof of legality and as long as the prescribed doctor is legit and well known professional. I know these things because I have done this kinds of things. Bringing illegalized medication in Philippines but having a doctor's note whatever country it may come from, usually US, is permitted. The only thing that garnered attention and investigation in Park Bom's case was that her medication was sent through package care with candies, and other food related. It was found that Park Bom's medication was missing 3 tablets out of the amount prescribed, in two weeks time and the amount of the drugs that were prescribed was still there and untouched, meaning it wasn't sold, distributed or even taken. The fact that she wasn't put to jail means she did nothing wrong. You go research and come back to me. YOU stop being delusional.

 

Edit: Grammar and mistakes.

[ningenvoo1]

Darling, doctor's note doesn't make illegal things to legal. Stop being delusional!!!

In 2010 when the scandal happened Park Bom was even questioned about it, Police dropped charges when they didnt get evidence

 

THE POLICE HAD BOM'S MEDICAL RECORDS and saw that SHE was

 

prescribed the pills for her DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY.

 

"Investigators found no evidence of an effort to alter the drugs and the

 

number of pills imported, charges were dropped quick"

 

"Prosecutors explained that the drugs were prescribed by the hospital where

 

Park had been previously treated"

 

bye

[Itsmee]

 

agreed 100%