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[Idol Maker] Bang Shi-hyuk CEO: "A company that has ‘meaning’ as an enterprise, idols that are 'different’ than idols"


Timur Sharapov

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[idol Maker] Bang Shi-hyuk CEO: "A company that has ‘meaning’ as an enterprise, idols that are 'different’ than idols"

 

 

TRANSLATED BY: kpopduckjill

 

[Translator’s note: This article was published on July 1st, 2013. BTS debuted on June 12, 2013 for context.]

 

Date and Time: Monday July 1st, 2013

 

Place: Big Hit Office in Sinsa-dong

 

Questions: Cha Woo-jin [email protected] Choi Min-woo [email protected]

 

Organization [of interview]: Lee Da-hye [email protected]

 

Photos: Lee Seung-hee (Studio103)

 

When one says that idols are a core industry of Korean pop, it is inevitable that the manpower and organization around those idols becomes important. [weiv]’s 'Idol Maker’ feature was planned with the goal of observing the increasingly complex and specialized context of the industry through in-depth interviews. First up is BTS and Big Hit Entertainment’s core manpower. We plan to add more interviews as the opportunity arises.

READ MORE >>

 

 

I will just quote the most important part (for me ofc);

Bang Shi-hyuk: ... all the members are trainees that first started at BTS, so-called Big Hit pure bloods... To be honest a case like this is quite unprecedented. Overall there are many cases where one or two trainees will have trained elsewhere and joined later on... because of this reason BTS understood the producers intentions well without much prejudice.


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This article is very insightiful on the way BTS's philosophy was created and not the creation of a mere group

 

What caught my attention was the part on how they manage young talent without really managing them

 

1. They wanted people who had talent & passion &work ethic and not someone with just talent and who practiced because they made them. They really invested in selecting this kind of people (the real triple threat lol). Also, they gave them(trainees) the liberty to select and practice the number of hours they want (the only common thing was the evaluations lol)

(I want to add that I watch variety shows and sometimes I get glimpses of other idols, actors, etc and you can see that many just wanted to be celebrities. And Bangpd really hate this lol)

 

2. [..]there aren't many companies that acknowledge the self-motivation of the trainees[..]

 

3. About global, you can notice that even though BigHit wanted it, they couldn't afford it lol (and he just mentions asia lol he felt the Japan market closing, he couldn't even get plane tickets lol)

On the side note, it makes me emotional and a reason why I supported Dark&wild (when pdogg and Bang pd with the members finalized writing the songs, they mix&produced the tracks in a garage like studio in LA (many say that it didn't have good "quality")lol---but as you may know, when we say "quality" it's mostly refered to quality of the machines used by music engineers and cost of the beats---things they couldnt really afford at the time. And I really liked the melody and lyrics of the songs in this album lol)

 

4. Watching a lot of interviews over the years you can see now the fruits of this management (all the members really are invested in music- rap line is a given- and vocal line is catching up--- JK with his studio, Jimin writing melody of BST, Jin writing lyrics and Tae with his masterpieces on SC)

(I would like to add maybe even happy that they do what they want to do?--> Recently on Mcountdown Japan RM and the rest talked about how they feel thankful towards their company lol)

 

5. This is my opinion, don't get trigg lol 

I think that BigHit succeed in choosing 7 musicians that happened to debut in BTS. I'm excited to hear the music they will individually create for themselves and BTS when their schedule slows down lol (I predict in 4 years lol)

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Didn't J-Hope trained at Seungri company before entering auditioning over at Big Hit, and wasn't Suga an underground rapper. Allthe members already had base knowledge and already tested the water elsewhere before entering Big Hit. Bang Shi Hyuk is starting to sound like JYP or YG. 

1. Do you know what means to be an underground rapper? lol

 

2. Do you undertand the difference between being part of the trainee system of a company and someone who goes to dance academies? 

LOL 

I will put a simple example

1. Anna goes to a club 2 times a week to play tennis with her friends

2. Anna trains with the Tennis national team/olympic team

 

Obviously, every member when they were 10, 11, 12, 13 were already passionate with art (music, dancing) it's a given they wanted to learn more, hence go to academies. The difference lies on the way they manage to do that.

I think all members were part of something

-Suga and RM were underground rappers. Suga with his movement of democracy in Daegu and RM spitting fire at the age of 14

- Jimin, Jhope were part of the undergound dance scene. They were in a dancing crew

- Jin and Tae were art majors

- JK wanted to be a singer like IU lol so he went to superstar k at the age of 13 

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1. They wanted people who had talent & passion & work ethic and not someone with just talent and who practiced because they made them. 

 

I think that BigHit succeed in choosing 7 musicians that happened to debut in BTS.

 

This, basically.

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Didn't J-Hope trained at Seungri company before entering auditioning over at Big Hit, and wasn't Suga an underground rapper. Allthe members already had base knowledge and already tested the water elsewhere before entering Big Hit. Bang Shi Hyuk is starting to sound like JYP or YG. 

 

 

I didn't know Seungri has an entertainment agency. Dance academy is smth different than ent.agency. And Bang PD said that Big Hit was the first ent.agency for BTS' members. He didn't say that BTS members had no previous experience.

 

Bang PD isn't starting to sound like JYP or YG, this interview is very very very old, it was published in 2013.

 

Before writing smth please read carefully. Thanks.

 

 

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Didn't J-Hope trained at Seungri company before entering auditioning over at Big Hit, and wasn't Suga an underground rapper. Allthe members already had base knowledge and already tested the water elsewhere before entering Big Hit. Bang Shi Hyuk is starting to sound like JYP or YG.

 

This is from a 2013 interview

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This is one of the best articles I’ve read about the development of BTS. We knew some of this but not everything, at least not this concretely. These are things that stood out to me:

 

The importance of independence, self-motivation, passion: “Do everything you want, but if you don’t develop and grow, leave.†Preparations for trainee evaluations were self-motivated instead of dictated. I see how that aligns with them managing a lot of their scheduling as idols. I can see how this contributes to the concept of ownership, something that comes to mind a lot with BTS bc it affects how they perform IMO.

 

Passion and authenticity also make a difference: “If you didn’t like hip hop, you couldn’t be a part of it. We also can’t teach one to love hip hop.†Hip hip is not just a concept to them. First qualification for trainees mentioned is loving music before even mentioning skills. Not interested in kids who just want to be famous.

 

At one point they struggled with their trainee evaluation when developing BTS so they hired a psychologist to consult.

 

Again, authenticity and personal color are major factors driving the group: “The members control the mood and the company fills in any missing parts.†More than half of BTS’ concept comes from the members themselves.

 

Bang PD’s specific vision/taste is also key, and supersedes trends: When deciding what to do with a group and evaluating its marketability, Bang PD’s first criteria is that it be something he personally likes. His personal taste and intuition wins over what’s generally popular when making decisions, so BH is “different.â€

 

I also like what he said about being picky about their rap bc it helps drive the hype for stages. :-D

 

I guess that plan re: expansion and the emphasis on China has prob changed since 2013, lol. I’m curious about what else may have changed over time but you can see the keys to their original philosophy here.

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1. Do you know what means to be an underground rapper? lol

 

2. Do you undertand the difference between being part of the trainee system of a company and someone who goes to dance academies? 

LOL 

I will put a simple example

1. Anna goes to a club 2 times a week to play tennis with her friends

2. Anna trains with the Tennis national team/olympic team

 

Obviously, every member when they were 10, 11, 12, 13 were already passionate with art (music, dancing) it's a given they wanted to learn more, hence go to academies. The difference lies on the way they manage to do that.

I think all members were part of something

-Suga and RM were underground rappers. Suga with his movement of democracy in Daegu and RM spitting fire at the age of 14

- Jimin, Jhope were part of the undergound dance scene. They were in a dancing crew

- Jin and Tae were art majors

- JK wanted to be a singer like IU lol so he went to superstar k at the age of 13 

 

The academy is not only a dance academy as it has actually the best Dance, Rap & Vocal teachers of all the academies. 

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"I don’t want to work with anyone whose goal is an entertainer, and wants to try to use songs as a means to do so. It’s a matter of order. Because it’s different if you like songs and in the process of singing you become an entertainer. But the opposite, 'I like music but being a celebrity is just a means to do so’, is something I don’t like as well"-Bang pd

I'm glad that Bang pd hates this mentality as well. Sometimes you can clearly see some idols are not really in it for the music they are there for the glitz, glamour & treat their idol "job" as a mere stepping stone to become actor/entertainer. I really2 hate that. I don't mind if they have side activities but music should always be their first priority. No side activities should take more importance than making music & performing.

Tbh sometimes i see this can be the cause of downfall for some groups where they lost their initial intention when some member of the group become more individualistic & care more about self development instead of growing together as a unit. But the problem become worse if the company is the main instigator that has become greedy for more profit by overly promoting/pushing one member & neglecting the rest. This always cause internal rift & discontent feelings amongst group members.

I really hope BH & BTS will never be like this

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it's really interesting to read this now, as it colors so much of what might've brought about BTS' success. even though bighit is first and foremost a company, bang pd's way of developing trainees & members. i wonder how things would be now if the hallyu ban in china didn't happen, considering bang pd's earlier emphasis.

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This one was coming from 2013.

And now 4 years later. I def can see what he aim for BTS at that time.

I believe as for now, most of his ambitious goals and dreams for BTS before debut is already fullfilled.

And now BTS and Big hit trying to drawn another dream and goal while doing what they doing the best, making music and performing.

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Wow this was such an interesting read! Thank you for this. Even way back, the company, Bang PD, the management/staff and the boys have already established their vision and goals. And though it was a hard road to traverse, they all persevered and went forward because of their passion and love for their craft. Now I have a better understanding (tho surely there's lots more we don't know) of how they operate. There is much more involvement from everyone, even the boys, and not just merely them getting the music and the dance routine and practicing it. That's why you can also feel the pride when their songs are played and when they perform. Because all of them contributed to it. I remember one of the members mentioning that they all sit down to create and discuss their songs, they think about how best to structure it with regards to stage performance etc. Which is truly interesting.

 

I do hope they continue to be focused and to keep having that fiery passion for music. Goodluck to them and may 2018 prove to be an even bigger year!!ilikeitplz.png

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This was insightful. He really knows the music industry well. I think if I hadn't read about 'han' I wouldn't have noticed that part in this interview. And I find it interesting how he said that right now (2013) the only market that had possibilities was China because it was what was possible at the time not that it was the only option. You can really see his vision for his company in this interview.

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