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This is a good term to adopt "survivor bias" -- can we adapt this to use to talk about #Kpop 
? Well, I suppose we should consider not "Why did BTS succeed?" but also why did dozens of other groups debut in 2013 (or 2014-2019) and already fold? https://www.trevorbragdon.com/blog/when-data-gives-the-wrong-solution?fbclid=IwAR0ypZ-9maY-4N03wi0KEtOj10YbtiEI9Jc1-khCVpqH8fAjHTYQENIaIi0
? Well, I suppose we should consider not "Why did BTS succeed?" but also why did dozens of other groups debut in 2013 (or 2014-2019) and already fold? https://www.trevorbragdon.com/blog/when-data-gives-the-wrong-solution?fbclid=IwAR0ypZ-9maY-4N03wi0KEtOj10YbtiEI9Jc1-khCVpqH8fAjHTYQENIaIi0
Isn't the more important data point not how to make another BTS but how artists can make a living at all? How to allow talented young people to achieve their dreams? Not how to be a superstar, but how to keep going? How not to go into debt and be a 'has-been' or 'one hit wonder'?
So why did those other groups fail? Actually I think this is not too hard to see. There's a bias towards creating the next sensational top artist, instead of creating happy and successful people who are making art that a smaller group of fans can enjoy.
And that-- that greed/hubris/ambition-- is a problem for the industry. It feels like right now K-pop has become sort of "go big or go home." It doesn't have to be. We can get a lot of great music, great shows, out of artists that aren't household names.
So I guess I didn't really want to talk about "survivor bias" -- although I do think it's a great term and I want to use it in the future. I want to ask how we can nurture artists who are not the top. Because if all the air in the room is sucked out by BTS (who absolutely
earned their success, don't misunderstand me), it's not actually very good for the industry at large. Lots of artists, who don't feel so intensely stressed and competitive, who don't feel like they could be discarded at any moment, will bring more creativity and more vibrancy.
One of the areas of highest creativity right now is not new artists, but the most established artists who are super confident and just doing what they want to do-- like #SSAK3 or anything done by long term artists like #Psy or @DrunkenTigerJK -- they're their own boss, just
following their own interests/creative vision.
And I'm glad those established artists have that freedom, and I'm super glad that both Psy and TigerJK have worked hard at supporting other younger artists.
But it's still pretty cut throat among the younger generation of artists
And I'm glad those established artists have that freedom, and I'm super glad that both Psy and TigerJK have worked hard at supporting other younger artists.
But it's still pretty cut throat among the younger generation of artists
and fans feed right into that with their competitive support for their faves.
How can we build a less cut throat/ more freely creative industry, even for young artists?
Okay, I should cook dinner and leave these musings here. I'd love to hear your thoughts, though.
How can we build a less cut throat/ more freely creative industry, even for young artists?
Okay, I should cook dinner and leave these musings here. I'd love to hear your thoughts, though.
Also, just want to point out that there are a lot of amazing artists that aren't within the idol pop sphere who are making really great music, too. But they rarely get noticed beyond Korea, and struggle to survive in the music industry, too.
They, however, expend less on their musical journey (take the budget route) and often work with little support system which makes it hard to succeed, but also keeps costs down. But it's really rare for anyone from outside the idol system to achieve the level of popularity (and
earnings) of successful idols/idol groups, so... they still have a difficult time making their creative vision come alive, just the scale is different. A lot of OST songs can pay a singer around 10,000 USD. If you're an indie artist no one knows, living cheaply, that
money can be spread over several months, whereas an idol artist's expenses are astronomical.
If we evaluate the K-pop (idol) industry based on successes, that looks pretty great. If you're young and good at singing and dancing, you might wonder if you can become an idol. But if we evaluate K-pop based on failures-- we're seeing something much more depressing. What can we
learn if we stop focusing only on BTS and Blackpink and Big Bang and think more broadly?
