PAAATE

What about people who realize how fake kpop is, but still enjoy it for the great music? ;) I think there's a time and place for real artistry (I listen to a lot of black/death/thrash metal, hip hop, punk, jazz, etc) as well as for pop music and its shallowness, as long as you're aware of the shallowness. Good music is good music, right? ;)

EDIT, because I forgot my actual questions, wtf

Are groups always on a diet, or is it just during training and promotions? And if they always are on a diet, is the diet more strict during training/promotions?

I know about dating bans, but honestly... how well do people actually keep them?

Who decides on a group's image and music? Does the label have a "creative director" appointed to a group?

until they degrade women to be the only ones cooking and setting everything up for hours on end.. where men watch tv and drink alcohol, almost not helping at all...

So if I as a progressive, feminist kinda guy helped the women, the men would think I was an idiot? :p Of course, idgaf what they would think, haha, but that's... interesting. In a bad way :( Yay, Confucianism! :p

Oh, and the artistry in American pop is totally a front. There's as little artistry there as in k-pop, difference being, k-pop is open (or at least obvious) about how fake it is. Believe me. As soon as big money's involved, artistry gets thrown out the window, unless you own your own label.

I wish I could find it now, but there's this article written by some guy who was well on his way to become a big hip hop star in the US, the label lured him in with "Oh, we love your talent, you're great" blah blah bullshit. They sure loved his talent. Until all his songs were written by a bunch of suits and their composer lapdogs (you know, like in k-pop), and when he tried to contribute, they didn't really take him seriously. They basically loved his attitude and stage presence, but not his musicianship.

So I guess that's a warning for up-and-coming musicians out there :p And I really, really wish I could find that damn article... It's a way more fascinating read than my super abbreviated version.