I think the most important thing trainees are looking for is a chance to be accepted.

I'm sure they all start with auditions at "realistic" companies for them, not necessarily big three but companies with a few established groups, of course a lot of them do audition for really big companies because you never know. And then if they get rejected from all of the ones they had it mind it becomes "anything goes"

There are a lot of stories of trainees being rejected from 30+ companies and at that point no one is picky. I do admire people who keep going even after hardships like that, it really means that you want it no matter what. I couldn't do it personally

I tend to think that they will all try to enter one of the Big 3. If they aren't successful they will look for less known labels and eventually gave up if they aren't accepted as a trainee.

Will they take me?

Anyone that will take them. Almost every idol has failed auditions, some dozens of times. Very few people get offers from 60 agencies like Girl's Day's Yura.

People like Félix who were recruited on the street, people from the agency do it with that mission: to find attractive boys. There are many idols who say they received proposals from other agencies, they refer to this type of recruitment. I remember that Jungkook of BTS was proposed by 7 agencies to be part of their trainees. One of the agencies that have publicly said that they do this is YG ent (in one of the episodes of their survival show, YG treasure box, they show how they recruit boys on the street). Even idols recommend that guys who want to be recruited go to crowded places on special dates: like Valentine's Day, Christmas or New Years. It is when more "hunters of beauty" there are. That if they see a girl who is looking for someone with her eyes, that they always try to make eye contact with her, it is most likely that she is looking for trainees hahaha

Company send lots of people to school, talent show, popular location, they mostly ask for visual to audition for the company, skill can be trained. There are countless way for trainees to join companies, audition is just one of them

The most obvious way is to audition and there's a lot of companies that are opening auditions in a wider scale globally. Some of these companies hold auditions in different countries sometimes but recently online auditions are more typical (for obvious reasons).

Also, a lot of idols are actually scouted/street casted. 10/13 members of seventeen are street casted. And these companies scout talent in different ways. Seungkwan got scouted after his music teacher uploaded his singing video online. Some got scouted after performing in a talent show/school festivals. And some got scouted by chance, like ITZY ryujin who got street casted while attending a GOT7 fansign.

>I know you can get scouted, but do you need an audition even after that?

Yes, and you're not guaranteed to pass the audition. Scouting is sort of like like an invitation to audition.

>I know Seungmin from SKZ was 2nd at an open audition, but what happened to the 1st place trainee?

That trainee sure joined the company, they just didn't debut. Not all trainees are guaranteed to debut after all.

>Also do companies normally have a quota of trainees from diff sources? So they reserve spots for scouted/auditioned from schools trainees?

It's not like companies have a specific limit on how many trainees they can have, of course each has own limits depending on their financial situation, but I don't think there's a specific quota. Trainees don't sign long and strict contracts, they come and leave all the time, it's the constant ebb and flow. I imagine that if company X can afford only 12 trainees, but they just scouted another trainee they really like, they will just kick out some other trainee that impresses them the least. It's a flexible system.

Do you know how many wannabe idol trainees there are in the greater Seoul Area? Thousands. They're happy if anyone takes them.

Because they are desperate to debut. There are at least 10000 aspiring trainees waiting to debut right now.

They have a desire to be an entertainer and are hopeful.

Why do college students go to colleges with bad reputations? Sometimes you just gotta take what you can get.

Some trainees have probably been rejected over 50 times by different companies, at some point in time, you’re just happy if anyone takes you.

SM still has a reputation of how once you debut you basically have secured a certain level of popularity so any aspiring trainee would obviously consider applying. We can’t deny their legacy despite all the shady and negative things we read about the company and their artists.

SM has a track record for successful boy groups despite their shady upper management. Their number of successes dates back to before Anton was even born. They’re home to some of the most iconic boy groups of all time and it’s pretty well-known that SM has good vocal training as well. Each company has their pros and cons, I still see plenty of pros with SM even with everything going on.

well as you can see by the pretty much instant success of RIIZE…why wouldn’t you choose SM? they might fumble the bag a lot and seemingly are always in a state of chaos lol but the general public seems to really care about their groups debut vs. other companies.

all kpop companies are shady, we just know more about sm.

Many aspiring idols also think of joining an agency that has groups/artists that they look up to or admire so that’s also part of the decision, so if someone likes NCT then they’d obviously apply for SM.

you have a very slim chance of succeeding or even making it as a mid tier group. that’s after spending a lot of time to train and forgoing education or turning to part time jobs to feed yourself. a lot of idols/trainees have talked about doing part time jobs.

when your time is up (as in when you’re too “old” to keep trying to make it), and you’re let go, you’re left with nothing to put on your resume to get a regular job. some may think they’re too old (around 24/25 and above) to enter uni, or they don’t have enough funds to, so they don’t. what’s left is more underpaid part time jobs, perhaps for life. and as we know, it’s difficult to make ends meet with part time jobs.

without a degree (especially one from the top 3 universities), it’s very difficult to get hired. so eventually, you’re really almost betting on your life to succeed even if there’s only like a 0.000001% chance of succeeding. it’s really all or nothing.

Every industry has downsides, I can think of one downside specific to the Kpop industry which is the uncertainty of not knowing whether a group/solo artist will become successful long-term. Trainees have to also rely on luck to succeed in the industry.

For idols specifically, I can't imagine having to sign a typical 7 year contract. You're basically devoting your youth to a company, but I can see that the companies are investing a lot of money for their idols to bring in money to recoup their investment and gain profits.

Being an idol isn't for everyone.

You are basically chained to a company a lot of years working on your idol skills to drop a song that might flop and then get all the debt upon yourself because of bad luck or terrible management

• You will always be judged harshly no matter what you do, and no matter how successful you are.
• There is no privacy. People will find out about you, your family, your love interest and use it to their advantage. The harassment is never ending.
• There are a lot of unspoken rules within the industry. Mistreatment and mismanagement will always be a part of it.
• Crazy/inappropriate scheduling causing mental/physical fatigue is so common it's almost industry standard.

Working under shitty companies. Some companies are absolutely horrible and some will take advantage of idols and their dreams. Some companies are very shady too. That’s why it’s always good to do background checks on any company if you plan on auditioning for one. Some companies are crueler than imaginable and some are brutally honest as well. There are some that’ll straight up tell some trainees that they won’t debut or that you’re not talented enough to debut…imagine working your ass off at an company and only for someone within your company to tell you that you’re not worthy of debuting. All of those years of training were all for nothing

I think generally trainees don't know until they are picked for the specific group, especially in big companies and because they usually train for few years so its hard to pinpoint what group they will create. But when they audition Im sure trainees have an idea what kind of music the company makes. When it comes to smaller companies its probably easier to narrow down what type of music a group might do.

There are a few ways groups are created.

One is they already have the right trainees and they will match the music to them so it works as not every trainee suits every style.

Another, concept is already created and the company already has the music and idea in mind and then they will look for trainees who will fit. (In that scenario trainees will know right away what to expect)

Or they just go with the flow, find trainees and give them whatever music they prefer.

But overall I believe trainees learn what music they'll do later in their training period not at the beginning.

Bigger companies like the big 3 can virtually guarantee success and wealth if you debut with them. Since they know that, they can be extremely picky with the trainees they select. Out of hundreds who audition, only 1-2 may be selected.

Many applicants get turned away from major companies and try their luck with smaller companies because they are less picky even if its a lot more risk. Some succeed, far more do not.

IU is a prime example of this. IU was rejected by over 20 companies, including JYPE (JYP swears that he would fire the staff member who rejected iU). Eventually she settled with a company that had never debuted an artist before and it turned out well for her.

IU was rejected by a lot of companies because she wasn't considered pretty and very plain looking at the time. There were many candidates selected over her who were much better looking or even more vocally talented. IU succeeded on merits that you don't see as easily in an audition like songwriting, genuine personality, and perseverance.

The competition to get into a big company is FIERCE fierce. Someone can have good looks and talent but if they don't fit what the company is looking for they probably won't get in. I'm sure a lot of them have actually tried to and didn't pass, so they have to settle for smaller companies before they get even older.

I assume that they are probably the closest companies to where the trainees live, maybe its less expensive, or maybe they even feel like they have a higher chance of debuting under a small company because there arent as many trainees as there would be under say SM or HYBE.

Bigger companies have more competition, your odds of debuting in a smaller company are higher (not guaranteed)

There is also the fact that they may be accepted into multiple companies but the smaller company is offering more freedom or a fairer contract. It’s possible as well that they are guaranteed a debut as the company won’t take on more trainees than they need

I would say the odds are slightly higher this gen than they were during Gen 2, but that is due to the Produce effect. That gave some major standouts from the program who were signed to "no name labels" their big break even without the backing of a major/mid-tier label.

However, it's usually those contestants who at least make the concept evals who tend to be more successful than those who get eliminated earlier.

Also, just because a group comes from a "big label" doesn't mean they are immediately successful out of the gate.

Many Produce participants from mid-tier labels are still struggling, while someone like Chungha (who is technically from a "no name label") is making loads of money.

Hell, Park Jimin from 15& is from JYP and hasn't had success as a solo artist.

Ultimately, it's not just being from a "big label" that makes someone successful (though it helps), it also comes down to so many other factors due to the saturation in the market.

Just as in the west, its about TLC. Timing, a good song, or the right sound at the right time. Company, a good company, even a small one, has to put you in the right place, etc. Luck, some artists are just never going to make it, other that probably shouldn't will because of random luck.

EXID was the perfect TLC. There company was small, but let them go out with a great song, and booked them at the festival where luck would have it some dude would fancam it on post on youtube.

For a lot of them, their groups will fail and they'll go on to work in the industry in other ways, vocal coaches, dance teachers, etc. Just like the west.

There was a Soompi article claiming that each year somewhere along the lines of 200 groups are in "preparation" for debuting, around 40 debut and maybe 1 or 2 of them will be successful. These are shaky numbers from my recollection of an article but seem to get across the point. Which is to say that most groups in Kpop fail. This is especially true of groups from smaller agencies.

Seriously, check out this video showing all the girl group debuts of 2015. While the 53 number soompi comes up with includes subunits, there is still an outrageous number of girl groups debuting in one year. Out of all of them, Twice became the top girl group, Gfriend is a top tier girl group and Oh My Girl is a mid-tier girl group. No other girl group on this list has made a profit yet and most of them have disbanded. Success is very top heavy in entertainment industries and Kpop is no exception.

Edit: Here's the soompi article. The numbers are even worse than I remembered. 300 preparing to debut and 50 actually debuting each year.

Bts, Mamamoo, and Chungha all came from small companies. The likelihood that your group will fail is higher if your from a small company but it is not a death sentence.

A lot of them fade away but some get a glimpse of the spotlight then fail to follow up. It's chance really, no formula for success.

I often see roles filled by ex-colleagues or associates of people high up, clear and obvious nepotism, jobs for the boys and girls, where the successful candidate has little experience or even know-how. The connection seems to trump know-how and experience every time.

Is there anything a candidate outside the networks can do to increase their chances of success?

Just show candidates respect. That's the minimum requirement in your role.

Why all the ghosting as well as lies about how great they think you are just to get TBNT?

Knowing the company name is a must. Otherwise you risk having the candidate being double submitted by 2 different competing 3rd party recruiters.

How about you LEAD with the pay rate or range in the initial email? Or when asks you NOT play stupid games like "how much do you want?" When asked directly what they pay will be.