Have You Ever Seen The Rain and Who'll Stop the Rain?

I loved Shin, Hyunjoo’s journal, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain? And Who’ll Stop the Rain?" from Shin, Hyunjoon. "Have You Ever Seen The Rain? And Who'll Stop The Rain?: The Globalizing Project Of Korean Pop (K-Pop)." Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 10.4 (2009): 507-523. Academic Search Premier. Web. 13 Mar. 2012 (preview: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14649370903166150#preview ). I’m a K-pop fan girl and I’ve always wanted to know what really happens in the Korean music industry. I think this journal answered many of the questions I had, even though it was from 2009.

I'm learning more about Korean Pop right now, and in particular what I'm wondering about is: What goes on behind the stars live and what they have to go through before they debut. I was researching this question online, and this academic journal caught my attention because I wanted research something that interested me. Anything associated to K-pop will just grab my attention. The title of this article made me want to read it.

“Star aspirants register at an academy as trainees and take the lessons necessary to be a star. Not only singer-dancer-actor aspirants but also those who want to work for the company can get the relevant education in a classroom located in the entertainment companies’ buildings.

After learning appropriate skills, the chosen few are entitled to become members of idol groups (usually boy-groups or girl- groups). The next stage of hard-training usually begins with cohabitation in a house provided by the company. In this sense, stars are discovered, educated and exploited through seamless control by entertainment companies. The Korean star system is itself a hard working industry, in the literal sense”

The quote I chose here is basically saying that becoming a star in the Korean music industry isn’t something easy to do. There are many stages a trainee must go through before they are qualified to debut. Even the employees that work at the entertainment must go through just as rigorous training as the stars.

I think this is interesting because it makes me wonder what the American music industry is like. Do American bands, groups, and singers have to go through training? I think that when someone has talent, they are scouted by an entertainment company and quickly come out with a single to establish themselves in the music industry. Sometimes bands or groups don’t even have a contract with an entertainment company, work their way to fame.

What I appreciate about this writer's work is that they wrote the truth about the Korean music industry and nothing else but facts.I look forward to seeing what he writes next.