MANAGEMENT INFLUENCE
A
ll artists seeking success have a
close bond with the members of
their management team, however,
K-pop as in all areas of its industry takes this
too far and some have criticized their
relationships, regarding them as bordering
perverse. The majority of all potential artists
relocate to Seoul the capital of South Korea
and are re-housed in paid for accommodation with their fellow band members. Due to
their intense 14-hour training days, most of
their time including socialising and even toilet
trips are accompanied by at least one of their
management team. High levels of respect are
given to the management by the often young
and impressionable wannabe idols, they see
them as parental figures and refer to them as
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‘Appa’ meaning father for the male
management members and ‘Umma’ meaning
mother for the female management members.
This is one of the main reasons the K-pop
industry has been heavily criticized with
concerns management become temporary
parents to the youngsters away from home
and are guided and worryingly sometimes
deceived through the promise of stardom into
becoming the moneymaking making idols
worshiped by millions.
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