[In-depth Report] More Overworked than Artists! KPOP Managers Work Overtime Without Complaining! 'Extreme Jobs' Content Revealed!

[In-depth Report] More Overworked than Artists! KPOP Managers Work Overtime Without Complaining! 'Extreme Jobs' Content Revealed!

2023-07-22

If we say that artists play the role of showcasing in the entertainment industry, then the agents and staff behind the scenes can be considered the unsung heroes who drive things behind the scenes. Although people often joke, "Being an agent is an extreme job, you have to know everything," being an actual agent is not easy at all.

這裡是廣告, 請繼續往下閱讀
S__31932446.jpgImage Source l tvn_drama

From the MBC observational reality show "Omniscient Interfering View ", you can probably get a sense of the range of duties a talent manager has. However, since the show is broadcasted, not all of the specifics are necessarily revealed.

3D3714E1-EE53-44B8-B653-C53287434AE9.jpgImage Source l tvn_drama

So, what exactly does the role of a celebrity manager encompass? Firstly, let's distinguish based on job position. Although the way of separation might slightly vary from company to company, one could say they are more or less the same. In general, the hierarchy includes positions like field manager, team leader, department head, representative, and so on.

S__31932447.jpgImage Source l tvn_drama

The term commonly referred to as a "road manager" generally means a "field manager," who is responsible for all the schedules of an artist, and even needs to act as a protective measure in crowded situations, protecting the artist like a bodyguard.

S__31932448.jpgImage Source l tvn_drama

Due to the hectic schedule of celebrities, they experience high levels of physical exhaustion. However, those who just entered this industry usually start from the basics and handle complex matters. Only after accumulating at least 5 years of experience, there is a possibility to become a group leader or a room leader.

S__31932444.jpgImage Source l tvn_drama

After becoming a team leader or a manager level, one will begin to manage multiple on-site brokers, responsible for the artist's schedule adjustment, contract negotiation and promotion etc. The representative of the entertainment management company is responsible for the management of the company, setting the direction of the artists' activities. They will also discover new artists and provide financial support.

S__31932454.jpgImage Source l 온라인커뮤니티

What are the requirements to become a manager? Strictly speaking, apart from a driver's license, there is no specific major required to do this job. In fact, whenever entertainment planning companies are short of managers, they would also post job advertisements on job hunting websites, just like any other job hunting. However, some people might get into the industry through introductions and recommendations from acquaintances.

S__31932452.jpgImage Source l 온라인커뮤니티

In addition, depending on the different companies, the demand and regulations for talent agents can greatly vary; some companies even require job seekers to submit documents like criminal records for review of their past. Although academic qualifications are not necessary, many universities or tutoring schools offer related courses for further study, such as Gyeonggi University, East Asia Broadcasting University, Seoul Art Specialist School, and entertainment companies like SM Entertainment and Fantagio also offer courses for talent agent training.

S__30892045.jpgImage Source l 온라인커뮤니티

Due to the nature of a manager's job, which essentially involves constant communication and coordination with people, they face all sorts of people, not just the artist, but also PDs, journalists, and concert planners. If they are too cautious or shy, it can cause a significant amount of stress. Therefore, in order to secure better opportunities for their artists, it's crucial to maintain good interpersonal relationships and possess quick thinking and adaptive reaction skills.

S__30793758.jpgImage Source l SBS

Since it requires being by one's side all the time and expending a lot of effort, what is the average salary? Looking at the starting salary of a typical rookie on-site broker, it's usually around 2 million Korean Won.

658FC814-8105-4BF6-BCA9-617086B89BC4.jpgImage Source l SBS

According to statistics from South Korean job websites, the monthly average income for entertainers and sports agents, including talent managers, is 2.75 million Korean Won. As the types of content and platforms diversify, the importance of agents is becoming increasingly significant.

S__31932450.jpgImage Source l 온라인 커뮤니티

However, the period as a rookie agent can be extremely tough. Not only do they have to invest a lot of physical and mental energy, but their salary is also quite low. As a result, the turnover rate in the industry can be quite high. In fact, while everyone's focusing on the issue of celebrities overworking, agents are stuck in this working state every day. They must work according to the celebrity's schedule, from early in the morning till late at night, even till the wee hours, but they can only explain this due to the "nature of the job".

C84CCC5F-F66F-4BCB-A060-D954CC27A2E5.jpgImage Source l 온라인 커뮤니티

Therefore, Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have previously proposed a consensus on improving the working environment for the protection of labor rights of those engaged in the fields of performing arts management and broadcasting production. In fact, in July last year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor conducted labor supervision on two large-scale performing arts planning companies, revealing 12 violations of labor relations law, including the non-payment of overtime allowances, violations of working hours, and failure to implement sexual harassment prevention education.

S__13197328.jpgImage Source l IVE

Although the government is willing to start cleaning up the film and television brokerage industry, many practitioners are quite optimistic. However, some people believe that "it's natural to actively seek overtime pay for overtime work, but they also fear being marginalized and possibly retaliated against in the future. After all, the circle is so small, so they hope that the government can implement relevant regulations for protection."

0

0

0

0

0

0

留言

Gummy shares her love story with Jo Jung-suk!

Gummy shares her love story with Jo Jung-suk!

STAR

Jo Jung-suk and Gummy, the model couple of the entertainment industry, still display a passionate love for each other after 6 years of marriage, which makes everyone around them envious. Gummy shared her love story with Jo Jung-suk when she appeared on SBS's show "InvitationfromBacheloragains." Gummy shared, "I heard that my brother wasn't ready to be in a relationship at that time, but actually, he often contacted me and would show up whenever I was at an event." Her words prompted the host to joke, "So he met up with you even though he wasn't looking for a relationship, right?" which caused laughter among the audience. The host asked who confessed their feelings first, and Gummy shyly admitted that it was her first time revealing such details on a show. After some thought, she said, "My friends have always been asking me about this too. I should say that I was the one who liked Jung-Suk first." Gummy continued to share: "Anyway, later I told him that I had something important to talk about, and of course he had an idea of what it was about. After confirming our feelings for each other, he was the one who suggested let's date. Actually, his behavior has always had a kind of manly spirit." After listening to Gummy's words that ignited a frenzy of pink bubbles at the venue, everyone's gossip switch was turned on, wanting to know more details. Even the host exclaimed, "It's so heart-fluttering and enviable!" On one hand, Gummy shared some fun stories about parenting with her husband Jo Jung-suk. Gummy said, "If I add vibrato when I'm singing, our daughter starts crying upon hearing it." The host then curiously asked, "Does she cry when her dad sings too? Actor Jo Jung-suk is also very good at singing." Gummy answered, "You'll cry just by listening; Dad sometimes purposely adds vibrato to all the songs," a comment that had everyone present bursting into laughter. After dating for five years, Gummy married Jo Jung-suk in 2018 and they have a daughter together. Though there has been talk of the "November curse" in Korea recently, where many couples are facing breakups or divorce, Jo Jung-suk and Gummy are still deeply in love even after six years of marriage, earning them the praise of being a "model couple."

閱讀更多…

All footage of Seung Han from RIIZE's debut documentary got cut!

All footage of Seung Han from RIIZE's debut documentary got cut!

KPOP

Since before his debut, RIIZE member Seung Han, who is under SM Entertainment, has been constantly embroiled in various controversies. These incidents range from rumors about him renting a hotel room as a minor, leaked photos of him in bed, accusations of cheating, to being seen smoking on the streets. Recently, screenshots from his private live streams have been revealed, including disparaging remarks about TXT's Soobin. Due to various controversies being constantly exposed, Seung Han has repeatedly topped the trending searches because of these issues, causing dissatisfaction not only among fans of other members but also among the group's fans, with some hoping that he would quickly leave the group so as not to harm the other members. Despite previously being criticized that he should leave the group, Seung Han apologized via a post and still debuted with the other members in September. However, as controversies continued to surface, he ultimately issued a handwritten letter on the 22nd, announcing that he would indefinitely suspend his activities. This means that R1SE will proceed as a six-member group. Less than a week after Seung Han announced an indefinite hiatus, RIIZE's official YouTube channel uploaded a new video. It was the 11th episode of the "RISE & REALIZE" series. However, this video left viewers feeling more and more perplexed as they watched it. Moreover, the comments on the YouTube video exceeded 18,000 (as of 9:17 AM, Korea time, on November 28th). The video was even shared by netizens to the forum "the qoo", where one commenter said, "In the 20-minute video, Seung Han didn't appear in a single shot, and because there were so many cuts, there were hardly any scenes featuring all six members together. Even the group greeting looked as if it was edited, with only five members appearing at a time." "Some netizens are greatly perplexed, questioning 'It's not like he's leaving the group, is there a need to go to this extent?' and 'Is he about to leave the group...?' Others noticed, 'His name is not at the beginning or the end...' and 'Cut to look like this, he's probably going to leave the group soon,' while some argue no matter what, 'He's just pausing his activities, to edit the already filmed content in such a way, it's a bit... is he really leaving the group?'" Some netizens expressed understanding, commenting, "They probably edited it like this to protect the artist," "If they hadn't cut out his footage, there would be complaints about not editing it later," "This reminds me of LE SSERAFIM's documentary," "Kudos to the editing team," "The tears of office workers," "SM did well this time."

閱讀更多…

Heize faces criticism for allegedly lacking ethical considerations in her cover of BEAST's song!

Heize faces criticism for allegedly lacking ethical considerations in her cover of BEAST's song!

KPOP

Singer Heize is scheduled to release her 8th mini-album "Last Winter" on the 7th of next month. On the 28th, she uploaded the list of all 8 tracks of the new album on her Instagram, which unexpectedly sparked controversy after its reveal. Examining the tracklist closely, one can see that the lyricist, composer, and arranger are clearly indicated for each song. Out of the 8 songs, Heize participated in writing and composing 5 of them. However, the song that sparked controversy is "Midnight," which Heize arranged. One of the included tracks, "Midnight," is composed by Nonsan Tiger and Choi Kyu-sung, with the original singers being the boy group BEAST (now Highlight). As the song is a cover, this has sparked controversy. After seeing the tracklist, many netizens flocked to Heize's Instagram to comment. They believe that since Heize is singing songs previously performed by active singers, she should at least label them as "cover" or indicate "Midnight (2023)" instead of listing the tracks as if they were her own songs. They expressed that what Heize is doing is equivalent to stealing other people's songs and is lacking in business ethics. However, some netizens have spoken out in rebuttal, arguing that covering the songs of active singers is not illegal and pointing out that since this is an official album release, there surely must have been coordination with the concerned parties. They go directly at those who accuse Heize of lacking business ethics, saying those accusers are the ones without ethics, since a simple look at the songwriting credits would reveal that it's a cover version. The Instagram post and its comments were promptly put up for discussion on the forum "the qoo," which also sparked discussions among netizens. Some of the reactions included, "Although I can understand the fans' feelings, going there to curse someone seems a bit too much," "What's the problem here...? Reading that comment about stealing someone else's song left me speechless; I actually thought it was about plagiarism," and "In the era of capitalism, what's wrong with obtaining copyright through legitimate transactions with powerful people to release an album?" "Aren't these kinds of things originally not labeled??" "My idol also wrote in the album introduction that they covered someone's song, so it's not specifically written on the tracklist. Plus, if they already obtained permission from the original copyright owner, what exactly is the problem?" "What's wrong with covering two songs by the same artist? And when she covered 'On the Rainy Day,' it was a song for a TV drama's OST, so why count that in?" "Why bother labeling covers... It will naturally become known to everyone."

閱讀更多…

aespa's Ningning opens up about having ADHD

aespa's Ningning opens up about having ADHD

STAR

Ningning, the member from girl group aespa, appeared as a guest on BamBam's YouTube show on the 24th. At the beginning of the show, BamBam asked Ningning, "I heard that you just lie in the dorm and scroll through your phone every day?" To which Ningning revealed that she has symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Ning Ning continued to say that if she doesn't play with her phone, she becomes very noisy when alone in her room. She also mentioned that although she enjoys reading and drawing, she has trouble concentrating. Additionally, she expressed feeling overwhelmed due to symptoms of ADHD. After listening, BamBam immediately responded, saying it's very cool and consoled NingNing, "It will make you very diligent, I'm the same," and explained, "Actually, everyone has it, it's just a matter of severity." NingNing replied, "It's my first time hearing someone say having ADHD is cool, that's really positive," and laughed. Additionally, the actor Park So-hyun mentioned during her appearance on MBC's variety show "Radio Star" in August this year that she had been diagnosed by Dr. Oh Eun-young with symptoms of predominantly inattentive ADHD. Moreover, at that time, she was also experiencing severe forgetfulness and memory issues. Park So-hyun expressed in the program that after being diagnosed by Dr. Oh Eun-young, she actually felt more relaxed. She revealed that she's battling her symptoms of forgetfulness by "taking photos." When something good happens, she takes a picture, so that when she looks at the photo later, she'll remember the things that uplifted her mood and forget the painful memories. She also mentioned that she no longer needs to take medication now. In addition, during his appearance in March this year on SBS's variety show "Master in the House," singer Yoon Ji-won mentioned that although he likes playing games, he quickly loses interest and moves onto other games. He also shared that he often goes off-topic when talking with others and even mentioned that he once spent five hours reading a single page of a book. On that day, he was also told that his symptoms might be indicative of adult ADHD. The psychiatrist recommended that he seek professional counseling and suggested that he should practice being patient.

閱讀更多…

K-pop idol Nam Woo-hyun reveals battle with rare cancer

K-pop idol Nam Woo-hyun reveals battle with rare cancer

KPOP

In a recent interview with the Korean media, singer Nam Woo-hyun mentioned the release of his first full-length solo album "WHITREE". As he was not accompanied by the other members of INFINITE for the interview, he appeared slightly uneasy. Nam Woo-hyun mentioned his health condition during an interview, "Actually, I haven't been feeling very well recently," he said, "At the end of April, I underwent a major surgery. At that time, I was under general anesthesia, and the hospital told me that I have a rare cancer, which only occurs in one out of a million people. Although my fans knew that I had surgery, they didn't know it was for cancer. I didn't dare tell everyone because I was afraid they would worry." Due to a sudden surgery, Nam Woo-hyun's condition wasn't very good either. "The surgery took 10 hours, and for 2 months after that I couldn't eat anything. I had to hang a blood bag on my body all day long; that period was really painful for me." Therefore, the SOLO album, which was originally scheduled to be released in May, was postponed in order to allow his body to recover and has only been released now. However, Nam Yoo-hyun managed to turn this crisis into an opportunity. Nam Woo-hyun explained, "Since it was going to be postponed anyway, I thought I might as well include all the songs I wrote and turn it into a full-length album. The fans are the ones who prompted this decision because they have really been waiting for a long time. Although my physical condition is not fully recovered yet, I believe it will be different once I'm on stage (laughs)." Nam Woo-hyun is well-known for his love towards his fans, and during the interview that day, his words were always about his fans, showing his full affection for them. During the interview, Nam Woohyun smiled and said, "Fans have now become like 'family' to me. It's been 13 years since I debuted with INFINITE. Among the fans who come to the fan meetings, there are those who have gone from being students to working professionals, and even fans who have become mothers. Seeing their changes, I feel like I have grown with them. Sometimes, I am moved to tears by this." Netizens were shocked after reading the report. "Oh my God... it's actually cancer... so shocking...", "I thought it was just a minor illness and surgery, but I didn't expect it to be cancer...", "Oh my God... Fortunately, there's improvement now," "When this news was circulating before, I thought it couldn't be true, but it turns out it is QQ," "Is he recovered? I hope he doesn't suffer from any aftereffects," "I hope he definitely recovers."

閱讀更多…

Park Seo-joon's rumored girlfriend Xooos garners attention with her new song!

Park Seo-joon's rumored girlfriend Xooos garners attention with her new song!

KPOP

Due to rumors with actor Park Seo-joon, the influencer xooos, who has been receiving a lot of attention, is about to resume activities as a singer and has also garnered significant attention upon return. Xooos released their new single "Crush!" on the 28th of this month. This marks their return to the music scene with a new track 6 months after the release of their first EP "Made In Heart" in May of this year, solidifying her comeback as a singer. In December of last year, xooos joined the music label "WAVY," established by Korean singer Colde, and debuted as a singer by signing an exclusive contract and releasing an album. Xooos is a YouTuber with over 1.6 million subscribers, who has been continuously covering popular music, among which her cover of Charlie Puth's "Light Switch" has garnered a staggering 30 million views, making him extremely popular online. Her new song "Crush!" also showcases Xooos's uniquely emotive and clear vocal style, leaving a lasting impression. Before, Xooos, known for their activities as a YouTuber, also received a lot of love from fans. However, they attracted even more attention due to dating rumors with actor Park Seo-joon. In June this year, netizens claimed to have spotted Park Seo-joon and Xooos on a date overseas, using couple items, and posted related content continuously, sparking the dating rumors. Regarding this, the management agencies of Park Seo-joon and xooos stated, "It is difficult to confirm since it pertains to private life." However, after rumors of a romance began to spread, Park Seo-joon expressed at a movie press conference, "I feel a great burden about making my private life public; it is a personal matter so it's particularly burdensome to speak about it." He did not officially deny the rumors, leading many to speculate that this might indirectly acknowledge the relationship. In this situation, xooos has also formally commenced their singing career. Although there are no special public events at the moment, with only album releases, xooos's new songs have attracted a lot of attention. xooos, who has gained greater fame through romance rumors, believes that the attention they receive will continue to grow in the future.

閱讀更多…
  • 0
  • 0