K-Pop idol trainer discusses why idols have been getting worse in live singing skills

Video: The fundamental reason why idols can't improve their skills

Source: K-Pop Idol Trainer via YouTube

[+74] We keep letting the industry get lax on one or two skills like this and eventually K-Pop's competitive viability will crumble. I think it's time that companies start looking at the big picture instead of focusing on the smaller crumbs of profits right before their yes. 

[+61] Bang Shi Hyuk's interview with anchorwoman Baek Ji Yeon is basically a realistic view of the industry. 8eight's Im Jung Hee is an amazing singer with great songs but the public didn't buy her stuff... meanwhile, an idol group can sell 100,000 albums like it's nothing. The public has no right blaming companies when they're the ones showing them with their money where the market is. Sure, singing talent is important for a singer, but then why aren't you buying their albums? You don't get to say this or that and criticize companies when you're the one showing your true colors with your dollar.
- [+8] Also, international fans prefer visuals + performance than vocal skill alone. There are already a ton of international singers who have the skill part down, but it's the performance and visual aspect that differentiates K-Pop from every other market. Look at Mamamoo. They have the talent but they're not that popular internationally because the whole appeal of K-Pop is beautiful visuals and difficult choreography. 

[+53] An inability to sing live will severely limit the kinds of songs that idols can be given. They're eventually going to hit a wall with the kind of popularity they'll be able to achieve in European and North American markets. 

[+49] The video summarized: idols don't have time to train.
#1 With a shrinking population, there is a smaller pool of candidates to pull from now, which makes it that much harder to find kids who excel at everything from visuals to singing and dancing.
#2 Training is required to make up for the areas that idols lack but there just isn't enough time (at most, they get three years)
#3 There are other things that idols have to spend time to train for aside from just singing and dancing (foreign language, photoshoot posting, composing, styling, taking selcas and short-form content)
#4 Even if an idol does meet all these criteria, they can still be pulled from the final line-up if they don't fit the team's image (which goes back to the shrinking pool of candidates)

[+46] NMIXX and STAYC can be good at live singing all they want... but reality is, Le Sserafim, New Jeans, and IVE will always be considered the top 3

[+45] I don't think idols who can't sing can be shield-able to me. Sure, they may be "dance" artists, but you have to at least know how to stay on key. It's embarrassing to put out idols who would be wrecked in a local talent show. 

[+28] I think it's just human nature for people to enjoy hating on an untalented group that's #1 than supporting a talented group that's at #2

[+27] People are going to hate whether you're perfect or not. Fans become fans because they see a 'pro' that is in line with what they want in an idol, and they're able to ignore the 'cons' of that idol, whereas people become antis when those 'cons' are bigger than the 'pros' that they see in them. Companies know that every idol is going to have antis no matter what they do so they just go with the one that has the most public appeal. 

[+24] I also think fans are out of line when they say idols are "overworked" when they have a very small window as it is where they are relevant and famous enough to make all their money. 

[+19] I understand not having time to train and improve but I think some of the really terrible idols don't care at all about improving ㅋㅋㅋ
- [+1] They'll fix everything on their face before they fix their vocal skills ㅋ

[+16] I think companies just don't care about criticisms about skills because they just consider you an anti who won't affect their bottom line since obviously they aren't the ones buying albums. There's no reason for companies to listen to criticisms if you're not helping their sales. 

[+16] I don't get this argument about idols not having time to train and improve... the time to improve was before you debuted, not after...

[+15] I think fans nowadays would rather be a fan of an idol who may not sing well but has the visuals and dancing skills to back it up versus someone who does sing well

[+15] Our industry is going to end up like Japan's idol industry soon. No one will be able to sing live, and we'll be left with a ton of idols who can only do aegyo and show off their crappy acting on TV. International fans will realize that there's nothing to see here and move away from Hallyu, which is exactly what happened with Japan. 

[+15] It's just how reality is. It doesn't matter how awesome at singing you are if you're ugly because no one will care. Think of how many talented people there are all over the world, but that's not the kind of star that the public wants. 

[+14] NMIXX is able to sing full live, I heard they sang all their songs live at their American showcase recently

[+13] I caught NMIXX's live video a few days ago and I got goosebumps. I had to go and look up their other videos because I couldn't believe that every single member was main vocalist-tier, even their rap, and I thought I was being scammed. It confuses me to no end how such a group of visuals and talent isn't doing more... or is this just where JYP's limits end?
- [+2] This is what I always want to say ㅜㅜ JYP never does enough for them, always giving them weird songs...
- [+1] So go buy more albums for them..
- [+1] I think it's a combo of bad concepts that don't work with their visuals... they're kind of all over the place

[+11] The average debut age being constantly lowered probably plays a part in this as well... It doesn't matter how long your training period is when you're debuting in junior high, which means your training was only three years max from elementary through junior high...

[+11] I personally don't see a need for a group to have every single member be 'good.' Talent is a spectrum, after all. But it's a problem when they don't even meet a basic level, that they're just completely unstable. That means not only are they not training, they're not even attempting to improve. I understand that idols don't have time to dedicate to training, but that's something companies need to make sure they make time for if they're choosing idols based on star potential alone. 

[+8] But I think the more we let companies get away with ignoring singing skills in their idols, our industry is going to become like the Japanese idol industry, which we often laugh at because they prioritize cuteness over skills... Maybe it's too much to expect idols now to pull off perfect lives with difficult choreography, but I don't think it's too much to at least expect them to be able to sing their own parts while standing still... 

[+8] Companies will never consider singing skills to be important because idols have a bigger chance of making it with their looks and charms than talent. Just because you're talented doesn't mean you're automatically going to be famous. Idols are also limited to a 6-8 year period anyway and it's in the company's best interest to dedicate all their time to getting the idols on shows and tours and getting their money's worth than pulling time to train them in other skills. 

[+6] I still think vocal skills should be a basic requirement to even debut

[+6] I don't really believe the part about how idols don't have time to practice. Most of these idol groups aren't even that popular aside from the ones from the top 4. Music shows barely get 0.5% viewer ratings, and most of their YouTube cams are under 10,000 views. How many of these groups are actually that busy that they don't have time to practice and improve? 

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