For those that actually wonder about the entertainment business and what it would be like to be in one - welcome to this blog post~

A little about myself - I work for a residential magazine studio that handles with our affiliates in side project management etc., Elle - Vogue - 21 - etc., and being in this field itself - you get a lot of insider opinions about the business itself. I have auditioned in the past myself actually and got into the 2nd round - would of went for the pre-lims but it was apparently going to be in Korea as opposed to where I lived. Parents and such - so it was a dream that ran short~

Do I regret not going? Sometimes I do think to myself that 'what happens if I did go for it?' and sometimes I feel lucky that I didn't because I wouldn't be here on this site today :)

Enough with the intro~ let's get straight to it...

The audition process

It CAN be a long grueling process dependent on which company you go for --- Without saying the big 3 [SM - JYP - YG] would be in the harder end of the spectrum.

My experience: I went for SM and the location for the 1st audition skim was not very appealing - the trend went on for a bit to the point where they decided it's time to upgrade their budget a little bit. Group auditions where you enter a room filled with 3 judges and the --- a camera would be present as it films the audition process --- as for the number of participants in that very room would be 10. The appeal time per person is usually kept short to 30 seconds unless they show interest.

I was told to wait in the lobby for a little bit as I was exiting the building itself which was connected to the OUTSIDE LOL [so after your audition, you just get sent right out of the building]. I waited for a good 1 hour till the same told me to take the letter and to go home since they had more participants than expected. I still had to wait at least 2 weeks for a confirmation e-mail for both the congratulatory and contact information + location of the second round.

The second round was a bit harder since they did cut a good amount and was held elsewhere. There was an actual audience this time which was formulated of the staff and guardians + friends of the participants. The appeal time was MUCH longer and it felt like forever since being nervous was and is always a factor. You have to it up and if you make a mistake - NEVER EVER stop - just continue. The pressure was there for a girl who was 16 years old who broke down crying after her voice cracked in the middle of a ballad. If you are prepared for an audition - you have to take it as a real performance and give it your all. If you do not have that mindset, it's better off to try again when you can hold your own on stage to outshine everyone else.

Why do you think out of so many artists that debut per year, only a few actually make their big break?

The later rounds were held in Korea so I did not attend, but the bunch who auditioned with me told me all about their experiences since I'm a curious social bug. 

From outdoor concerts to letting you use their facilities a bit, they let you have a probationary period as a trainee before sending you home. 

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The industry

Working with models who are aspiring idols, you really get to know how:

1. their company is treating them
2. what it's like
3. the future for themselves

The big misconception that people get from idols and their companies are the:

1. contracts --- there is a consent of a guardian and witness line that needed to be signed off. - Slave contracts might be against many acts found on documents but thing is it was consented for. 
2. the perks --- fanmail - packages - etc., --- sometimes the packages they were supposed to receive never reaches them. Why? They have people verifying before giving. Meaning good or bad, it does not matter. A model who I was working with once told me his manager saw a pair of air jordans in the package addressed to him and kept it for himself without HIS consent. I asked why did he not say anything or address this matter with their higher-ups. He said that he would be out of work in the field. Wow what a-holes.

The giant ego behind companies are the biggest issues that I'd like to point out. Once an artist has hit it big, they would stop at nothing to overwork them and ignore everybody else under their plate.

I will not mention any names due to controversy but I'm sure some of you would figure out who I am talking about.

--- This girl group has been under the entertainment company for a while and only makes a comeback when the company feels like it. The boy group that has been skyrocketing up in fame has a budget that equals those of the veterans in the same company. The MV for another girl group that have recently made a comeback is only 27% of what the boy group got. From mediocre choreography to just a box studio set for filming, yeah no wonder it did not turn out great for the fans and market. A solo artist from the company has moved onto Japan because well... they are about to debut a project group pretty soon. That very solo artist is the one that nurtured the company and the company just BS-ed the hell out of it. 

--- Here's a story from last week actually --- I waited around an hour for the models to arrive for our shoot. The models were not well known at all and they didn't even give us a call. We called their company and their manager for I don't even want to bring up how many times. The manager finally picks up and told us that they would be 20 minutes late. We told them if it's a bad time, we can reschedule and they said no - their schedules are jam packed. 

40 minutes later [I am serious] - they come in and I finally got out of my office and walked to the shoot because it just took way too damn long. Our staff were all ready to go when the next problem arises... THEIR OWN stylists! --- For a photoshoot, clients have their own stylists and concept but their manager was so dead-set on using their own. The models just stood there without talking... useless ... So I told the manager, "We have a CONCEPT shoot today from OUR client. Not just mine, yours as well." --- The manager told me that his models have sensitive skin and can only use a certain product. I replied, "we can use the concealer and whatnot that they use regularly - my head stylist has worked in revlon for 18 years so I'm pretty sure that should suffice right?" This discussion drags for a bit more... so I will just skip it... but you get the point right? The company was on the middle-tier and the models were of meh-status. Why are you making such a big deal Mr. Manager?

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The hours and split off for $

There are no scheduled work hours for an artist and their gang [stylists] unless it's with programs and clients. The amount artists get paid is just awful and ridiculous to the point where you wonder how they survive. The financial status depends on how many clients sign them for CF and shoots + you guessed it sales. It's practically a retail store - the more you garner - the better your $. But even if they make only $1 for that very year because they plain - they won't get the $1 because the company has terms and those terms involve getting a % of how much they make which also includes a BRACKET for how much they SHOULD be netting in.

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Alright people - that's all for now :) see ya next time maybe~ [I did not review or edit this at all so if you notice mistakes here and there alongside parts that you don't know what the heck I'm saying... err yeah LOL]

being lazy and tired after work is my specialty