July 25, 2013
What seems like every week, there's news that a new girl group will debut--some sticking out and others managing to blend into the wall. With every rookie group that happens to become irrelevant immediately after debut, it seems like it's because they all manage to follow the same exact paths to flop-dom which was due to them not being any different. Though it's sometimes hard to differentiate and know the right from wrongs when making a girl group, with the Idiot's Guide, it'll be more apparent as to what you what you should and what you shouldn't do when making a girl group.
What you'll need:
•A girl group
Let's get straight to the point:
There's some things that girl groups need to win over the fans
Obviously, this is simply opinionated, however, I don't believe any recent rookie group has actually tried all of these things at once... if they did, who knows? Maybe they could get popularity!
1. No 'bad qurl' concepts, please!
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| She looks like Tiffany and Suzy mixed in one person, tbh. |
2. No 'excessively cutesy' concepts, either!
I believe having a somewhat neutral to maybe even mature ground nowadays will truly be more apparent than the aegyo-zilla concept... maybe something along the concepts of Girls' Generation's 'Into the New World', IU's 'U&I' and basically anything Nine Muses does would suffice. No excessive aegyo like BPPOP and no excessive sexiness like BESTie until you have a decent following already (Girls' Day did, that's why they were able to do Female President). Not to mention, more neutral concepts give more room to explore and try things different later on, so when you actually want to start showing off your aegyo (which I still don't encourage--you're not getting any younger so stop) or actually do want to wear shorts all the way up to your crotch, you can do that.
3. Have large numbers
Of course, it will definitely cost more to train more but most rookie girl groups that stick in the typical four to five member mark and aren't from a big company and simply don't stand out. Groups from smaller entertainments like Nine Muses, LeaderS' (wasn't a real group but it definitely got attention!) and arguably Rania (before they downed their numbers) and Rainbow got at least some bit of buzz because of their large numbers... so do it!
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| I'm definitely not a douche for hitting a girl. |
4. Have pretty members that look naturally pretty (even if they're not)
Have pretty members that look naturally pretty (even if they're not). I cannot stress this enough: looks weigh more than talent for females in the industry. It's harsh, but it's reality so get over it. Groups like Nine Muses are arguably pretty, yet, as revealed in their documentary were seen as ugly to the general public... and whether or not the reason for the opinion was from the obvious nose jobs... or the obvious everything else jobs, either way, it lessened their aesthetic appeal. Having most, if not all, beautiful members (again, harsh, but true) will boost the fan base dramatically and will generate both male and female fans.
I've realized going above and beyond with talent is actually not much of a necessity... because if that was the case, people like SPICA and Ailee would be much more popular than groups like Girls' Generation and 2NE1 (what? unnir iz sho tallent!!!11). Nevertheless, it's nice to have a reason as to why you shouldn't claw your ears and eyes out when listening or watching a performance. Ideally, to have around a third the members who can hold a note, a third who can dance a step, maybe one or two who can do at least one of the already mentioned decently as well as rapping... even if the rapping is shit (looking at you SISTAR's Bora) and the rest being talentless buffoons is a good set-up.
6. Variety till your fingers bleed and you acquire urinary incontinence.
Go on all the variety shows your butt is offered. Contrary to what YG Entertainment made 2NE1 do for the past few years (before they changed), you should definitely go on as many shows as possible. It'll boost your fanbase especially from international fans which keep the Hallyu and K-Pop afloat and people will see your big, bright personality... whether or not it's staged.
7. Last and probably least if judging the song quality companies have been releasing these days...
Release decent songs and music videos will build fan base and attention. For example, when Ladies' Code debuted, many people watched the song and video because of course, others recommended it and said it was a good listen... and it turned out it was. Releasing generic tracks will not help anyone.
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| Judging you, rn. |
Extra Things Probably You'll Need to Know
•The Idiot's Guide is not responsible for group's flopping
•Exercise until your throw up has throw up. Learn languages like English, Japanese and Chinese... one member in the group mastering in the languages per language (don't stick all the languages on one person! You want to build up international fan base for certain people)
•If you flop, there's nothing wrong with being a stripper.
•If you flop, there's nothing wrong with being a stripper.
Honestly having a successfully debut is hard to gage because you really can't expect a new group, especially when there from a small company, to get #1 on the charts and break records. In my opinion a successfully debut is 40% luck 30% company influence, 22% the quality of the song and the last 8% is a bunch of factors like talent etc. the consept itself doesn't mater as long as the group can pull it of apropriately, for example Apinks debut song was cuteness overload yet it was a success. Only a handful of groups debut songs were very successfully. Some of the most popular girlgroups had to work their way from the bottom ( Sistar, Kara, girls day, rainbow, and secret). So honestly in my opinion having a successfully girl debut or debut in general is extremely hard, but Easier when you're from a powerful company.
ReplyDeleteTrue but nowadays, companies are starting to matter even less and less. If companies did really matter now, EXO would be extremely famous alongside B.A.P and NU'EST...
ReplyDeleteI think quality of the song is more with catchiness tbqh being that Crayon Pop is now starting to chart high despite the poor company and such... In addition, groups like Nine Muses are becoming more popular with good songs, too, despite the bad companies. Also, you mentioned Rainbow, but they're not really that popular, tbqh. Even though they've been out for 3 years and are from a really big entertainment company (the home of KARA), they still struggle with popularity and even drop below groups like A-Pink. The only company that truly shows truth in popularity+company would be YG but then again, their most recent artists were already popular before even signing because of the shows K-Pop Star and Superstar K.
Sorry for the meh of my reply, it's damn hot in here... can barely think straight let alone type straight.
You're right, entertainment companies are starting to matter less, however they are still a big factor in a groups succes. Just imagine if EXO was in a small company and they came out with the wolf album. Literally no one would care. The 300,000 copies if the album they sold in SM entertainment wouldn't even pass 2,000 in a small company. Because they would get little exposure and since the general korean public thinks wolf is a Terible song no one would bother to listen to the rest if the album. Not to mention variety show appearances and much much higher MV production. SM made a truck load of money from the exo comeback even though most Koreans didn't like the song. That's the power of a big company. They were able to make succes out of something that really should have been a failure.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Being from a big company increases your odds of success significantly.
ReplyDeleteDebuting early in the K-pop "boom" years also gave some groups a nice head start that kept them ahead of the later rookies.