Got Questions? Ask Away!

[Guest j.adore]

PLEASE READ FIRST POST

Hey guys,

I studied media and broadcasting in college and plan to move back to Korea when my college life is done. I have a couple family members involved in the industry so I got the chance to work at a entertainment company last break. Although I wasn't involved directly with the auditions department, I still learned a great deal about the industry itself and just what goes on in those companies. I know a great deal of people here on Soompi want to make it big in Korea so I'm just offering a little bit of help, if I can be. ^^ If you have any questions, feel free to ask about anything, and I'll try to answer them the best I can. It can be personal or general; whatever you need to ask... ^^

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However-- I will not answer questions about rumors on some specific celebrities (so please don't ask about who's dating who and what not...). I think that's their personal business and I do not want to be the one blabbing their personal lives onto others.

ALSO! Most of my questions have concerned specifically with SM. I have no experience in SM or anyone to ask about SM. I can ask general questions about audition processes but I do not know any email addresses, phone numbers, or SM-specific rules on their auditions!

[chiyo]

awww that's nice of you ^^.

what was the staff you worked with like? in general, was the staff young or more of the older experienced type? what about the paying and the working times? do you feel, you were taken care of well?

i'm going to do traineeship at a singaporan entertainment company this summer, so i'm curious what it's like in other asian countries. i haven't expereinced much about them yet. but right now it feels like all of them are really young and laidback. but who knows what they are like once it gets serious. also the paying seems much less than in europe or the states, but at the same time you get involved into the industry much more than you would when you work at a western company ^^. (which is a good thing).

[Guest j.adore]

The age of the staff was really varied. There was people that have been in the industry for long who were like mid 40s with kids my age, and there was also those who just graduated college and was starting new. But the older people tended to be up in the higher managing positions... Overall, it tended to be pretty uptight although there was laidback moments. The company I worked at is pretty big so there was always something going on. Always people and reporters coming in, going out, etc.

The pay wasn't that great b/c it was technically considered an "internship" but I basically did the same work as everyone else in my department. The working times was usually consistent but if there was something needed to be done, it went late into the night as well. I worked usually from 9 to 6 but it all also depended on what my job was for the day and such... I was just everywhere b/c I was trying to get most out of it so I asked to be here and there and just everywhere... haha.

I feel that I was taken care of well. I feel that I learned a lot just in the short time and people tended to be nice about things if I asked. I think it also all differs by the company, my uncle works at another company and his company is more laidback than the one I worked at.

Good luck at your traineeship!

[Guest thaoyunho]

What do you need to expect from the training that you get if your going to be accepted in a company?

[Guest j.adore]

When companies accept you as a trainee, that means they see the real potential in you. The cost to train one trainee for a year is quite a lot. And I know that companies like SM have a lot of trainees who have long periods of training periods... so it leads people to believe that some companies dont "let" you debut, etc... If companies are willing to spend all that money for so long, then that means they really see the potential in you to make it big. So companies need trainees to debut and make money. When you debut, you don't receieve all of your profit. Your company gets a lot of it because you are in a sense, paying them back for the training you receieved; and companies need to pay for your staff, and what not... So when companies do have a lot of trainees, that means they have the finanical resources to be able to support the big number of trainees and so you shouldn't get discouraged by it...

From the actual training, it really differs by the company and what you are training for. You are expected to go to school everyday; training is after school hours for those who need to go to school. Also, you usually have like an "observational period" as a trainee... which means that the company just looks over at your individual progress, attitude, and such for a designated period of time to see if you really have the potential to make it. So after this period, if the company says no, you could be kicked out of the company... If you were accepted as a trainee to become a singer, well first thing you would start is basic vocal lessons. You may be a fabulous singer to start with, but whatever you need to fix, vocal coaches will help you through it. Depending on the company and the vocal coach, you may get another lesson on singing and another on vocalization. You probably won't get a individual dance coach to begin with, although you may, and you also learn from basics too. For girls, it probably starts with simple waves and maybe some basic popping here and there. Also as a trainee you learn basic acting as well, even if you are a singer. These days, companies also hire a foreign language teacher (usually Chinese, Japanese, or English) for you to learn at least one of the languages. In the beginning of your training days, you are basically just improving and correcting a lot of the skills that you may have, or developing new ones. Also as you are a trainee, if the company wants you to get some work done such as plastic surgery, you talk with the company, decide what's best for you. But most trainees do what the company recommends because most of the time, companies know what they are talking about. Also, if you need to go on a diet, which companies suggest for most trainees, exercising is added to your daily programs. Camera and all the lighting tends to make one look a bit more thicker than in person, so in order to appear skinny on camera, you need to be extra skinnier.

As you move on through your training, you have showcases. All companies differ on how often they have showcases, it may be a monthly, bi-annualy, annually... really depends on the company. These are really important and could be a huge advantage for you if you can stand out among the many trainees. Trainees get super busy when they practice for the showcases because they want to impress... so even after official practice is over, many trainees stay and practice until late into the night. If you shine in one of the showcases for the company board members and trainers, then you could prepare, officially for debut. When you are officially preparing for debut, then you also get busy. You consistently shoot profile pictures, practice singing based on what style you are going to be debut, same thing with dance, and you also get coached and what to do and say when you go on TV. You eventually will get a stylist and manager when you are approaching debut and record your album, get a choreographer, etc.

Much of training period also really depends on how much you put into it. The company and your coaches can designate however much time you should put into practice everyday, but if you put even an hour more every day, you'd stand out and also, your skills would improve that much. Everyone thinks that once you are in the company, it's a finished game but really, it's the beginning. Training is SO much more competitive and fierce than auditions. Trainees may be like close friends but ultimately, they all are battling for the same thing.

Contract usually starts on the first day of debut and the number of years depend on what the company wants. Your first contract is gonna be designed so that it's more advantageous for the company than you. If you rise to the top and everybody wants to have you in their company, then you can eventually manuever the contracts to the way you want it.

My answers are just everywhere so if you need clarifications, just ask me... andd Good luck! I'm not that much of an expert on the singing buisness because I was in a company involved mostly with actors... however these are just about everything I know about training as a singer from the things i've seen and heard.

[Guest fanfre]

^ wow, that answers a whole LOT of questions! esp, because they're from someone who worked with a company like that. thanks for all the info. being a trainee sounds really hard.

[Guest thaoyunho]

Thank you for answering my question! it made a lot clear

[Guest akwafia]

hiya i just wanted to know, i have just finishes my fist year at university doing media and i want to get to work with an entertainment company doing technical stuff and backstage things as work experience or something. how do i go about it? thanks in advance

[Guest j.adore]

If you are looking to do something over the summer, the best thing to do would be to intern or do a part time at one of the broadcasting companies. (SBS, MBC, KBS)

It may be hard to get something there over the summer so there are still a lot of cable networks that could just help you get started and give you something to put on your resume.

Usually, if you call one of the broadcasting stations and ask about jobs or interns, they should be able to help you with what you are looking for.

But to tell you the truth, a LOT of summer jobs and internships are earned through connections... it's really bad but just to be honest, it makes it a whole lot easier to find a job if you know someone (preferably pretty high up) in the industry. But either way, you should still be able to find something. If you are in Korea during fall/winter, that's when they need a lot of people for extra help so that could be in your advantage as well... during Summer a lot of students want to work so there's more competition.

[Guest sugarbaby]

Wow. I think your post helped A LOT of soompi-ers =P

Well, just out of curiousity, how long are these 'observation periods' usually? And I mean like, if they see that you don't progress much, they will kick you out?

Aish, POTENTIAL is such a vague word...

[Wow, I'm like wondering that some of the trainees in different companies are not koreans and they don't literally live in korea. And if they got kicked out accidently and stuff, they will have to go back to their own country and try to find schools and start all over again as a normal ppl XD] Oops, I'm talking rubbish... sorry ><

[Guest giraffenglish]

Hello!!

I was wondering, do you have to sound perfect in an audition/demo, or is there room for give and take?

[chiyo]

The age of the staff was really varied. There was people that have been in the industry for long who were like mid 40s with kids my age, and there was also those who just graduated college and was starting new. But the older people tended to be up in the higher managing positions... Overall, it tended to be pretty uptight although there was laidback moments. The company I worked at is pretty big so there was always something going on. Always people and reporters coming in, going out, etc.

The pay wasn't that great b/c it was technically considered an "internship" but I basically did the same work as everyone else in my department. The working times was usually consistent but if there was something needed to be done, it went late into the night as well. I worked usually from 9 to 6 but it all also depended on what my job was for the day and such... I was just everywhere b/c I was trying to get most out of it so I asked to be here and there and just everywhere... haha.

I feel that I was taken care of well. I feel that I learned a lot just in the short time and people tended to be nice about things if I asked. I think it also all differs by the company, my uncle works at another company and his company is more laidback than the one I worked at.

Good luck at your traineeship!

thanks ... i'm kinda scared to go since this is my first time being away from hom for 6 months ... but i'm so excited!

good to see you worked in a nice working atmosphere. i hope mine will be like this at well.

good luck for your future plans!

[Guest j.adore]

sugarbaby-

At the company I worked, the observational period was a month and a half. I heard SM's was 1 month? but I'm not sure, that's just what I heard. Trainees weren't necessarily kicked out but they could have; it was just like a time period to keep a close watch to see if further training would really help you out. I heard some companies don't have these periods either;; and some companies consider it like a "4th cut." That takes like a month long. They do this b/c training one person costs a lot of money so they want to be 100% sure that training you is going to be worth it.

giraffenglish-

No you don't have to sound perfect. Companies aren't searching for people that sound like Big Mama at the time of audition. They see if with professional help, you could sound better enough to be a singer and make it big. Even current singers that we know of continue to receieve vocal lessons (usually when they are done promoting an album until they record their new album) to get even better. I don't think you can ever sound perfect. But the give or take isn't that roomy for you to have too many problems with your singing. For example, maybe your pitch is great but you could use work on your vibrato. Or if you need to work on your pitch but you have great tone and a great voice! You have to be good but you don't have to be perfect.

[Riri]

Its nice that youre doing this

Hmm, okay - i dont think this question was specifically asked yet

i've seen alot of people ask this question around here and i dont think anyone has received a sure answer yet.

For the trainees that do need to attend school will the company pay the school fees if they transfer a trainee to a particular school, i know of trainees that have had to transfer to K-Kent foreign school and i heard the fees for that school are quite high.

-thankyou ^^

[Guest uh0hitzmissr0se]

i have a question..well its kinda like Riri too..about the school thing..

Let's say u try-out & made it & all..but u live in the states.

How are they gonna transfer you to a korean school [let's say u are not korean nor do u know korean] from your "american" school?

Isn't it gonna be a bit hard if you don't know korean yet you go to school is korea?

[Riri]

i have a question..well its kinda like Riri too..about the school thing..

Let's say u try-out & made it & all..but u live in the states.

How are they gonna transfer you to a korean school [let's say u are not korean nor do u know korean] from your "american" school?

Isn't it gonna be a bit hard if you don't know korean yet you go to school is korea?

j.adore, i hope you dont mind if i put a bit of input into this one? =x

apparently the system is if you do not know Korean and move from a foriegn country you get sent to a foreign based or US based school in Korea like Korea Kent foreign school. SM is known to send its trainees to this school if they are from overseas, artists like Jessica and Tiffany attended this school (Tiffany could not speak fluent korean when she moved) also Jang Riin SM's Chinese artist was sent to this school, her main language was Chinese and she could not speak Korean or English fluently when she moved.

Another artist who was sent here (not under SM) is Lee Ayoomi/Ayumi, I think she was only fluent in Japanese when she moved back to Korea, or her Korean was out of practice.

So in other words i believe you get sent to an international school in Korea

Other trainees who are already from Korea i think stay in their previous school if it not too far away from where they train.

[Guest blah blah blah]

hi.. thx j.adore 4 making this thread..

my question : what is the maximum age for the auditioner at ur company? sorry. if this is a stupid question.. but i just wanna know.. thx!

[Guest C0N5T4NC3]

Hi, about the school thing.. what if you want to stay at your school in the states? Are you allowed to? What about college?

Also, do you know anything about the modeling section? Like.. what do they look for in auditions? What happens if you get accepted? What exactly do they do?

Sorry for so many questions, but thanks in advance.

[Guest fanfre]

since you were in a company involved with actors, what qualities do they usually look for in an acting audition?

and i also have another question about sending in tapes. i don't know if you had any access to that, but what would you recommend to be included in an audition tape?

[Guest j.adore]

Riri-

Companies usually don't pay for the school fees. But I'm willing to bet that if a trainee is from overseas and doesn't have the financial ability to pay for the school, the company would be willing to work something out; especially if that means the trainee would sign with the company. Also, schools that a company sends a lot of their trainees to has special connections with the school so I'm not sure, but companies might be able to do something for a trainee about the fees. They have these special relations b/c sometimes, when trainees start getting busy or are sent overseas or debut, they miss school for extended periods of time (or go to school only for the morning classes). Some schools are strict with the attendance policy so schools that a lot of companies send their trainees to are usually willing to be more understanding about the trainees.

uhohitzmissrose-

Just like what Riri said, you are recommended to attend one of the foreign schools in Korea. For SM it's usually Kent. But that is not the only foreign school in Korea; there are some pretty good ones but at those, you need to test to get it and usually are strict about attendance and grades and such. I don't know much about Kent I heard Kent is designed more specifically for students who used to live overseas so Kent is probably your best option.

blah blah blah-

According to a lot of the company's official regulation/rules for auditions, it's usually late 20's or very early 30s. However, if one's past a certain age, companies won't accept them unless they have a very good reason to. Being young is the trend in Korea entertainment industry. It has always been that way. So being younger is an advantage. Given that training is 2 years, most celebs debuting now are 15, 16. So they started when they were younger. I would say that the average age companies would consider offering you a contract would be 24, 25 b/c with training you would be 26, 27 and that is a very late age to debut. So if you want to audition, then do it ASAP!

CON5T4NC3-

If you seriously want to become a celebrity in Korea then you need to give up going to school here. You need to school in Korea. No they won't allow you to go to school here and train here unless it is an extreme case. But 99% of the time, they are going to want you in Korea. Not only does it take more money for you to train here, they can't monitor you closely. Companies don't hire individual instructors and coaches for each trainee. So if you wanted to train here, they would have to hire your private instructor and they're not going to do that unless they have a very good reason to... although i can't really think of any reason for companies to allow you to train here. College is the same. Contracts for newbies in the industry are usually around 8-10 years. Unless you have risen as a top star, you won't have enough time to be traveling back and fourth from the states to Korea. So if you really are taking this seriously, you need to accept the fact that you will be basically moving to Korea by yourself.

As for modeling, looks are very important. By looks, I don't necessarily mean pretty looking. Height is essential unless you are looking to be a CF model. To be a professional runway model, I would say you should be at least 5'7" and have slim legs, arms, torso, etc. In America, plus size models are able to find work to do but in Korea, like 99% of the models have the body of what we traditionally consider model-like. Although this doesn't mean you have to have a perfect body when you audition, you should be relatively slim. Also, long legs would definetly help you a LOT. So body is one of the definite factor in auditions and so is your face. That doesn't mean the typical korean celebrity pretty face. A lot of runway models have a very unique face, high cheeckbone, small/slim face, tall nose. Posture is important as well. Just watch america's next top model (the auditions part)... When you get accepted, you will go through training as well. This will help you correct your posture, catwalk, posing, etc. You could also be a CF model as well which you would be trained on basic acting, and such.

fanfre-

Well qualities they look for are your acting skills! People who auditions are asked to memorize a script (usually of their choice). Some audition with famous scripts from dramas/movies or some write their own. It's your choice and what's going to help you act better. When you audition, audition like there are camers around you. Scream when you need to, be quiet when you need to. Scripts that help you most are those that show different sides of emotions. For a random example, let's say a girl is all happy going to meet her boyfriend, only to discover when she gets there that he dumps her and she is hearbroken... haha bad example =x but you get my point. In my opinion, acting is best when it is performed in person but if you need to send in the tape, definetly send in everything they ask you to do. They probably will ask you for specific pictures, acting, and maybe even dancing... Good voice, face expressions, acting, and even pronounciation is key in auditions. Don't make your tape too long- you'll bore the judges.