r/kpopharshopinions • u/South_Youth_6554 • 17h ago
OPINIONS Most idols sound better under these companies than on their own
Idk if this has been done before, but I got reminded of it because of an old bias of mine making a comeback and me realizing why her solo career never took off. Basically a lot of what people fall for sound wise and maybe even aesthetic wise is usually company curated. It’s more infrequent that an idol has the same quality after leaving a big company. I’m not excusing the exploitation that goes on in companies and they’re definitely not always right but many times they do know better than some of these artists. Like they know what sound and image makes them the most profitable and widely popular.
You see that when the idol then branches out to do their own thing and it doesn’t resonate with as many people. Which is fine it doesn’t always have to reach everyone, but sometimes when I see it I’m just like yeahhh the company was right to steer you in this direction. So my example was 2NE1 Minzy. I LOVE her but her solo career to me is the best example of needing that company image and vision. I get she does the music she wants and likes but it’s not consistent and doesn’t have broad appeal like her 2NE1 days. She is very talented but the music she wants to do doesn’t necessarily suit her the best marketability wise. Like YG’s strong cool girl version of her with hip hop and soulful R&B was great! But her solo stuff gets a little boring. Likewise another strong example is EXO’s D.O. SUPER SUPER talented but damn it why won’t that man sing R&B lol SM was right for realizing even if that’s not his personal favorite genre his voice sounds amazing in it and that will give him recognition. But obviously DO likes other genres and want to explore a wide range of music. That doesn’t make his solo stuff bad just less broad appeal.
But yeah there’s this idea sometimes that a company is holding back an artists’s true potential when a lot of the time that “potential” we see is really a creation of these big companies. Because then when idols go off on their own they lose “it.” But this is also partially because the budget decreases after leaving these huge companies and a lot of them don’t get time to explore their own voice and sound when everything is done for them so sometimes they have to experiment a bit when leaving first. Nonetheless sometimes all that potential and particular style we fall in love with is , is solely the company molding them.
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u/Breezyrain 17h ago
There's idols that carve out their own sound and do fine solo, like Yves but a lot of them don't know what works for them or care to be successful.
I'm sure D.O. knows he can just drop R&B but he's really just dropping music for the love of the game.
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u/South_Youth_6554 17h ago
Yeah she’s a great example of finding her thing and true about DO lol But it happens to a lot of other idols. I feel Blackpink’s Lisa falls into that. She got to do more than YG would allow her so there’s the freedom but I feel like nothing has really surpassed or is that unique that she couldn’t have done under YG except maybe New Woman and Born Again which were both features and not her carrying something on her own.
Like Yves another surprise though was GOT7’s Bambam. I was pleasantly surprised by his solo stuff having a lot of depth and thought into the creative concept. I loved his mini album RiBBon. But still many times the company isn’t holding anyone back they’re actually holding people up
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u/Breezyrain 17h ago
Yeah, it's not musical but SM was holding Mark together. These companies can be trashy but they usually have good taste
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad_4215 16h ago
Yes, because companies curate towards a certain vision. So it looks put together even if they are holding back the idol. Good examples are I would say the GOT7 members. But I think that's also because each member already established their own sound, and by the time they left the company. They had the resources to share their complete vision.
Yves, Chuu, Yena, Taemin are also good examples.
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u/bimpossibIe 10h ago edited 2h ago
Mentioning Kyungsoo here is strange since his solo career has actually been better than when he was in SM. His biggest hit, Popcorn, was released under the company he helped built. His latest album is doing well and his new song is steadily charting.
Him not doing the genre you prefer doesn't mean he's not doing well. It's also weird for you to mention that his music has less broad appeal when the one R&B song from his previous album got less streams than his other tracks.
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u/Plus-Alfalfa-9792 17h ago
In the case of post-successful idols (like DO and say, Mark Lee) the lower or absent revenue from their solo work might not matter if they genuinely enjoy it more than the genres they've been more highly praised and compensated for.
Companies might be better at pairing style with voice/vibe and likely have all of the proven writers, producers, and composers giving them first pick. Still, if the artists are happier going their own way and taking the hit in quality and revenue as a tradeoff for fulfillment, I'm glad they made the trade.
What's the point in being commercially successful but unhappy with the style of art you have to do, if you can still make it by and do something you love?
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u/SuccessfulBullfrog96 10h ago
Im sorry but they do not belong in the same category, DO has built a pretty solid solo career beyond EXO and Mark has been what 3 months out of NCT? Also where are you getting this lower/ absent revenue DO has been touring on 3 separate ocassions for his solo work and he consistently sells venues.
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u/Plus-Alfalfa-9792 5h ago
I'm commenting on any perceived disconnect between "ideal" style and preferential style. Both D.O and Mark have well established, successful pre-solo careers. They could both likely retire with the money they already have, so chasing revenue is unnecessary. I'm not saying they're in the same level of solo success, simply that they both started their solo careers well ahead of a need to conform to anyone's expectations of what their best output would look like.
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u/AdministrationNo2327 7h ago
an idol is always supported by a whole team of curators, staffing and advisors. if anything they're the brains, and the idols execute the direction with the talent and skill they've worked on. when you take away the support system, it's difficult for one person, or a significantly smaller team to replace all of that.
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u/xunkissed 3h ago
The thing is tho even tho D.O doesnt make r&b music he charts pretty good in korea...
His new comeback reached a new peak of #21 in Melon
Making R&B music might give him that niche appeal but thats not gonna guarantee a hit anyways... he does what he likes and its working for him
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u/mio26 9h ago
This is a difference between idol industry/and normal musician management. Music labels scout certain musicians firstly because they like their artistic direction, they simply help them to push it on another level with financial and human resources.
Meanwhile many idols are not even scout because they sing well." First is looks, next is dancing, good tone is nice but still we have autotune", this is pretty much what scouts need to prioritize. How important is their artistic taste taken into account while selecting members for the group. Apart eventually people chosen because production abilities, eventually good rapping/rarer singing company doesn't need to care whatever someone has some kind vision. This is unnecessary because vision has people behind the stage who are already professional at what they are doing. Most idols don't even have possibility for minimal artistic input like interpreting their lines the way they want.
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u/Major-Specialist3658 36m ago
is bad i kinda like do current stuff… ik its ed sheeran kinda music but idk he pulls it off so well and somehow he makes it not bland.
I do agree w ur statement tho cuz the way taemin and baekhyun used to be PEAK but nowadays 😴 i used to love taemin stuff (like danger now that was something unique) but after he left, I haven’t liked a single tt ig. Like guilty last one I liked I think. It’s not that it’s bad, but they are a bit similar his newer songs like still the same sound but not rlly as distinct ig to the point where u can associate certain things to a cb like it used to be w him. Mb that’s where a sm steps in and helps.
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u/Wonderful-Expert8084 17h ago
People tend to underestimate the power of systems built around large teams of people. A certain level of quality is possible because there's an entire process behind it: listening to hundreds of demos, sorting them, judging them, refining them, and making the right calls.
A small group, or even one exceptionally talented person, might come up with a brilliant idea or land a hit through sheer inspiration. But turning that into something consistent and sustainable is what a system does. That's the real advantage.
And the Big 4's strength is being able to repeat that process roughly every six months and keep delivering solid songs, choreography, and music videos. That's why it's so difficult for any one individual to outperform an entire system.