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Associated Press

New Apple TV+ documentary series K-Pop Idols offers an intimate look at how the K-pop industry is embracing diversity while grappling with challenges in a field that demands perfection.
The six-part series features Korean-American star Jessi and up-and-coming K-pop groups including Cravity and Blackswan, and documents the highs and lows of their careers.
Korean pop is known for blending vocals with precise choreography.
Blackswan members Fatou and Nvee say they practise up to 10 hours a day, including choreography and vocal sessions ahead of their “comeback” season – which refers to a string of events to promote their latest songs.

The gruelling practice starts early.
Once under contract, K-pop trainees enter a system that includes classes in manners, language, dance and choreography.

As of 2022, there were 752 K-pop trainees under the various entertainment labels, according to a report by the Korea Creative Content Agency, a government body that oversees the promotion of Korean content.
Despite recent resistance against the perennial “dark side of K-pop” narrative, the documentary shows that some industry problems persist.
Former Blackswan member Youngheun says members had a curfew and were not allowed to drink or go on dates. “We even had to report when we were getting our nails done and going to the convenience store in front of our house,” she says in the documentary.

Rigid control extends to diet.
Blackswan member Gabi is seen eating a meal of egg, chicken breast and what resembles sweet potato sticks during her trainee period. “I am dieting because Mr. Yoon [the label’s head] told me I need to lose weight,” she says.
The pressure applies to boy bands, too.
Cravity member Wonjin shares that he was given two weeks to lose weight.. “I would eat like one egg a day [ …] I lost about 7kg [15lbs],” he says in the documentary.
Bradley Cramp, one of the executive producers of the documentary, says such restrictions exist in other competitive industries.
“I honestly don’t know one idol or elite sports athlete or entertainer that doesn’t deal with the issue of diet and self-image and mental health to some degree or another,” he says.
The documentary also touches on K-pop’s new challenge: embracing diversity.
You want to be famous, but yet at the same time, you still want your privacy
Bradley Cramp, executive producer K-Pop Idols, on the balance K-pop stars must strike
Following BTS’ international success, K-pop labels have been actively recruiting foreign talent, which can present challenges.
In the documentary, Yoon Deung-ryong, founder of DR Music, the label that manages Blackswan, struggles to settle internal conflicts among members which later escalate to online clashes between fans.
“If the company says, ‘Don’t fight’, they won’t fight,” he says, referring to traditional K-pop groups. But he cannot control a “multinational group” the same way because of language and cultural differences. There are currently no Korean members in Blackswan.
With K-pop’s global expansion, questions about the essence of K-pop remain.
“In a K-pop group, if there are no Korean members, I feel like it’s just a K-pop cover group, isn’t it?” Youngheun, a Korean former member of Blackswan, says in the documentary.

However, Cravity’s Hyeongjun disagrees. “If foreigners come to Korea and sing in other languages, I am not sure if I can call that K-pop, but since they (Blackswan members) are active in Korea and use Korean, they are K-pop.”
Cramp says social media has impacted K-pop’s ecosystem in various ways, including creating a “symbiotic relationship” between K-pop stars and fans, and forcing stars to live their lives “under a microscope”.
“There’s a desire to be real. But on the other hand, you have to obviously keep certain things kind of out of the public spotlight,” he says. “You want to be famous, but yet at the same time, you still want your privacy and you want to be able to go and have dinner with your friends and have a good time and not be filmed doing it.”
K-Pop Idols is now available on Apple TV+.


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Dating bans, dieting, managing diversity in K-Pop Idols, Apple TV+ music biz docuseries

Jessi in a still from K-Pop Idols. Photo: Apple TV+

South Korea-based American rapper Jessi performs in a still from Apple TV+ docuseries K-Pop Idols. The series examines the challenges facing Korea’s music industry, from its treatment of artists to managing international talent. Photo: Apple TV+

Cravity in a still from K-Pop Idols. Photo: Apple TV+

Members of Blackswan in a still from K-Pop Idols. In the documentary series, former Blackswan member Youngheun says that their record label controlled their lives. Photo: Apple TV+

Blackswan performing in a still from K-Pop Idols. Youngheun, a Korean former member of Blackswan, questions whether a group without any Korean members can still be considered a K-pop group. Photo: Apple TV+

Meet Big Ocean, the first deaf K-pop idol group, and find out how they make music

(From left) Kim Ji-seok, Park Hyun-jin and Lee Chan-yeon of Big Ocean. Photo: Courtesy of Parastar Entertainment

(From left) Kim Ji-seok, Park Hyun-jin and Lee Chan-yeon of Big Ocean. The deaf boy band are breaking new ground as K-pop’s first idol group with hearing loss. Photo: Courtesy of Parastar Entertainment

(From left) Kim Ji-seok, Park Hyun-jin and Lee Chan-yeon of Big Ocean. The three members all have different levels of hearing ability. Photo: Courtesy of Parastar Entertainment

The group’s official YouTube channel has nearly 160,000 subscribers. Photo: Instagram/big_ocean.official

Big Ocean want to create a barrier-free world where people with and without disabilities are viewed equally. Photo: Courtesy of Parastar Entertainment

How K-pop boy band SF9 are keeping things fresh, as new mini-album Fantasy drops

K-pop boy group SF9. Photo: Courtesy of FNC Entertainment

K-pop boy group SF9 dropped their new mini-album Fantasy on August 19. Photo: Courtesy of FNC Entertainment

SF9 debuted in 2016. Photo: Courtesy of FNC Entertainment

SF9 members Hwiyoung (left) and Inseong. Photo: Courtesy of FNC Entertainment

Where are the young people in K-dramas? South Korea’s TV mirrors its ageing population

Romance in the House features Ji Jin-hee (left) and Kim Ji-soo, both in their fifties, as a divorced couple. K-dramas about young people are becoming less common as South Korean society ages and young people abandon traditional media. Photo: courtesy of JTBC

Lifestyle

K-Pop

Bands

 Artists & celebrities

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Music

Artists & celebrities

Featuring Jessi and other industry figures, Apple TV+ docuseries shows how labels control singers and the influx of foreign artists in K-pop


K-Pop Idols, an Apple TV+ docuseries, features Jessi and K-pop groups Cravity and Blackswan and highlights issues from oppressive management to the challenge of foreign artists in the industry.


Apple TV+

South Korea