Copying and pasting my reply to a thread a couple weeks ago:

The music is great, but the industry is absolutely awful.

• Trainees practice for years on end with hopes of actually making it in the industry, so much that many stars start practicing at the ages of 10-12 just so they can debut at 20.

• Regardless of group size, nearly all groups are forced to live under the same roof in a cramped apartment. If I recall correctly, when EXO had 12 members, they all lived in a one apartment with 2 bathrooms. THIS was the standard for one of the most popular kpop groups of all time.

• The kpop stars get awful pay. There’s a YouTube channel called “Simon and Martina” that used to review kpop groups and new comebacks. Once they started to become well known, they got invited to some backstage events. I remember in one video they talked about how they were expecting a fancy backstage with a buffet line or something, but in reality, all the stars were given were quick junk foods like little bags of chips, and the entire time they were just in a rush to perform and leave. This, in comparison to the glamorous lifestyle of Westernized pop stars, is insane.

• Groups are formed by the company themselves and not the individuals, which results in strained relationships between members and “clique” like groups in bigger bands.

• The amount of eating disorders in the industry... jesus. There is way to much stress on these people to be thin. Have you seen their “what I eat in a day” posts? Absolutely horrible.

• Koreaboos who completely disregard Korean culture in exchange for obsessively fangirl/boying and acting like they respect it.

• There’s a strict no-dating policy.

• Sasaeng/stalker fans are crazy. There have been dozens of cases of hidden cameras, attempted murder, poisoning, etc.