Friday, August 6, 2010

Idol group members get an average of 16s of singing time in a pop song



The korean music scene is moving at light years, with new boy bands and girl bands popping up each second. They come in every size, duos, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 9 members like SNSD, and 13 like Super Junior. The duration of an average pop song is a 3 ½ minutes, so you can imagine in a big group like Super Junior everyone would have to fight over the mic to sing a solo. Even if everyone gets a turn to sing a solo, it wouldn't be for very long.

Some music shows analysed the amount of time each band member gets to sing. Interestingly, results show that each member gets an average of 16 seconds to sing in the average pop song. I can sing in tune for 16 seconds so should I join a girl group? Or start my own?

The song 'OH' by girl band SNSD was put under the microscope and they found that each member gets an average of 9.4 seconds to sing. The leader Taeyeon had the longest singing time of 22 seconds. Seohyun had the shortest time of 5 seconds, she sings the lines 'Hey oppa look at me, just take a look at me' and 'Oppa just listen to me'.

Music critics say it has become more common for band members to only sing a few short lines in a song because they are vocally weak. Even though they lack vocal talent they make up for it with their looks and media savviness.

Music critic, Im Jin Ho expressed, “If they each only have just a few seconds, they will definitely neglect their primary duty as a singer and skim on improving their vocals. Members who don’t sing a lot will also develop a feeling of being ostracized and this will affect the overall performance of the group, shortening the group’s lifespan.”

Another critic, Kim Jak Ga said, “Examples of idol groups not putting in effort with their vocals are increasing by the minute and there’s noticeably less breathing space for the ones who have real talent and vocals to survive now.”

Interesting thought isn't it? Do you think all members of big bands like SNSD, T-ara, Super Junior are all vocally talented individually? Let us know.

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