Prince Mak, in the latest episode of his radio show, "The Prince Mak Hour," reportedly became serious and gave a little intuition into the dim side of the K-pop industry. Accordingly, while there are some positive sides of being a K-pop star such as being famous and popular, it is not so rosy altogether. Although the celebrity offered just a little insight into the Korean entertainment industry, it is very serious and can affect many lives of the Korean fan base.
According to KoreaPortal, there have been rumors about slave contracts for quite sometime now. Prince Mak reportedly confirms the existence of such a thing and further said that these contracts could be anywhere between seven to 14 years. And apparently, the contract duration does not include the time that the star is still a trainee.
In addition to being tied up in long-term contracts, K-pop stars do not apparently earn very much. Prince Mak reportedly said that the most common income distribution rates are either 80 percent to the company and 20 percent to the artist or 90 percent and 10 percent to the company and artist, respectively.
For those in K-pop groups, as reported by SBS, this number becomes even lower as the 10 percent or 20 percent will still be split between each group member. K-pop groups also need to pay back all their training expenses incurred by the company, so it can take a quite a while before anyone earns anything. In addition to the minimal pay, Prince Mak accordingly said it is very common to have a 20-hour work day, thus getting a burnout is a very big issue.
Prince Mak reportedly experienced to some degree the dim side of the industry. He also said that he had to endure the difficulties of being a foreign K-pop star. Furthermore, there is apparently great expectation that everyone must be able to adhere to Korea's norms and language if they like to be in the K-pop industry. This is reportedly something that Prince Mak really struggled with.
