韓國造星產業化 一條龍"生產線"
At a rented theatre on a Saturday night in Seoul, 20 self-conscious young talents stand awkwardly, some of them in tears, in front of hundreds of cheering friends and relatives.
All have been working towards this moment for years, before passing through preliminary auditions staged by JYP Entertainment, one of South Korea’s biggest music production companies. Then came six weeks of intensive training for this climactic performance, after which only three are handed the bouquets that signify the offer of a training contract.
所有人都爲這一刻努力了多年，他們先是通過JYP Entertainment公司的初選，之後接受了6個星期的密集培訓，而這次表演就是培訓後最終的高潮部分。在表演結束後，只有3人能拿到花束，代表簽訂培訓合同的邀約。JYP是韓國最大的音樂製作公司之一。“I’ve been working so hard for five years, and now I’ve finally made it,” Kim Byung-kwan tells the audience, clutching the flowers and visibly overwhelmed after being named champion of the evening.
“我已經辛苦努力了5年，現在我終於做到了，”Kim Byung-kwan向觀衆們說，手裏緊握着花束，顯然已被成爲當晚冠軍帶來的巨大喜悅壓倒。
The stakes are high for these young hopefuls, who have the opportunity to become superstars not only in South Korea but across Asia, and increasingly beyond. Psy’s 2012 rap hit Gangnam Style — so popular that it recently forced YouTube to recalibrate its counting system for video views — is only one example of the growing clout of South Korean popular music, which hauled in revenues of Won4.4tn ($4.1bn) in 2013, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency.
對這些渴望成功的年輕人來說，獎賞是豐厚的。他們將有機會成爲韓國、乃至整個亞洲的超級明星，甚至越來越有可能在更多地方揚名。樸載相(Psy)2012年的熱門Rap單曲《江南Style》(Gangnam Style)太過流行，以至於YouTube最近不得不爲其重新校準視頻播放次數計數系統。這只是韓國流行音樂日益增長的影響力的一個例子而已。根據韓國文化產業振興院(Korea Creative Content Agency)統計，2013年韓國流行音樂產業共實現4.4萬億韓元（合41億美元）的收入。With its slickly choreographed videos and addictively energetic sound, K-pop commands obsessive followings across Southeast Asia, China and Japan, and has established firm beachheads in Europe, the US and Latin America. Its international success, along with that of the country’s melodramatic soap operas, reflects the glamorous image of a country that has gone from one of Asia’s poorest states to one of its richest in two generations.
韓國流行音樂(K-pop)以舞蹈動作精美的視頻和令人着迷的動感音樂贏得了來自東南亞、中國和日本的大批癡迷的追隨者，並在歐洲、美國和拉美建立了堅固的灘頭陣地。在兩代人的時間裏，韓國從亞洲最貧窮國家之一一躍成爲亞洲最富裕的國家之一。韓國的流行音樂以及情節誇張的肥皂劇在國際上的成功，正展現了這個國家富於魅力的一面。Most of the music profits from what has come to be known as the “Korean wave” are taken by a handful of huge production companies, often named after the initials of their former pop star founders. JYP, for example, was founded by Park Jin-young, a popular singer in 1990s South Korea.
在所謂的“韓流”文化中，大部分音樂方面的盈利都流入了少數大製作公司的囊中。這些公司通常以它們曾經身爲流行歌星的創始人的名字縮寫命名，比如，JYP的創始人樸軫泳(Park Jin-young)就是韓國上世紀90年代的流行歌手。The companies manage every step of the music-making process — recruiting singers as young as their early teens, and grooming and training them before forming groups from the most talented and marketing them around the world.
這些公司控制了音樂製作流程的每一個步驟——在歌手們還在青少年初期的時候就招募他們，對他們進行栽培和訓練，然後挑選最有才能的人成立組合，並推向全世界。A browse through a JYP investor presentation shows how the industry has taken the concept of the manufactured band to a new level. One slide breaks down planned releases for the year ahead: one quarter will bring a single from the as yet unannounced “boy band I”, while the next will herald releases from “girl band” and “boy band II”.
瀏覽一下JYP的一份投資者介紹，就會發現這個行業已經把“打造樂隊”的理念提升到了一個新高度。一張幻燈片分條說明了下一年的發佈計劃：一個季度將推出一個尚未宣佈的“男孩樂隊一”的一首單曲，下一個季度將預告“女孩樂隊”和“男孩樂隊二”的新唱片發佈。The largest production company, SM Entertainment, alone made overseas revenues of about $100m last year, up from $8m in 2008, according to analyst estimates at KDB Daewoo Securities.
根據KDB大宇證券(KDB Daewoo Securities)的分析師估計，僅最大的製作公司SM Entertainment一家，去年就創下了約1億美元的海外收入，而2008年這個數字僅爲800萬美元。It has produced two iterations of one of its most popular boy bands: the six members of EXO-K sing in Korean, while their counterparts in EXO-M perform the same songs in Mandarin for the huge Chinese market.
SM公司爲旗下最火的男孩樂隊之一打造了兩個版本：成員共6人的EXO-K以韓語演唱，而對應的EXO-M的6名成員則瞄準巨大的中國市場，用中文演唱同樣的歌曲。The aspiring performers can be subject to tough training regimes and strict labour contracts, says Stella Kim, an early member of what has become South Korea’s most popular pop group, Girls’ Generation. In the days before a performance, dance and singing training would run from 10am till well after midnight.
金賢京(Stella Kim)說，這些雄心勃勃的藝人可能必須服從嚴格的訓練制度和苛刻的勞動合同。在表演前的日子裏，舞蹈和歌唱訓練會從上午10點持續到午夜以後。金賢京曾是少女時代(Girls' Generation)的早期成員，這個組合後來成爲韓國最當紅的流行樂團。When the time came for Ms Kim to turn professional at SM, her parents baulked at the 13-year contract she was offered in her teens, which would have banned her from working for any other entertainment company during that time and given SM all rights to her name and image, while placing swingeing limits on her share of the band’s earnings. “They said, ‘We can’t sign our daughter up to slavery,’” she recalls.
金賢京即將轉爲SM公司的職業藝人時，當時僅有十幾歲的她接到了一紙爲期13年的合約。這份合約禁止她在合約期間接受任何其他娛樂公司的工作，要求她將有關名字和形象的所有權利移交給SM公司，還將她對樂隊收入的分成壓到低得不能再低的程度。對着這份合約，金賢京的父母猶豫了。金賢京回憶着說：“他們說，‘我們不能讓女兒簽訂奴隸條約’。”Despite changes aimed at boosting artists’ rights, controversy over restrictive contracts continues. In November, the six members of boy band BAP sued its agency over their seven-year “slave contracts”, claiming each member had been paid only Won18m over two years, despite generating about Won10bn in revenue for the company.
儘管已經有一些旨在提高藝人權利的改變，圍繞限制性合同的爭議仍然存在。去年11月，男子樂隊BAP的六名成員因爲一份7年的“奴隸合約”將所屬經紀公司告上法庭，聲稱他們爲公司創造了高達100億韓元的收入，但每個樂隊成員在兩年間的薪資僅爲1800萬韓元。“The whole training process becomes a kind of debt that you owe to the company,” says Mark Russell, author of two books on the industry, K-pop Now and Pop Goes Korea.
“整個培訓過程變成了你欠公司的一種債，”馬克•羅素(Mark Russell)說。他著有兩本關於韓國娛樂業的書，《韓流正當時》(K-pop Now)和《韓流襲來》(Pop Goes Korea)。Meanwhile, one of the country’s most prominent plastic surgeons estimates privately that more than 90 per cent of K-pop hopefuls undergo cosmetic surgery, further claiming that trainees may be obliged to reimburse their agency for the cost if they are not chosen for a professional group.
同時，據韓國最知名的一位整形醫師私下估計，在韓國流行音樂界，超過90%的年輕藝人都接受過整容手術。此外，這位醫師還稱，培訓生如果未被選中進入職業樂團，或許必須向所屬經紀公司償還整容手術的費用。The process of bringing new singers to the market has become ever more systematic, says Kim Hyung-kyu, head of talent at Cube Entertainment, an agency behind some bands with huge followings across Asia, which has started holding shows in Brazil and Europe.
Cube Entertainment的藝人負責人Kim Hyung-kyu說，把新歌手推向市場的流程已經變得越來越系統化。該公司旗下有幾支在亞洲有大批擁躉的樂隊，已經開始在巴西和歐洲舉辦演出。“Companies used to just select artists who were good, improve them a bit, and go to debut. Now we consider the demand first, which market to target, before we start working on the bands.”
“過去音樂公司往往先挑選優秀的藝人，稍微提升一下他們的才藝，然後就出道。現在，在開始組建樂隊前，我們先考慮需求，考慮要瞄準哪個市場。”In a five-strong band, Mr Kim says, one member should be fluent in English, with two Chinese-speakers and two Japanese speakers. One of Cube’s new bands includes a Thai singer, which it expects to help the group crack that country’s lucrative music market. To motivate the trainees, seven hopefuls might be made to compete for five positions in a new band.
他說，在5人樂隊裏，一個成員應該能說流利的英語，兩名成員會說中文，還有兩名會說日語。Cube公司旗下的一支新樂隊裏有一名泰國歌手，該公司希望這有助於樂隊打入泰國利潤豐厚的音樂市場。爲了激勵培訓生，公司可能要求7名年輕人角逐新樂隊的5個位置。“Out of 10,000 people who audition, only 100 will become trainees, and out of 100, only 10 can become a popular singer. And out of those 10, only one will really be a star,” he says.
“在10000個參加選拔的人中，只有100人能成爲培訓生，在這100人中，只有10人能成爲流行歌手。而在這10人中，只有1人能真正成爲明星。”Competition is equally fierce among the agencies themselves, with a steady stream of fledgling companies springing up to challenge established names. Hwang Hyung-chang, a former advertising consultant, set up Chrome Entertainment in 2012 with an idea for a quirky five-piece girl group and just Won10m in the bank.
經紀公司之間的競爭同樣非常激烈，不斷有新公司涌現出來，挑戰老牌公司的地位。當過廣告諮詢師的Hwang Hyung-chang在2012年成立了Chrome Entertainment。當時銀行賬戶裏只有1000萬韓元的他想要打造一支風格古怪的5人女子樂隊。“I did as much as I could by myself — styling, shooting photos, cover designs,” Mr Hwang says in the recording studio of his agency, its name tattooed on his forearm.
“我做了自己力所能及的一切事情——造型、攝影和封面設計，”Hwang Hyung-chang在他的公司裏的一間錄音棚裏說。他的小臂上紋了公司的名字。The resultant band — Crayon Pop — shot to fame in 2013 with its debut single “Bar Bar Bar”, catching attention with their matching crash helmets and dance routine modelled on a piston engine. The band was invited to open concerts for Lady Gaga and Mr Hwang says Crayon Pop’s hit earned Chrome $2m in the year after its release, helping to fund recruitment of several new acts.
他組建了一支叫做Crayon Pop的樂隊。2013年，Crayon Pop以出道單曲“Bar Bar Bar”一炮而紅，MV中的女孩子戴着一樣的安全帽，編舞動作像活塞式發動機一樣，吸引了人們的眼球。該樂隊曾受邀作爲Lady Gaga演唱會的開場嘉賓。Hwang Hyung-chang說，在Crayon Pop出道的那一年，樂隊的成功爲Chrome公司創造了200萬美元的收入，給公司招募新藝人提供了資金。“In this industry, it’s not really about how much you have in the bank,” says Mr Hwang. “It’s about how long you’re able to survive.”
他說：“在這個行業，重要的不是你的銀行賬戶裏有多少錢，而是你能存活多久。”
