Idol Groups vs Dance&Vocal Units
Since I just updated the main website with the "What are Basement Boys?" section, I'd like to elaborate a little bit about the topic here on the blog.
To start with, we should travel back to the past a few years. When J-Pop really took off and eventually developed into what it is today.
When talking about J-Pop and especially the "idol" genre, there is no way around Johnny's Entertainment. It is the agency that has shaped generations and the entire industry (both J-Pop and K-Pop btw). Long story short, for a while, JE was all there was and they ruled supreme. But then came LDH, the agency groups such as EXILE and GENERATIONS came from. And with that, two distinct 'genres' started to appear in the J-Pop landscape:
1. "Idols"
2. Dance & Vocal Groups
The type of idols that comes from JE even established itself as a sub-genre but overall, they are what most people associate with male idol groups.
In idol groups, everybody participates in everything. Everybody sings, everybody dances. And if the group has a certain 'special skill', everybody usually participates in that, too (e.g. playing instruments, acrobatics or rollerskating being some well-known examples).
In Dance&Vocal groups, responsibilities are split. Some will sing (and dance) and others will only dance/perform. One might think that the lead vocal is also always the leader of the group but this isn't true. There have been cases where other members were the respective leaders of their group (EXILE being a prime example here really).
Advantages and disadvantages of being in an idol group:
I think the main benefit of being in an idol group is simply the amount of exposure and attention one can get because technically speaking it is spread out more evenly - at least in theory. In idol groups a so called "Center" is decided, the member who is the most popular or who gets pushed to the forefront to get attention the most. This can be more or less extreme depending on the groups and on the fan dynamics. Competition is thus pretty fierce between individual members of the group and becoming the center is always a goal to strive for.
The skill levels can be very different within each group, some people will be good dancers, others will be good singers. These differences will be very visible.
Advantages and disadvantages of being in a dance&vocal group:
Showcasing individual strengths and putting it together in a harmonious way to make a group. In a dance&vocal group nobody has to do something they are no good at (nobody is forced to sing if they cannot sing or do not want to sing, let's face it singing and dancing at the same time is very difficult and not for everybody). It might be harder to compete for attention as a performer vs a vocalist but not impossible, especially since people can focus on honing their skills more and can push for a high standard for their performances.
What is tricky for dance&vocal groups is to have a good balance between the number of vocalists and dancers as blocking and formations and thus overall performances will look odd if the balance is somehow off.
What both kinds of groups share are the overarching 'conceptual' things such as member colours and the existence of different personalities and character types that cater to a different set of members of the audience.
The latter aspect especially has become more and more important as all artists (at least in Asia I feel, less so in the West) are expected to participate in other things that are not part of their 'main activity' such as variety shows on TV or YouTube, acting jobs, etc. For idol groups, it is a good opportunity to establish individuality and create further selling points for oneself. The same goes for dance&vocal groups. The performers have the opportunity to shine but they are also on the same footing as the vocalists here off stage. It evens the playing field. So interestingly, it's a bit of an opposite effect for both kinds of groups and yet it is something they both have in common (does that makes sense?).
I will go more into detail about member colours and characters in another post.
While I like both kinds of groups, I usually find myself leaning more towards dance&vocal groups in the underground world. Funnily enough in the 'mainstream industry' it's the opposite but that might be because of aesthetics and some more history that plays into all of this. Anyway.
One thing I observed personally is that for dance&vocal groups, I more often that not, find myself supporting the entire group instead of individual members. There is a lot more cohesiveness and 'unity' so to speak and it is hard to single any one person out clearly. At least for me. Of course I might like some members more than others but I usually find myself supporting the entire group whenever possible and it can be hard not to do so.
On the other hand, idol units usually make you pick a favourite. And you somehow naturally gravitate towards one, maybe two members who you really like. The ideal situation is of course a single member because of you know penlights and all that. While there are instances where I do like the entire group as well, those are rare. It is a lot easier to rank an idol group for me according to how much I like each individual member.
Interestingly enough, I feel like dance&vocal groups create a whole even though they're all individual members and individual specialists. While in idol groups, they are a unit but it's almost like everybody is on their own. It's a pretty interesting paradox?
To start with, we should travel back to the past a few years. When J-Pop really took off and eventually developed into what it is today.
When talking about J-Pop and especially the "idol" genre, there is no way around Johnny's Entertainment. It is the agency that has shaped generations and the entire industry (both J-Pop and K-Pop btw). Long story short, for a while, JE was all there was and they ruled supreme. But then came LDH, the agency groups such as EXILE and GENERATIONS came from. And with that, two distinct 'genres' started to appear in the J-Pop landscape:
1. "Idols"
2. Dance & Vocal Groups
The type of idols that comes from JE even established itself as a sub-genre but overall, they are what most people associate with male idol groups.
In idol groups, everybody participates in everything. Everybody sings, everybody dances. And if the group has a certain 'special skill', everybody usually participates in that, too (e.g. playing instruments, acrobatics or rollerskating being some well-known examples).
In Dance&Vocal groups, responsibilities are split. Some will sing (and dance) and others will only dance/perform. One might think that the lead vocal is also always the leader of the group but this isn't true. There have been cases where other members were the respective leaders of their group (EXILE being a prime example here really).
Advantages and disadvantages of being in an idol group:
I think the main benefit of being in an idol group is simply the amount of exposure and attention one can get because technically speaking it is spread out more evenly - at least in theory. In idol groups a so called "Center" is decided, the member who is the most popular or who gets pushed to the forefront to get attention the most. This can be more or less extreme depending on the groups and on the fan dynamics. Competition is thus pretty fierce between individual members of the group and becoming the center is always a goal to strive for.
The skill levels can be very different within each group, some people will be good dancers, others will be good singers. These differences will be very visible.
Advantages and disadvantages of being in a dance&vocal group:
Showcasing individual strengths and putting it together in a harmonious way to make a group. In a dance&vocal group nobody has to do something they are no good at (nobody is forced to sing if they cannot sing or do not want to sing, let's face it singing and dancing at the same time is very difficult and not for everybody). It might be harder to compete for attention as a performer vs a vocalist but not impossible, especially since people can focus on honing their skills more and can push for a high standard for their performances.
What is tricky for dance&vocal groups is to have a good balance between the number of vocalists and dancers as blocking and formations and thus overall performances will look odd if the balance is somehow off.
What both kinds of groups share are the overarching 'conceptual' things such as member colours and the existence of different personalities and character types that cater to a different set of members of the audience.
The latter aspect especially has become more and more important as all artists (at least in Asia I feel, less so in the West) are expected to participate in other things that are not part of their 'main activity' such as variety shows on TV or YouTube, acting jobs, etc. For idol groups, it is a good opportunity to establish individuality and create further selling points for oneself. The same goes for dance&vocal groups. The performers have the opportunity to shine but they are also on the same footing as the vocalists here off stage. It evens the playing field. So interestingly, it's a bit of an opposite effect for both kinds of groups and yet it is something they both have in common (does that makes sense?).
I will go more into detail about member colours and characters in another post.
While I like both kinds of groups, I usually find myself leaning more towards dance&vocal groups in the underground world. Funnily enough in the 'mainstream industry' it's the opposite but that might be because of aesthetics and some more history that plays into all of this. Anyway.
One thing I observed personally is that for dance&vocal groups, I more often that not, find myself supporting the entire group instead of individual members. There is a lot more cohesiveness and 'unity' so to speak and it is hard to single any one person out clearly. At least for me. Of course I might like some members more than others but I usually find myself supporting the entire group whenever possible and it can be hard not to do so.
On the other hand, idol units usually make you pick a favourite. And you somehow naturally gravitate towards one, maybe two members who you really like. The ideal situation is of course a single member because of you know penlights and all that. While there are instances where I do like the entire group as well, those are rare. It is a lot easier to rank an idol group for me according to how much I like each individual member.
Interestingly enough, I feel like dance&vocal groups create a whole even though they're all individual members and individual specialists. While in idol groups, they are a unit but it's almost like everybody is on their own. It's a pretty interesting paradox?
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