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| Chinese girl group Seven Sense practice dance moves during the first session of their six months-long training at Rainbowbridge Agency in Bangbae-dong, Seoul earlier this month. / Courtesy of Rainbowbridge Agency |
Entire training program offered for young singers
By Kim Ji-soo
A seven-member Chinese girl group, Seven Sense, debuted in China in 2011. But they came to Korea to learn more about K-pop on June 10 and then spent nearly two weeks training at the Rainbowbridge Agency in Bangbae-dong, southern Seoul.
The company, founded three years ago, is the first K-pop company set up to incubate young talent. Kim Jin-woo, CEO of the agency is a one-time singer, composer and producer.
"For the first session, we've worked together on learning how to control the voice, delivering a performance on stage and recording skills," said Kim during a telephone interview with The Korea Times.
"The core concept of what we will be doing with Seven Sense is that we will be engaging in an exchange so that the popularity of K-pop won't be short-lived," Kim said.
The seven members of Seven Sense — Qiqi, Xiaobo, Lanlan, Yuanyuan, Huanhuan, Xiaopang and Muzi — are affiliated with Shenzen Black Diamond Music Production.
Rainbowbridge and Black Diamond have agreed to six months of training and exchanges. Seven Sense are now back in China, but they will travel back and forth to undergo more vocal training, have dance lessons, get help with writing and composing and receive consultations. There will also be exchanges on album producing and filming music videos.
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| Korean singer Mario talks with the members of Seven Sense about music at the Rainbowbridge office insouthern Seoul in this file photo. |
The members have also met with Korean music mentors such as singer Mario, and Yeonji of the girl group Seeya.
The Chinese music market is a prime one that musicians all over the world are watching closely. Also, the popularity of talent programs in China — where there are about 15 — means that there will be a demand for K-pop know-how.
Kim and his company already have experience in having helped a four-member Indonesian boy band, "S4," prepare for their debut. The band were the winners of a Korea-Indonesian audition project "Galaxy SuperStar Season I," and they also received ninemonths of training at Rainbowbridge before debuting in Indonesia last October. Hyun-a, a member of the popular K-pop girl group 4minute did the rap for a song on their debut album.
Despite doubters, "hallyu" or the Korean wave remains strong. Kim said he knows a lot of Chinese music industry people are seeking exchanges or know-how about K-pop, "because it's the music of the moment (in Asia)."
Korean musicians have been involved in sharing their music or incubating musicians overseas, but Rainbowbridge is the first company to concentrate on incubation. The reason they can do this is because it has no affiliated artists but a group of talented Korean composers such as Kim Do-hoon, Lee Sang-ho and Choi Gap-won.
Asked if he was nurturing potential competitors to K-pop musicians, Kim said emphatically that the music industry needs more competition. He likened it to taekwondo, and the way its practitioners went to various countries and opened training centers.
"Those who experience K-pop will be able to infuse it with their music and sentiment and give birth to their own style of music. It's the way we embraced pop in the 1980s and 1990s," Kim said. A lot of the current K-pop songs are composed in Europe as well, meaning that music travels from country to country with each creating new styles. "In this way, we can ensure that K-pop's musicality lives on, rather than disappears after some time, and we can also prevent unnecessary ‘anti-hallyu' sentiment," Kim said. Kim saw his firm as cauldron from which to spread K-pop.
"Do you know the firm Kolmar? They develop many of the products that Korean cosmetic firms produce. We're like that for K-pop," said Kim.
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