why is the average debuting age constantly lowering, especially for girls?

Krystal, taemin, like half of wonder girls, that Kara chick who debuted and left the group as a teen lol, NCT Dream had someone too I think.

You’d always have groups that debuted young I think.

its always been a thing, not on the level of someone like classy, but the thing is, big 4 groups are going to make money regardless, and hybe doesnt have the years of training structure like the big 3, so they are resorting too just pumping out groups with minimal training(which hasent been done before on this level), it also is due to them losing so much money with BTS taking a group break, as you can see with the stock dropping like 30%

But is it, though?

i think hybe using fresh trainee' is more dangerous then just the age itself

if someone has trained for a minimum of 1-2 years, then you probably have a good idea if they will beable to hold up to the idol life, but poeple like kazuaha, eunchae, assuming a couple of these girls, might have mental health issues, physical issues, desire to want to do it, and could all lead to shitty results in 1-2 years, and they already had the garam issue

yeah there are other idols that debuted when they were young like krystal, minzy,, sulli etc but it's different when all members are really young, at least they could have waited 2 more years to debut imo idol life isn't easy, I hope it doesn't affect their mental health at such young age.

idk and idc bc I'm not stanning any of them

good luck to the nannies out there tho

I remember that I was seriously upset that Wonyoung(that was 13 for the entirety of PD48) got first place, because debuting at 14 was already too much in my POV, let alone being center.

And now, in 2022, every single new gg have a 14 year old child(or younger) on it. I find it gross. The minimum age for debut should be AT THE VERY LEAST 16

it's weird af. i know that in 2nd gen a lot of gg members were super young but it seemed like 3rd gen was doing much better. and it isn't like they're all doing young cutesy concepts either

maybe they feel like their audiences are young so they're picking younger girls???

Quote from ISaidISaid

like half of wonder girls

More than half in fact. 3 of the 5 members (Sunmi, Sohee, Hyuna) were only 14 at debut.

Idol groups don't usually have long careers. Contract issues, moving to new fields like acting or simply fans trading older idols for newer ones all mean that there is a soft looking for how long idols can maintain success. So the best course of action is to debut young so they can have a long career as possible until they start declining then repeat the process for the next group.

Females especially are affected by this then males as just like anywhere else in world; younger girls are more appreciated than older ones whether that's for movies, TV, modelling or whatever.

It's not just the average consumer, kpop fans are just as guilty if not moreso: any time there's new trainees or a brand new group debuting kpop fans rush to stan them asap even if they're still very young. People literally followed and kept track of SM rookies and JYP gg trainees when they were still underage and no guarantee of even debuting. Just look at the amount of threads and hype Hybe new gg has already got with people already stanning for looks alone. If fans are that fanatic then of course companies will play into that to both to please fans and get as much bang for their buck from their groups

This isn't new though. This has been happening. It just didn't happen as often in 3rd gen.

This isn’t new. Wonder Girls has already been discussed.

The oldest member of NCT Dream was 17 with most members 16 and one as young as 14.

Most of them were also in the SM Rookies predebut group. SM Rookies ranged in age from 10(!!) to 22. Of the 30 rookies introduced only 17 were 18 or older. Only 8 were over 18.

The 11 year old went onto debut in NCT Dream when he was 14.

Jungkook was 15 when he debuted, GOT7’s Bambam was 16.

Taemin and Krystal were 14. Wasn’t Changmin a teenager and members of Twice too? Again, this isn’t a new thing in 4th Gen.

just because it happened in 2nd gen doesn't make it right and it kind of stopped with 3rd generation and somewhat 4th gen gonna repost this lol

debuting at 16/17 it's fine but younger I'm not sure I think when all members are really young I don't know

Quote from Slayurfaves

just because it happened in 2nd gen doesn't make it right and it kind of stopped with 3rd generation and somewhat 4th gen gonna repost this lol

debuting at 16/17 it's fine but younger I'm not sure I think when all members are really young I don't know

Display Spoiler

• average age of 4th generation girl groups:

  
  

  itzy:

  
  

  Lia and yeji- 2000 (22 years old )

  Ryujin and chaeryeong- 2001 (21 years old )

  
  

  Yuna- 2003 (19 years old)

  
  

  Aespa

  
  

  Karina and Giselle 2000 (22 years old)

  Winter 2001 (21 years old)

  Ningning 2002 ( 20 years old)

  
  

  
  

  Everglow

  
  

  
  

  Sihyeon 1999 (23 years old)

  EU 1998 (24 years old)

  Mia 2000 ( 22 years old)

  
  

  Onda 2000 ( 22 years old)

  aisha 2000 ( 22 years old)

  yiren 2000 (22 years old)

  
  

  Kep1er

  
  

  Yujin 1996 ( 26 years old)

  Mashiro 1999 ( 23 years old)

  Xioating 1999 ( 23 years old)

  chaehyun 2002 ( 20 years old)

  dayeon 2003 ( 19 years old)

  hikaru and Bahiyyih 2004 ( 18 years old)

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Lesserafim

  
  

  
  

  Sakura 1998 ( 24 years old)

  chaewon 2000 ( 22 years old)

  Yunjin 2001 ( 21 years old)

  Kazuha 2003 ( 19 years old)

  Eunchae 2006

  
  

  
  

  Ive

  
  

  Gael 2002 ( 20 years old)

  Yujin 2003 ( 19 years old)

  rei, wonyoung, Liz 2004 ( 18 years old)

  leeseo 2007

  
  

  with the exception of leeseo and Eunchae they are all older enough

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

Display More

Yuna debuted at 15. And Yujin and Wonyoung debuted at 14/15, lol. Just for clarification.

Quote from keyboardwarrior7

Yuna debuted at 15. And Yujin and Wonyoung debuted at 14/15, lol. Just for clarification.

she debuted at 16 if she is born in 2003 and I'm not counting izone lol since they disbanded

Quote from Slayurfaves

she debuted at 16 if she is born in 2003 and I'm counting izone lol

She didn't turn 16 until December. ITZY debuted in 2019 in February. Unless you are counting Korean age? Because in that case, those girls could also be 16 in Korean age. Though, they are abolishing that system.

Quote from keyboardwarrior7

She didn't turn 16 until December. ITZY debuted in 2019 in February. Unless you are counting Korean age? Because in that case, those girls could also be 16 in Korean age. Though, they are abolishing that system.

ok but still my point is that she was the only younger member not saying it's much better but at least the other members weren't super young. I understand it does happens in Korea but I feel they should enjoy their youth a bit more before becoming an idol.

Imo, they are debuting too young, they are literally still children and should be allowed to remain that way.

Could this just be a Supply / Demand thing?

There are so many more Kpop Idols nowadays than at any point in History and when you combine that with a population (South Korea) that has actually Shrunk over the last Few Years

Quote from komandos895

now them kids cannot even talk properly because their baby teeth are still falling out

This made me snort

because for females they have (rightly or wrongly) a shelf life and other things they want to do other than being an idol

like after the recent twice contract renewal there are only two girl groups where all the members have renewed with the same company twice and Mamamoo* (*because Wheein only for group activities)

it is so rare for a GG to continue doing group idol activities post a certain age and that means the younger one debuts the more time one has to make something of themselves and earn $$$.

I'm not caught up to this 14 year old from Newjeans but she can debut and have a seven year contract and still be younger than Jisoo and Irene (and some others) when they debuted...that's an entire contracts worth of earning potential

I'm not saying it's right or wrong - it is what it is...

Having actual kids in a group just kinda makes me think that they're annoying and dislike them. I feel like a group with kids in it is just silly and weird. A group really shouldn't be predominantly members younger than 16 it's just gross. I know this trend is going to continue though because it draws attention and nowadays all companies are going to think they need younger members in order to be successful.

Someone mentioned this last time this topic was brought up, but basically, when you think about it, this isn't uncommon for the rest of the world either. It isn't just the Kpop industry.

Justin Bieber debuted at 15

Miley Cyrus 13

Britany Spears 15

Chris Brown 15

Rihanna 15

Selena Gomez 16

Michael Jackson 13

Olivia Rodrigo 16

It's just the nature of the Music industry in general.

I do agree though it's obviously unhealthy for young children, especially with how rigorous the schedules can be, but this isn't something new.

well like you said training periods are being reduced since visuals are being prioritized more, so idols debut earlier

and the market's simply shifted probably because of ageism and younger members and groups being preferred over older ones

we're just getting older

I don't know if you where there at the second generation or you have selective memory or because those second generation idols are now old you think that debuted at an old age let me just give you a small perspective how old the well known groups where when they made their debut:

Girl generation aka SNSD :

Taeyeon 18 ( 19 Korean age )

Seohyun 16 ( 17 Korean age)

Wonder girls :

Sunye 18 ( 19 Korean age )

Hyuna and Sohee both where 15 ( 16 Korean age)

When 2ne1 made their debut Minzy was 15

Apink :

Had Hayeong was 15 when they made their debut in fact Apink made their debut so young that they're closer to the 3 generation idols age range than second generation idols.

F(x): had Kristal was wasn't 15 yet when she made her debut and they had Sulli who was 15

AoA had a 16 year old doing sexy concept.

April : had Jinseol a 13 year old in fact the entire group age range was 15 i think by the time they made their debut

Boa : was 13 when she made her debut

Shinee:

Onew the oldest was 19 ( 20 Korea age)

Taemin 15 ( 16 Korean age)

NCT dream entire concept was them being underage the youngest member Jisung was 14

Overall companies debut idols at young age to capitalize on them as much as they can and if you think these girls never trained or are not trainees mind you Yoona from SNSD joined Sm when she was 6 years old some if these kids join their company at a really young age and Krystal was scouted my Sm when she was 5 years old.

I have to clarify that I'm not supporting idols making their debut young i always was against i will always think that all idols should made their debut at 18 and not below, but unfortunately it's not the case, companies will keep on debuting these idols young because the public seems to like them just take a look at Woonyeong in Izone and then Leeso everyone was raving about her and she was just 14.

As long as loop fans keeps on hyping up these idols companies will always debut them

Quote from dummi

Someone said one time that idol shelf life is getting shorter and so they are getting them younger. I don't know if that makes any sense, and I honestly dont think its a safe environment for young girls, I mean lets address the elephant in the room there are a lot of abusers inside the music industry in general.

People like to say that representation for kids in media is important, but I think that safety and work hour issues for these minors should be addressed and fixed before they partake in being that representation

That's so fucking disturbing

They debut 13 year olds and expect them to retire by 20

And they wonder why idols mental health are rock bottom

Quote from SMsKKSilence

Someone mentioned this last time this topic was brought up, but basically, when you think about it, this isn't uncommon for the rest of the world either. It isn't just the Kpop industry.

Justin Bieber debuted at 15

Miley Cyrus 13

Britany Spears 15

Chris Brown 15

Rihanna 15

Selena Gomez 16

Michael Jackson 13

Olivia Rodrigo 16

It's just the nature of the Music industry in general.

I do agree though it's obviously unhealthy for young children, especially with how rigorous the schedules can be, but this isn't something new.

Display More

Michael Jackson made his debut at age of 5 with the Jackson five he was literally a child some kids are that age still wear diapers

Quote from Lulu_Key

That's so fucking disturbing

They debut 13 year olds and expect them to retire by 20

And they wonder why idols mental health are rock bottom

That's what happened to 2ne1 Minzy but the time she left the group she was 20 years old and she couldn't even carry a solo career because her hype died down , mind you Omg Hyojung who's the same age as her didn't even debut when Minzy chose to leave

Quote from nana18

That's what happened to 2ne1 Minzy but the time she left the group she was 20 years old and she couldn't even carry a solo career because her hype died down , mind you Omg Hyojung who's the same age as her didn't even debut when Minzy chose to leave

Yeah people act like 2nd gen idols who debuted at 14 have not been open about how damaging it was to their mental health.

They keep saying it's fine bc it happened before

People who experienced it say it wasn't FINE

Quote from nana18

Michael Jackson made his debut at age of 5 with the Jackson five he was literally a child some kids are that age still wear diapers

Well oh shit. I just googled and took the first thing I saw. I knew he was a kid but damn.

They know Blackpink has won the older demographics. They are targeting the next generation.

Quote from nana18

Hyuna and Sohee both where 15 ( 16 Korean age)

Wonder Girls debuted in February 2007, and the birthdays of the "maknae line" are shown below, so they were even younger, at 14 years of age.

Sunmi – Born May 2 1992

Hyuna – Born June 6 1992

Sohee – Born June 27 1992

Quote from wsoet

Wonder Girls debuted in February 2007, and the birthdays of the "maknae line" are shown below, so they were even younger, at 14 years of age.

Sunmi – Born May 2 1992

Hyuna – Born June 6 1992

Sohee – Born June 27 1992

So 14 years which proves my point that idols have always being debuting young

Quote from SMsKKSilence

Well oh shit. I just googled and took the first thing I saw. I knew he was a kid but damn.

Yeah the western i industry is bad too they're not afraid to debut literal kids

Society ages, the future of kpop is getting shorter.

is it really getting younger cause it was still in 2nd gen, but in kpop people like young faces so

Some users here sounds like the members forced themselves to work as an idol when this girls auditions for this group. So what if they're young maybe this is their way of enjoying their youth?