Music Producer Shinsadong Tiger Reveals How Different Companies Allocate Dorms To K-Pop Idols

For K-Pop idols in groups, one of the first things they have to adapt to is staying in dorms. No matter how big or small the group is, they will usually start their careers living together to make it easier to attend schedules and promotions and help the members get closer.

SHINee’s dorm, where all the members shared one bedroom (not mentioned in the video) | Sports Korea

TRI.BE‘s Songsun and songwriter and producer Shinsadong Tiger appeared in a recent video on the AYO YouTube channel. During the video, they discussed all aspects of K-Pop, including why many groups have foreign members, the changes after debuting, and more.

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One fan pointed out that it seems that rookies dorms had improved over the years, and they asked whether there was a reason for this or if it depended on the agency’s size.

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Shinsadong Tiger didn’t refute this claim, adding that girl group Secret used to live in a basement during the early days of their career and that it might have been a deliberate choice. He explained, “Some producers believed that if they let idols live in a good dorm, they get ill-mannered.”

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Songsun then added that she personally didn’t think it depended on the agency’s size, as their record label TR Entertainment was only founded in 2020 and only has TRI.BE as an artist.

For Shinsadong Tiger, he believes that it came down to the mindset of both the idols and the agencies. He also added that it is important to think about the well-being of the idols, especially considering how many now debut at a very young age.

Whether they’re going to use it as a reward or they’re just going to give them a good dorm. In our case, we have a lot of young members, so security was the most important part, and it happened to be that way.

— Shinsadong Tiger

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There is no denying that over the years, the conditions in dorms for rookie idols have improved. Yet, there are still large groups sharing dorms that might not be suitable for the number of people. You can watch the whole video below.