Frank Kogan

Well, this is where my ignorance of the Korean biz is a big drawback, but is being a trainee the only route to success in Korean pop? And here I'm using "pop" in the sense of "popular," rather than as a specific poppy-sounding subset of popular music that's called "pop." But E.via uses elements of the latter also, quite obviously. The fundamental point I'm making, though, is that even if she's the only potentially popular young woman who's coming up neither as a ballad singer or as a trainee, what sets her apart is that what she's doing is different; rather than her being someone who's doing what the others are doing but merely putting her training and marketing in her own hands rather than waiting on the majors.

She tends to get classified as "rap," and I'm assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that commercial success as a rap solo artist doesn't follow the trainee route. (As opposed to being a rapper in a girl group or boyband.)

Btw, to switch the subject to IU, my impression of IU - and this is an impression I've gotten from you - is that though she's on a major she's also taken her fate into her own hands, maybe even with the encouragement of her label. That is, she's such a broad talent that the label isn't set on locking her into a particular image or style, since they're getting a better payoff by trying a whole lot of the things she wants to try. I'm saying all this in ignorance of the actual situation: I'm just assuming that her live-girl-with-guitar efforts a couple of years ago superseded her actual record releases and videos at that time in establishing who she is and what she's capable of.