SM entertainment trainees question?

[kenji]

hi, im planning to audition for SM maybe next year so i need some details about it
1. is a trainee life tough? i heard it's quite tough
2.i'm from Singapore and if i pass my audition and go to korea will i need to come back for my national service when i'm 18?
3. is it true that they beat you?
4. normally how long will i have to train in order to debut?
5. will i get to visits my family?
6. will they pay for everything once i'm a trainee?
7. can i have a facebook,twitter account when i'm a trainee why they scold us?

[Jayue :)]

Hello I am answering this with what i think will be and hence i wont confirm what i said may be true.

1. Trainee life in SM is known to be very tough. In fact if you have to succeed, especially in famous company like SM, you gotta be very very good before they will make you debut. Hence it will definitely be very tough. To be chosen for debut, you gotta work very hard and stand out from the rest from the rookies, hence you must really willing to suffer. Watch SM artistes pre debut videos and you will understand more about it.

2. I'm not very sure about this so i cant answer.. But i think i came across this topic before so perhaps you can go search for it.

3. This is really something that any of us cannot confirm. Personally I don't think they will beat you for no reason if you are behaving well enough, but i believe there will definitely be scoldings if you are not training hard enough or doing well enough.

4. Depending on your standards. There had been rookies who had been training since elementary school and for over 10 years i believed and still not debuted , and yet there are also people who just joined and debuted within a year or two. But in average at least 3 or 4 years i guess.

5. There will be very little meeting time. I heard that there's like less than 5 vacations/breaks in the year so you will be training like almost everyday.

6. Not really in my opinion. They will afford all the basic things but for instance if you are hungry even after eating what were provided you are going to use your own money. I heard that Super Junior cant even afford a hamburger in their trainee days, but im not sure if the situation has improved. Besides that, there is a news that i heard from my friend that even you have passed the audition, if you dont look good enough, they will request you to have surgery first using YOUR own money. If the plastic surgery is successful and they are satisfied, they will return you the money but if it is not, they will not pay for the consequence.

7. Nope. If you noticed, SM artistes do not have these accounts. They will be practising and working all day and finding available remaining time to sleep. Your phones will be confiscated as well and there is no access to internet unless you are already famous, then you can have access to them such as UFO account.

[Rachel]

1.) Yes. The trainees must train hard to be the chosen few to debut. It's going to be difficult both physically and emotionally.

2.) Yes. Since Korea is also a country that has mandatory military service it will be seen as very important. Also, you would still be a citizen of Singapore, not Korea, so you would need to make sure to serve all of your mandatory civic duties.

3.) In the past, maybe, but now, no.

4.) The average is 2 years amongst debuted artists. However, just remember that because you are a trainee does not guarantee a debut. The company can drop you and you can drop out on your own. Also, some trainees train for as little as a month to 7+ years.
In the end, it is solely up to the company to decide you fit their vision for a planned group and debut you with it.

5.) Yes. Trainees get a couple weeks a year off to visit home.

6.) Pretty much everything. The specifics of what they consider as part of your debut will be listed in your contract.

7.) If they are already well-established accounts they won't make you delete them (Baekhyun and Kris both had social media accounts) but you will probably have to go on a social media hiatus or allow staff to have access to your accounts to prevent leaks of their training techniques, etc.
If you are serious about debut, you'll keep a low profile because SM tries to keep its trainees on the DL before debut.

[PerfectioniSM]

1. is a trainee life tough? i heard it's quite tough
It isn't very tough, in all honesty.
Yes, you do have to work hard so that you can become an idol but in total living as a trainee isn't as extreme as you think. It's basically the same as a normal life but with training for about 9 hours a day.

2.i'm from Singapore and if i pass my audition and go to korea will i need to come back for my national service when i'm 18?
Most likely yes. Seeing as Korea makes their men do their service and will ban those who cheat their way out of it (like Steve Yoo). Your country might not go as far as banning you but you will probably have to do it, although it may take up your time for training.

3. is it true that they beat you?
Nope. Not at all. There is no true evidence. There is no reason in beating them, the worst they can do is not sign you up as a trainee. The teachers are all very kind people and the videos and such of managers hitting fans are actual but the reasoning behind it is simply because they are meant to keep the idols safe and also partially because of Korea's culture and respect.

4. normally how long will i have to train in order to debut?
Your trainee contract is around 13-15 years but it may take shorter depending on when they are next debuting a group and on your skill. Some people stop after around 7-10 years because they want to carry on with a studious life. Even if you are very talented, your style might not suit the group so therefore you won't debut. There is a 2-3 year gap between each group that debuts from SM and it is in a girl-boy-girl-boy formation. EXO debuted the start of this year so in 2-3 years a girl group will debut.

@Rachael The company can't drop you because they simply can't, even if they have control of you. YG can kick you out of their company, thought this isn't the case for SM.

5. will i get to visits my family?
Yes you will you have a few weeks break and sometimes they will just send everyone back home if trainee managers allow it or if they need to make space for the idols to practice in for a longer period of time.

6. will they pay for everything once i'm a trainee?
Yes they will pay for your accommodation and food but not things for snacks and such. They will pay for your flight back home as well as your flight back to Korea. No idea where the idea of allowance money came from but it isn't true. They will pay for basically everything once you debut but during your trainee years not everything is on free for you.

7. can i have a facebook,twitter account when i'm a trainee why they scold us?
When you are a trainee, you can have a Twitter but not a Facebook. If you have a YouTube channel then you have to delete all your videos or make them unlisted, any way so that the public can't see them. There is a trainee called Justin and he has a Twitter and right now he is on a break. Some EXO members have Weibo accounts but it is allowed because they can use it as a form of communication to their family and fans, because Twitter and Facebook and such are banned in China.

@Jayue You are wrong. SM artist do have Twitter accounts and your phone is NOT confiscated because that is part of your privacy. On the topic of Twitter I know that BoA, JongHyun from SHINee and Go Ara have Twitter accounts and they are real.