With the dispute between YG Entertainment and KBS's "Music Bank" heating up, many have turned to question just how difficult it is for artists to gain even one appearance on Korea's major music shows, and what that appearance actually means under the business table. The Korean music industry currently houses three public broadcast shows on MBC, SBS, and KBS, along with a cable show on Mnet. While some may complain that these are far too many considering the fatigued conditions popular idols are forced to work in, the shows are actually limited in their ability to showcase actual music, as they serve as a bigger purpose in the industry and for their networks. For the hour they air, a maximum of 20 artists are allowed to perform. But even then, they're asked to perform with 'broadcast edited' versions of their songs that are edited down.  Starting in 2008, broadcast companies began asking agencies for edited MRs between two to three minutes in order to make room for more performances in a shorter amount of time. Despite such efforts by broadcast companies to showcase more music, the digital age has brought out the debuts of countless of more artists each day, and it's become virtually impossible for music programs to keep up and make room for the saturated market. One production agency that houses a rookie singer commented, "In order to grab an opportunity to appear on a music program, you have to make a request two months in advance. Even then, your chances of being accepted are slim." The growing number of new artists has put music programs in a favorable position to make certain demands that they otherwise couldn't have before.  Music programs are demanding that artists from influential agencies make an appearance on their variety programs in order to gain entry to their music programs. As variety programs brings in 2x viewer ratings than music programs, the public is led to believe that idols are looking for bigger promotional opportunities by making variety appearances, but such is not the case. For every hit variety program a network has, there's also another one lagging behind. In order to give the lower one an extra push, broadcast companies will demand an appearance from a popular agency for the show, otherwise the artist is not granted an appearance on their music program. One girl group manager made a visit to a broadcast station as his girl group prepared for comeback, and was asked to promise that he'd let them appear on a variety program suffering from poor viewer ratings in exchange for a music program appearance. Despite the recording being expected to take over five hours long, the manager had no option but to say yes in order to secure a position on the music program. Such situations are said to be leading the increasing fatigue and dangerous health conditions amongst idols in the music industry, as their work basically amounts to a three minute long appearance on one music program. In addition to 'the singer's talent and their song' being conditions for requesting an appearance, the condition of 'the broadcast company and their relationship with the agency' has been added, at least according to one music program producer, which demonstrates the power music programs hold in the entertainment industry. Source: My Daily via Naver