What's the problem?

Everything you said is correct, but I don't find a proper link between being "manufactured" and "not be taken seriously", the fact is that besides this kind of groups EVERY SINGLE GROUP is "manufactured" and it's a simply right and normal process
The main problem I find here in the west is that people tend to tag this kind of groups as "childish" or "stupid" because of their visuals or lyrics, which is incredibly sad honestly. Idk about your country, but here in Italy if you don't sing about how sad life is or how bad our country is, it seems like you can't be taken seriously, cause your music is "superficial"

Because the West didn't have its own Akina Nakamori and Seiko Matsuda.

Oh believe me, music snobbery exists in all countries (it also exists in this forum) and it's always annoying

And it's more of a certain stigma around Idol Groups (especially Asian ones) and Disney stars than it is about the actual music or the visuals themselves. People feel it is "intended for kids" or "mindless entertainment" and that's why some people won't even give them a chance. That's also why a lot of Disney stars go hard on the sexual image later on their careers, they want to send the clear message that they're not Disney anymore so the public can take them seriously/give them more attention!

I get your point.
Talking about asian groups in general, I'd say that the fact is that most of people in the west are not familiar with that kind of attention to details, the asian market (especially the japanese and the korean ones) are very refined, the visuals are amazing, the production is always on point and their MVs can't even be compared to most of western MVs because of how good they actually are.
About idols and Disney, I just find extremely sad that you can't sing about something sweet or cute without being labeled as "something for kids", as if you can't be sweet anymore once you grow up. If you want a western example, just look at how some members here react to Carly Rae's music, she's not an idol, but most of her songs are (amazing) happy love songs, and they label her music as "teenage music" simply because of that, I feel so bad for them, it's really like some people do not know how to appreciate positivity

I agree with all of this. A lot of people go around throwing "Good Music" and "Bad Music" around as if music wasn't subjective, and it's kinda sad to be honest. Just because something isn't of your taste it doesn't mean it's "bad" because in the grand scheme of things our individual opinions don't make anything a fact. And your Carly comparison was really spot on. She is not really appreciated by the public because she got encapsulated in the "cheesy" category. Apparently you need to release sad songs or talk about social problems to be "deep" and not "superficial".

I appreciate sad songs too, in fact, i love them. But that doesn't mean happy songs are not as good or are "superficial", they're just different kinds of music with different purposes!

Martina better make some bubblegum pop on her debut album and save the industry tbh. Do we know something about it? Spanish only or also english?

We know a lot actually. She finished recording the album a few days ago:

-She said the album would have Pop, Electronic, a bit of Hip Hop to dance along, Ballads, and that it would include one Pop/Electronic song that is very catchy

-She shot 2 music videos with Philip Andelman (who directed Halo by Beyonce; Whats My Name? by Rihanna; Lips Are Movin by Meghan; Round & Round by Selena)

-It'll be bilingual with at least 4 of the songs being recorded in both languages

-She recorded a ballad written by the songwriters of Miley's "Wrecking Ball"

-"Born To Shine" (apparently the lead single) was written by one of the songwriters of Miley's "The Climb"

-She worked on a song called "Hold On To Me" with one of the writers of Selena's "Same Old Love"

-The album was mostly produced by Dreamlab, who worked on songs like "Hit The Lights" by Selena Gomez.

-The album comes out in late April/early May alongside with the movie "Tini: El gran cambio de Violetta" (Official title in Italian is "Tini: La nuova vita di Violetta")



She'll also be releasing a perfume line, a clothing and accessories line, and is currently in the planning stages of a world tour.

I'm looking forward to it! It sounds exciting
Can't wait for the electropop anthem

I know. I can't wait until the era starts