Which is a better career path for idols? Variety star vs solo artist vs star actress

  • Which career path is the most optimal success for idols?


    A variety star who does regular weekly shows, appears most often on tv and booked on multiple shows. Maybe its tiring but u appear the most. Think Mijoo or Chuu.


    A solo artist/musician. You have 2 or 3 comebacks a year, have ur rest and work periods. Perform at festivals and music shows. Think Chungha or Sunmi.


    A star actor/actress. Star in dramas, arguably the most respected career. Busiest schedules, often with filming till night times. Often film for 6-8 months straight with no rest. Think Sejeong or Suzy.


    Is it better to have consistent work and appear on tv multiple times a week as a variety star or a musician who promotes here and there, or an actress who have projects once or twice a year?

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  • After thinking about it actor/actress seem to be the best. This is base on longevity and chance of success.

  • Solo act with acting, someone like IU.

  • acting. So long as your show gets decent ratings and you can act decent then you're set. More projects will follow.

  • None of the above


    Least work but more prestigious global brands that earns a lot more money like bp who are ambassador for global brands

  • The acting industry is the most successful but the most dirty as well. Solo artist ftw

  • The most optimal success is doing huge brand endorsements and being set for life after your idol career. There are some estimates Wonyoung for example already has a 10M USD net worth and I'm sure the BP girls are far beyond that.


    After that it's obviously going to be top tier soloist but these can be counted with 1 hand. A top tier soloist will have plenty of acting/variety opportunities available too. The soloist route seems like objectively the hardest route, brutally hard work and low chance of success.


    Between variety and acting I'd imagine variety gigs are easier work, more enjoyable and more frequent. Acting will be retaking the same scenes over and over, brutally long days while filming is ongoing etc. Doubt the pay is that great unless you really make it into the top tier of actors as well.


    Mijoo is having a super good post idol career right now and probably enjoying everything she does but I do wonder how many actually can actually succeed at being a big variety star, seems quite rare. Idols with this kind of success in variety are really few.. basically just Mijoo and Shindong/Heechul.


    Random ending thought: An Yujin could do all 3, talented queen fr

  • You can be a brand ambassador while doing other things at the same time, they're not mutually exclusive. You say Wonyoung earning all that etc, but Suzy was the exact same if not even bigger in her prime. You still have to pick a career at the end of the day, and being an actress is the most optimal. The Kdrama audience is huge globally, even moreso than the Kpop idol sphere, and it's much more respected.

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