How much should kpop idols be paid? (a hypothetical scenario)

  • Let's say you manage a 5-member bg

    After they do 2 comebacks in 2022 with moderate success (250k albums, 1 small CF, few music show wins but no daesangs, no world tour), your agency makes a profit (ie. no more production costs, including trainee debt) of $1 million dollars


    How much of that $1 million should go to the members?

    50 percent ($500, 000 or 100k per member)? 20 percent (40k per member)? 10%?

    Let's pretend they aren't self produced for simplicity's sake


    how much would you set aside for yourself, and for the rest of your staff, and for the next comeback?

    how much should kpop idols be paid?

  • the usual ratio is

    agency gets from 30 to 70%

    which means in the case if group made 1M

    agency can take 700k

    and members will split 300k between themselves

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  • i'm surprised to hear that an agency will take as little as 30% profit and give 70% to the idols

    pretty sure it's the case for all big groups which renew contracts

    because imagine if they would renewing but CEO will say, ok it's same deal you get as rookies

    that will probably already be a deal breaker lol

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  • 20 to 30 percent? The company need to pay the other workers' salary, bills, other expenses and rotate the money for the next cb. So giving the members 50% from 1M profits is not a good decision to sustain the business.

  • im gonna need to see a source for 70% veteran idol cut, that's pretty wild to hear

    asd.webp

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  • If you mean Boy group with BG i would kick them and replace them with a Girl group. If the group is Brave Girls i would give them 80%. If its another random group i would give them 20%-40%. 😂

  • Personally, I would go with a base salary + bonus pay scheme. Scaling and increasing over time.


    As a random example I made up in 2 secs;


    Rookie year - min salary + 10-30% of profit from each activity, sale, endorsement etc split between members. Percentage of profit from solo works is further split 90% between all members and the remaining 10% to the soloist.


    Year 2 - salary increases by 3-15% depending on success, percentage of profit goes up 2-5%, solo work split 85-15%


    Final year of contract - salary has increased each year depending on success, percentage of profit goes up to 60-80% as the artist is usually now bigger than the agency. Success of group determines how high the split it. Solo works now split 50-50 as the individual is less reliant on group.


    Ultimately, all idols under me get a living wage, increases based on success, and by sharing a percentage of profit, the business covers its costs first. Relatively fair as the agency gets more in the beginning when they need to invest, and the artists gets more later when they no longer really need the agency to stay relevant.

  • The thing is the profit distribution is different based on what material profit was made of.


    For CFs and Acting gigs, idols should get most of it. Companies know provide the manager and maybe a fee acting classes. Those type of gigs are usually based on the idol work themselves not the what company puts in. I'd say idols should 80 percent for these gigs.


    For albums, this is where I give company a bigger share. Music videos, photo shoots, planning them, MUA, stylists, all the promotional schedules to be arranged, choreographer, producers, collaborations. All of those things requires the company to actually put in work and put some aside for the next comeback. I'd say company can take 60 or even 70 percent in this case.



    Concerts are peculiar case. Should be judged from case to case. Tours with lots of stops but smaller venues, ofc company has to work alot. But for groups who only do big venues, then it's the idols who are actually attracting the crowd.

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  • this is really nice, i like the built in scaling the most

  • This is totally made up. No one knows the exact profit share of these idols except them, their agency, attorneys and their family (maybe some of their close friends if they're nosy). Besides, not every groups/artists have the same profit ratio just because they're in the same company. Ridiculous.

  • This is totally made up. No one knows the exact profit share of these idols except them, their agency, attorneys and their family (maybe some of their close friends if they're nosy). Besides, not every groups/artists have the same profit ratio just because they're in the same company. Ridiculous.

    yes but so many Idols and experts already confirmed the ratio is from 7:3 to 3:7

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  • It depends on their leverage. Whilst, 1M is a good profit after all the production cost, I still have to consider the operational cost of the company. Since, it seems like a decent rookie group probably between 20%-30%. Then they can modify the % as they get bigger every cb.


    No, but really. This is the standard profit-sharing scheme in Kpop if you signed with them. It gets better once you get bigger and more profitable every cb tho.


    (Not totally on topic)


    When we're talking about contract agreement, the keyword will always be LEVERAGE when it comes to negotiating with anyone. For example, BTS & SVT are both 3rd gen and really successful. But someone with BTS status & leverage could be getting between 70% - 80% in profit share. While SVT could be getting around 60% with their leverage (second renewal). See how it differs.

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