Hyolyn says she is broke after establishing her own agency

Jennie broke when?

isn't the issue is that Sistar lack a big fandom?

Yena or eunbi are doing somewhat ok for soloist and they are not even the most popular in I*ZONE

I doubt this will happening to the top groups.

If she lost all the money, how is it not a waste?

Does she mean smth else?

Employees are expensive

Quote from lialve

If she lost all the money, how is it not a waste?

Does she mean smth else?

I think she lost it when she initially established and set up her company, yet she gained it back, albeit slowly. Perhaps it goes towards her staff's salaries, wardrobe, obviously music, and other management expenses, which is why she said it's not a waste.

Quote from lialve

If she lost all the money, how is it not a waste?

Does she mean smth else?

Experience beats money.

it's what it is

Now I understand why Sistar19 is coming back

That's sad. But having an agency is really hard. Especially if your not super popular to begin with, I know Sistar was big but I don't know if Hyolyn had her own big fandom to support her.

Quote from hieuken

isn't the issue is that Sistar lack a big fandom?

Yeah, they basically invented casual fans before that was such a big thing as it is now.

I mean, basically everyone respects and likes Hyolyn, but I think few people go hard for her (streaming like mad, buying albums etc)

That sucks

not really surprised...sistar while popular, didn't really generate that much profit during their active years. She herself doesn't have much brand equity. Her solo stuff didn't chart or sell well. I don't recall her having many, if any, CFs or endorsements. The agency burns through cash every month and it didn't seem like she was bringing much revenue in.

She always had bad vibes anyway

Quote from hieuken

isn't the issue is that Sistar lack a big fandom?

Yena or eunbi are doing somewhat ok for soloist and they are not even the most popular in I*ZONE

I doubt this will happening to the top groups.

They are booked and busy, Yena is outselling 98 percent of Kpop GGs by herself and Eunbi is literally on every bigtime Korean show. I think only poor Chaeyeon is at risk right now, with Yuri being featured on Squid Games 2 next year.

As for Hyolynn, i wonder if she should take a stab at the US market. Her sexy concepts and visuals might be a better fit there, as well as her music.

Fans go crazy on TW sometimes, demanding that the labels "free their faves" and praying for them to go solo. Like bro, be careful what you wish for. 99.9 percent of solo idols never achieve sustained success, hell it's extremely hard just to eke out a living as a Kpop soloist. Especially for female soloists.

How many Kpop soloists besides IU and Taeyeon have sustained many years of success, over a career encompassing at least 10 comebacks?

And people always bring SISTAR members up to prove the point that digitals alone bring lots of money

Quote from Minazuki

And people always bring SISTAR members up to prove the point that digitals alone bring lots of money

Real popularity brings in money. If its faked it doesn't. There is one company notorious for this.

Quote from Minazuki

And people always bring SISTAR members up to prove the point that digitals alone bring lots of money

I mean if IU didn’t have hits she would haven’t been one of the richest Korean singers, plus she actually managed to create her own companies. So again it depends of your level of success.

Quote from Minazuki

And people always bring SISTAR members up to prove the point that digitals alone bring lots of money

TBF they did make BANK. Its just her career didn't pan out as she thought it would so she has been leaking money since disbandment.

I swear Dasom was one of the least popular members (vaguely remember her going on happy together and asking for more variety work since she was the member that didn't find her TV niche so got the least work outside the group) but she still had enough money buy multiple buildings. She bought one 3 years BEFORE disbandment for over 1million USD and another in 2019 for 2.3million USD.

She needed the money

Quote from onwards

TBF they did make BANK. Its just her career didn't pan out as she thought it would so she has been leaking money since disbandment.

I swear Dasom was one of the least popular members (vaguely remember her going on happy together and asking for more variety work since she was the member that didn't find her TV niche so got the least work outside the group) but she still had enough money buy multiple buildings. She bought one 3 years BEFORE disbandment for over 1million USD and another in 2019 for 2.3million USD.

It sounds like a rich bf or sugar daddy situation

Quote from killthisfenty

I mean if IU didn’t have hits she would haven’t been one of the richest Korean singers, plus she actually managed to create her own companies. So again it depends of your level of success.

Well, IU is successful and stabilized in multiple fields, including as a songwriter of her whole discography (that is well-consumed beyond title tracks). That's why I said "digitals alone".

I don't doubt having hits can bring opportunities up to venture in fields where real money comes from, but apparently she couldn't stabilize herself in any of them in the long run. That's why I think It's funny Sistar is the example of all groups, just because they had hits.

Having "only hits" is all smoke and mirrors once the success left.

Quote from Owned_by_Irene

It sounds like a rich bf or sugar daddy situation

Possible but highly unlikely - they were called summer queens for a reason - festivals weren't festivals if it didn't have sistar, the summer didn't start till they dropped their summer song. Second gen was like that, if you were known by the public you'd make huge money on endorsements alone and considering they once beat out 2ne1, girls day and girls generation for GG of the year at Mama, they were huge.

The same year they debuted they had a gig with Kim Yuna (yes that Kim Yuna thats worshipped in SK) for a song for Samsung. Over the years they had buckets of endorsements and Hyolyn especially even had unit work and did the Korean version of let it go for Frozen. Then there were her solo endorsements for budweiser, Nike, Puma, adidas, missha (the same one Sana now endorses), Samsung and lotte. They managed to pay off their trainee debt 9 months in, which means they were making bank from the jump she just didn't plan long term whilst her members did.

Quote from Minazuki

And people always bring SISTAR members up to prove the point that digitals alone bring lots of money

It did bring a lot of money until they disbanded.

Quote from BlackpinkHouse

How many Kpop soloists besides IU and Taeyeon have sustained many years of success, over a career encompassing at least 10 comebacks?

Perhaps Lee Hyori and BoA?

Quote from wsoet

Perhaps Lee Hyori and BoA?

Lee Hyori is massive now, even more successful than when she was an idol. In the last 3 months of this year she got 9 CFs.

Sistar got 9 out of 9 consecutive #1 hits over many years. Only IU and Bang Bang have had more #1 hits.

For a group with so many #1 hits, a consistently very high brand reputation, and so many activities such as varieties, festivals, hosting, acting, events and CFs, Starships marketing expenses must have been extraordinarily high, if she is broke after having a 1 person agency.

Was to be expected. Even while Sistar was still a thing, Hyolin's solos always flopped. So not sure what made her think she could be a successful soloist after leaving the group

Quote from lialve

If she lost all the money, how is it not a waste?

Does she mean smth else?

Invested it in real estate or something so she lacks liquid money but it's in her assets that she bought for her solo career?

Quote from sveznalica

https://www.allkpop.com/articl…stablishing-her-own-label

" On December 28, Hyolyn and her SISTAR19 member Bora featured as guests on TaK Jae Hoon's YouTube series 'No Backwards Jaehoon'. Host Tak Jae Hoon asked Hyolyn if her one-man agency was doing okay after 6 years, and she responded, "It's not okay."

As for whether she can sign a new artist right now, she expressed, "I'm too tired right now, so would it be okay if another person comes in?" When Tak Jae Hoon asked if she lost all the money she saved up, Hyolyn replied honestly, "Yes. It wasn't a waste though."

In related news Hyolyn established her own one-man agency Bridge in November of 2017. She and Bora are set to make a comeback as SISTAR19 in January of 2024. "

And this is why I believe groups should never disband even as they go deep into seniority. Comebacks every dew years are okay so keep it as your backup plan.

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I guess this is why the Snsd girls didn't make individual labels.

They'd rather struggle with the SM bs to invest in them and provide everything including housing (Hyoyeon has mentioned so many times that she still uses the Snsd dorm).

OR sign to smaller labels that respect them enough to help do what they want.