Can someone walk me through how much idols actually get paid?

Soyeon once said they get up to 800k dollars per cb if it performs good.

I think bartkun has the information pertaining to stayc if I'm not mistaken

5 Dollars for each member.

Quote from bartkun

Here is article

https://www.allkpop.com/articl…ion-krw-150000-per-member

WOW, and they haven't had a really big hit since Teddy Bear. Impressive. If they're getting paid that much per member after paying off the staff and whatever other expenses the company occurred, imagine how much other bigger groups are getting paid.

Quote from Varenka

You can probably get a good idea just by looking at donations.

ITZY and (G)I-DLE should be getting paid a handsome several hundred thousand (higher end) USD to a low million USD. ITZY and (G)I-DLE members should have millions or at least made millions. This is just standard for this big 3+HYBE and other super successful groups.

Solid high tiers should be able to make low hundreds of thousands. Mid tiers maybe high tens of thousand to low hundreds.

This isn't just music income but things like sponsors, ads, assuming they regularly get work etc.

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+ songwriting royalties, fees if their songs are used on TV, and if they're really smart, Publishing rights.

Oh I forgot that I had a thread about SM artists payments in 2023, lol😅

It shows how much each idol got and how much share does SM gets

Post

How much SM paid their artists in 2023?

I don’t know if the source is legitimate, but I’m sharing it there!
forum.allkpop.com/suite/attachment/295428/
Image below is a translation(relatively good translation)
Where it says 1b won per person it refers to Riize
forum.allkpop.com/suite/attachment/295429/

This is the original post
instagram.com/p/C_4s75PynjE/?igsh=MWFoemU1ZjExYzNwcg==

What are your thoughts about this?

Taemin-Identity

Sep 18th 2024

They get a share of revenue, after deducting all expenses, any outstanding debt etc..

A typical idol only performs, so will not get royalties etc.

Typically even if successful, their debts means they will get little nothing in the first 3-4 years after debut.

Only in the last years of a typical 7 year contract, the agency will try to sweeten them up for the renewal.

It is pretty much post the renewal they start earning decent bucks, provided they still sell well.

Guestimate:

Agency will take at least 50%

Then costs/debts will be another 25%

I would say 25% of the profits shared by the members might be decent.

That's from music. Of course CF and other stuff will vary.

The average idol is paid negative because they are in debt

Idk about other groups but BTS fee is around 4-10 million usd for endorsements and appearances. A telecom in my country paid around 10m USD to make them an endorser.

An idol get paid depending on their popularity and contract.

here you go. its outdated give or take a decade or two. add inflation.

you can plug in the numbers and then divide that to the members.

Screenshot 2025-02-26 213905.jpg

My guesses below (to qualify for each income bracket, every member of the group must make that money):

10 million USD per year or more = only Blackpink

Between 1 million and 10 million USD per year = Ive, Lesserafim, Gidle, Aespa, Twice, New Jeans

Between 100k and 1 million USD per year = Itzy, Stayc, Oh My Girl, Red Velvet

I might have missed a few groups but i think this is it. Everyone else are rookie groups under rookie contracts where presumably all profits go mostly to the company, or are groups that are barely turning a profit or breaking even, or groups that are losing money (the vast majority tbh).

Sad to see.

This is why i once said that the market for boyband music sung by GGs in Korean isnt big enough to have more than 15-20 profitable GGs and i stand by my statement.

It's really interesting to see how idol salaries work, and I think a lot of people underestimate the deductions and taxes involved. If you want a clearer picture of how earnings translate into take-home pay, tools like this Ontario tax rates calculator can be really helpful to understand it better. It breaks down the numbers in a way that's easy to follow, especially for someone trying to estimate real income after taxes. Definitely worth checking out if you're curious about the financial side of being an idol.