How much do kpop idols make from album sales

I was just wondering how kpop idols make money.

As far as I know, Kpop groups (barring the top groups like SNSD, Big Bang, etc) do not seem to make a lot of money from album sales (at least relative to North America). Also, I'm assuming that most of the money they make goes towards paying their stylists, make-up artists, choreographers, the company, and towards paying for their food, stage costumes, and living costs.

I know groups/solo artists can make money from doing ads, but divide that amongst the group members (after factoring in company expenses), and it seems quite little.

Someone told me that the average artists earns about $70k USD if they are one of the B-list groups, but I don't know if that's a valid claim. Do idols get paid to perform at M-Bank and Inkigayo and such? Who pays for their stage decorations?

I've always had these questions but couldn't find anything informative, unfortunately. Just wondering if anyone had any ideas or relevant that can shed light on these questions?

Have you ever wonder how much profit your idol would make from sales? If so, this post will answer your question.

Remember, this is rough estimate so I left out a lot of details to simplify the math.

First of all, some standard: Let's say an album cost $20 and a download cost 50c.

1. We'll start with the physical sales:

EXO's "Exodus" + "Love Me Right": approx. 1,300,000 physical sales in 2015 (Source: Wikipedia)

x$20 (price per unit)

= $26,000,000 gross profit

-20% (bulk photobook fabrication)

-1% (bulk CD fabrication)

= $20,540,000 gross profit – manufacture

-30% (retailer cut)

-22% (distributor cut)

total -52%

= $9,859,200 net profit

-50% (to songwriters and producers)

= $4,929,600

-85% (to SM Entertainment)

= $739,440 net profit to group before costs

- $50,000 (recording costs)

- $300,000 (MV costs)

(Yes, the cost goes to the artist, not the company. It is a safe key so companies will always make profit from the artists)

= $389,440  final net profit to group

/9 (nine members in EXO currently, income divided between them evenly)

= $43,271.1 net profit per member

2. Next is digital sales:

EXO (EXODUS, Love Me Right, Sing for You) - approx. 5,200,000 downloads

x50c (price per download, it could be less since people use monthly subscription)

= $2,600,000 gross profit

-30% (hosting fees to online distributors)

= $1,820,000 net profit to company

-85% (share of remainder that goes to SM)

= $273,000 net profit to group

/9  (nine members in EXO currently, income divided between them evenly)

= $30,333.3 net profit per member

Conclusion: $73,604.4 per member in 2015 as a rough estimate.

We'll look at another example of APink's "Pink Memory" (2015)

1. Physical sales: approx. 90,000 physical sales

x$20 (price per unit) 

= $1,800,000 gross profit

-20% (bulk photobook fabrication)

-1% (bulk CD fabrication)

= $1,422,000 gross profit – manufacture

-30% (retailer cut)

-22% (distributor cut)

total -52%

= $682,560 net profit

-50% (to songwriters and producers)

= $341,280

-85% (to Plan A Entertainment)

= $51,192 net profit to group before costs

- $50,000 (recording costs)

- $150,000 (MV costs)

= -$148,808 net debt to group

/6 members

= -24,801.3 net debt per member

2. Digital sales: approx. 2,500,000 downloads 

x50c (price per download, it could be less since people use monthly subscription)

= $1,250,000 gross profit

-30% (hosting fees to online distributors)

= $875,000 net profit to company

-85% (share of remainder that goes to Plan A Entertainment)

= $131,250 net profit to group

/6 members

= $21,875 net profit per member

Conclusion: -$2,926 net debt per member in 2015.

"Wait a minute, so A Pink doesn't earn anything from their sales?", You may ask.

The real income of idols and their companies comes from endorsements and commercial film work.  Attention from potential endorsers that can translate into money is what the k-pop company is seeking.

The song is just a means to make you watch the video enough to notice the girl and then to say “hey, she might look good in my designer clothing brand†and then a phone call is made and business happens.  The music is not the business, the music is a business card.

So how much money is made there?  Well, it depends on the company who is getting the idol to endorse them, and how much they think that their endorsement is worth.

It could mean a few thousand dollars, or it could mean a few million dollars, or it could mean many million dollars, so it’s impossible to put a fixed figure on it as it depends on the company involved and what’s being sold.

(Source: Kpopalypse)

So if your idols appeared a lot on CF and Korean products, it could mean they have earned a lot from those endorsements.

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