With the plethora of idol groups out there on the scene, one can’t help but wonder: how much money do these “kids” make? Sure they gain popularity through their respective groups, but it’s a known fact that each and every member isn’t given the same amount of attention and gigs. And let’s say we focus on just one group member. Do they get to keep the money that they themselves worked for? Or do they have to split it among their other group members?
Let’s use Nickhun of 2PM as an example. He shoots an ice cream commercial here in Korea, followed by a beverage commercial shoot over in Thailand. Then he returns to Korea and does some appearances on variety shows, only to then star in a TV drama. Out of all those jobs, what will Nickhun be able to keep as pay? Well, the ice cream commercial in Korea will be equally divided among the five other 2PM members. However, Nickhun will be able to keep all of the pay from the Thailand commercial shoot. Variety program appearances also get divvied up among the others, though the drama pay will be pocketed by Nickhun entirely. This is according to the initial contracted agreement among the six members and JYP Entertainment. Nickhun must split everything with the exception of drama roles and jobs in his homeland, Thailand. Six members may seem like a lot, but what about some of the other idol groups out there with 9 members? 10? 13? The matter of pay presents a very complicated situation.
JYP along with CUBE Entertainment follow the equal pay distribution system. The explanation from a JYP official: “If a member gets some individual work, it’s because he’s ultimately a member of the respective idol group.” Therefore, the pay should be equally divided among the people who make the group possible; all of the people. These days, Lee Gi-gwang of BEAST and Hyuna of 4minute get more solo gigs than their other members, yet their pay is still shared among all of them.
However, there are more entertainment agencies that follow another system. The system of taking home what you yourself earned. For example, SM Entertainment, which is known to multi-task its entertainers. Some of its popular groups feature one or two members that are more popular than the rest. Prime examples being Yoona or Taeyeon of Girls Generation or Kim Hee-chul or Lee-teuk of Super Junior. One entertainment official even divulged, “Because the difference in pay between the highest paid Super Junior member and the lowest paid Super Junior member is so big, their vibe [together] is a bit weird.”
In the case of Pledis Entertainment, the name behind After School which features UEE and Park Gahi or Core Contents Media which backs T-ara, the group boasting Eun-jung and Ji-yeon, each member also keeps what they earn. However, whenever the stars feature on variety programs, Core Contents Media gets to keep the entire pay. The company sees this as justified because appearances on variety programs are to promote the group’s album anyway. Also, the pay per episode isn’t even that much so it’s not like the girls are taking that big of a hit.
So which way is the “better” system? One entertainment insider explained, “Whether you do it this way or that way, there’s bound to be complaints. In the case of splitting the pay, members with more active schedules have the most complaints. As for systems where each member gets to keep their own pay, the less popular members [with less work] has the most complaints. There’s a reason behind the fact that idol groups form easily and break up easily.”
This article generalizes and the reader must reach his or her conclusions after considering the actual contract. The contract specifies that all proceeds from music and other major activities are split evenly into the number of the members of the group. Furthermore, for many of the activities that one might assume yields some profit to SM, such as appearing in variety shows, the members get paid $0 because such activities are considered promotions. The above article is extremely general and is written largely for lightweight entertainment– again, please use caution and judgment and do not throw out what you know because of a single entertainment article.
Credit: KBS Global
Shared by: JYJ3
” the less popular members [with less work] has the most complaints.”
Really, now? Is it really fair for the “less popular” members to get a share of what their fellow band mates worked so hard for when they didn’t even do the job? I see where they are coming from; trying to keep the relationship healthy, but it still seems ridiculous that they get to reap without sowing.
i was thinking the same thing. So they could decide u know what, I dont even have to work hard, I still gonna get paid.
Part of the problem I have is that the management decides when and where they work. The usual set up elsewhere is that the artist’s agent presents all offers or solicits projects that the artist would be interested in and it’s up to the artist to go after them or refuse them.
That’s not how the Korean system works. It’s all favours and backroom deals. I can understand why some members would be annoyed at the situation. It’s not like they can change representation if they feel that their agent (i.e. the company) isn’t working in their best interest.
“In the case of splitting the pay, members with more active schedules have the most complaints. As for systems where each member gets to keep their own pay, the less popular members [with less work] has the most complaints.”
You are confusing both systems. Nickhun of 2PM works under the first system. If he does a commercial by himself his pay is split amongst all member with the exception of work done in his homeland, Thailand. If he is a very active member he would complain. If he was a lesser popular/active member he would complain less.
Under the second system a lesser active member would complain because they are being paid less than the others because they don’t have as much work. In this system Nickhun would be happy because he is paid for all the work he does. (outside of live shows/performances/variety programs or group work) In this system he wouldn’t have to split the pay for his ice cream commercial. It would all go to him. A less active member would be resentful.
This however, as Jimmie says, is a generalization and completely glosses over the disservice the management companies do to their artists under either system, doesn’t explain exceptions (like DBSK) and conveniently doesn’t question why Korean entertainment companies don’t adopt other systems to pay their artists.
*members
..first change the way of kpop ent. is working right now..
..4D..
Agreed tht this is general. I knw tht DBSK had a different contract from other stars in SME Entertainment because they were the companies MAIN money makers and they were the TOP IDOL GROUP. So obviously their contracts were different.
are these the terms of the contract renewals members of Suju signed not too long ago? does anyone know the terms of their previous contracts? sorry.. a little ignorant in this department since i don’t really care much for anything SM…
When I read this at SYC, I was like but this is just a generalisation and doesn’t in no way discusses the specific individual issues of idols in groups which cause some of them to try to get away from their management/contracts… So yeah, I thought my brain wasn’t working a while ago, but I guess it was. I just read this and I think more OT5 sites should just post Jimmie’s letter instead of this one. that’s just me though. I am seeing JYJ Files’ press release as more relevent than this article.
now we see why idols never pass the ‘five year mark’. notice how when a groups do breakup, only one of the member would actually stay behind… usually it would be the popular ones.
I almost feel like the idol industry is engineered to eventually break the bonds between the group members and for the company to retain the popular members after throwing the other ones away.
Ugh…
What SM tried to do with Shinhwa is a prime example… except those boys stuck together~
shinhwa had an incredibly strong bond and a strong leader who pulled them together.
Without either one of those, who knows what would’ve happened…
yeah… honestly.. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Eric didn’t put his interests before those of the group as a whole… both career-wise and financially… not many leaders like him around these days~
leaders like that are an endangered species lol.
It’s bizarre isn’t it? They brainwash loyalty to the company into them, while breeding suspicion & distrust between the members. Maybe they’re working on the divide & conquer theory – as in Big Boss Man is the ONLY PERSON you can trust.
yup, it’s like using their cultural reverence for authority and skewing it in their favor through manipulation.Doing it in order to make it impossible for certain members to leave cause they’re enslaved by their own culture values in a way.
It’s nasty how it’s done..
@bmw81187
REALLY, REALLY EFFING NASTY!!! In a way these entertainment companies are like the complete reverse of JYJ…the more you know about JYJ, the more you love them; the more you know about EC, the more you loathe & despise them.
I believe you’re correct. Groups are made to be broken up (I forget who said that recently…that lady grrr I forget her name).
It’s all about making money. It’s exactly why they are going IN on JYJ blocking them, trying to make an example out of them because JYJ where the most popular (ESP. JAE) out of DBSK so SM is like NOOOOO our money left us! money…down…the drain! NOOOOO lol.
This new group that has 21 members? What label are they under cause that ALOT OF PEOPLE TO BE PAID.
Why do they put so many members in groups like that? Never seen something like that in the West except for Choirs or something lol. Highest I’ve seen was 5-6, after that it gets a bit weird. To me I think it’s actually unfair because the human brain can only memorize short term between I think it’s 5-9 (that’s why our numbers only have 10 didgets, that’s why pin numbers are short). To me it’s a bit unfair and I have a feeling it’s a business strategy just like factory jobs are a strategy.
I too am not sure how everyone can be satisfied in a situation like this.
yea i dont understand that either. personally i would never be able to get into a group that consist more than five+ members. tooo much for me, and imo really unnecessarily. i feel bad that the ones that are talented are usually over shaddowed by the ones that look ‘pretty/good looking’ (sry off topic a bit there) but heres some of my theories,
i. if one member doesnt succeed or not as popular, at least they’ll be 6 others to like for example. thats a no brainer.. lol
ii. the more members, the less money each person gets, therefore, if they ever try to leave the company, they wont have enough money to do so…
(wow im totally off topic lol, gota get it off my chest somehow…)
thats what i think…
I think it’s ridiculous too.. but I believe they will be promoting as sub-groups.. so perhaps the money will be split between 7 and not 21? haha
i heard somewhere in aramatheydidn`t this group follow AKB48 footstep,,is it true or not?
Bla, bla, bla. “The innocence of entertainment agencies”. The truth is hidden behind these empty but well written words.
These entertainment agencies run their payment methods like if they were in a “dictatorial status”. The dictator collects all the money from the people who works hard (artists in our case). Then, he divides the money, keeping the biggest part for him and his fellow partners and giving the people a few bucks to barely live. No one can ask or discuss because the poor one who dares to do so, is sent to jail. The dictator lives as an emperor while the people live as beggers, wandering the streets in search of food to ease their hunger. End of the story.
Ah~ no wonder some fellow who I suppose get a large portion of the pie is like “so freaking ok” with the system.
Given the amount that he got… He could have bought a car!! Or maybe he already owns one… I dunno… I’m not interested in some Prima Donna!!!
“Bullshit scar… f*ck the mirror.. Everything Hate!” hahaha :p
ohh.. you ‘read’ me! lol
…hahahaha…Has it always been like that???.. Or…the agency just changed the policy a while ago..;P Hence, the policy would be applied for others in the family. I certainly believe that the policy was just changed right before the incident…555
I honest to God wish I could read Korean so I could find all these freaking’ contracts!!! I’m lucky I found this site. Where can one go when they are at an obvious disadvantage? Stupid Hotel girls. Wish they would all go join a cult (well they already are in one aren’t they?) shave their heads and move to Timbuktu and stay there FOREVER!!!!
Darling, we don’t need to lower our dignity as JYJ fans to fight with those dump asses. We will be warn out in the end because they don’t have logical brain to comprehend anything. People who have DNA of stupidity will never be smarter. They believe in different thing. So, don’t waste our time for telling them what is right or wrong.^^
5555555555
At this stage of the game, I’m way past caring what the others who are under the ‘current’ setup of these companies are getting.
My only concern is for JYJ to continue reaping the rewards they are reaping for all the hard work they are doing. When I run a CONSERVATIVE estimate of what they have pulled in as gross for these past 18 months, I am beyond thrilled. They have grossed in this short amount of time more than they EVER were paid by SME for the entire seven years they slaved for them. And this does not have to be divided by 5, but only 3!
The system that should be in place…the artists work, no matter what it is, and they are paid fairly, they get their just due. When the CEOs and other mgmt. post obscene profits for themselves, and the commodities fight over peanuts, I have a hard time accepting any of these bogus methods mentioned in this article.
If the regulating powers that be, continue to allow this abuse, no one should be surprised at how unattractive this system appears to those outside of SKorea.
Sometimes i think, maybe that’s why the company get trainee when they’re still kids and make them sign the pre-contract to promise them a better future and then another contract to make sure they won’t leave in the future..
i pity them. i seriously should be damn grateful with my life. they life glamorous life in front of camera but the reality really is not as pretty as it portrayed in the TV.
when i was reading this… my mind only think about ryeowook. damn, he’s the most hardworking on stage, never i saw a suju’s stage without him, and he’s rarely shown up in other activities…. so he got the least?! damn. i think they should also count the singing part… >.<