Do Companies Take All The Money K-Pop Groups Make? Former Idols Respond

While it’s commonly thought that Korean entertainment companies take all the income that groups earn, two former idols from the Korean Cowboys podcast cleared up what really happens.

Joel and Aaron. | @koreancowboyspodcast/Instagram

Before groups can make money, they sign contracts with a company. Those contracts list the percentage of income that will be divided between the company and the group. Aaron (formerly NU’EST‘s Aron) used a fifty-fifty split as an example.

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While that means a group’s income is split fifty-fifty with the company, it’s also a double-edged sword because the costs are also split the same way. That’s when things get a bit tricky.

Whatever outgoing costs there are, you split that fifty-fifty with the company. Likewise, any incoming gains you have is also split fifty-fifty with the company.

— Aaron

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There are so many outgoing costs for an idol group that they can outnumber the income earned. Joel (formerly BTL‘s Jay) chimed in with costs the average person wouldn’t even consider.

Aaron: There’s definitely a lot of outgoing costs, whether it be from clothes from a stylist, hair/makeup…

Joel: Things that you get on the way to schedules, like food and drinks. And gas.

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Those outgoing costs can go even deeper depending on a group’s company. While some companies won’t ask a group to pay back the money it took to debut them, that’s not the case for all. Others have to split expenses like “music videos and training.”

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As if that wasn’t complicated enough, contracts get even trickier because every member in a group, like LOONA, doesn’t sign the same contract.

The original lineup of LOONA.

Unfortunately, K-Pop contracts aren’t designed to benefit artists. Aaron confirmed that it was a “hard system to make money” if groups aren’t in a “good position.”