Fourth-Generation Girl Group Gets Paid For The First Time Since Debut

The life of a K-Pop idol hopeful is not an easy one. Multiple idols have spoken about their difficulties when making their debut, including the physical aspects.

Another huge part of creating an idol group is the cost behind it all. According to JYP Entertainment statistics, it can cost well over $1 million USD to debut a group, with training costs making up a large chunk of it.

The Breakdown — Why It Takes Over $1 Million To Debut A K-Pop Group

While the big three companies, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and SM Entertainment, do not do trainee debt, smaller agencies do, leaving idols lucky enough to debut with the money they must make to “payback” their agency.

Girl group EXID debuted in 2012 and did receive their first paycheck until 2015, following Hani‘s viral fancam.

Recently, fourth-generation girl group STAYC revealed when exactly they got paid for the first time.

STAYC debuted in 2020 under HighUp Entertainment amid much anticipation as the group’s producer, Black Eyed Pilseung, admitted he took three years to find the perfect members.

Since then the group have had multiple comebacks, releasing catchy songs that feature the iconic tagline “STAYC girls, it’s going down.” Their most recent release, “Bubble,” dropped on August 16, and the group have been promoting it since.

As part of the promotions, the group appeared on the variety program TheKStarNextDoor, revealing some surprising information about their finances.

When a producer ask the group when they got paid for the first time, they were able to share that they have gotten paid! According to Yoon, it happened sometime after promoting “Teddy Bear,” released in February 2023.

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I think it was after promoting “Teddy Bear.” [On the day of the payout,] everyone at the company had a slight grin on their faces.

— STAYC’s Yoon

Official records show that the company began making revenue in 2022, so this timeline makes sense.  The group are pleased about their success, saying that everyone is “feeling accomplished” and happy these days!

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Everyone’s feeling accomplished and happy these days.

— STAYC’s Sieun

We can’t wait to see STAYC’s continued success!