K-pop idols reportedly prepare for music show stages for 16 hours and spend 10 million won a day only to get paid this much
Entertainment reporter-turned-YouTuber Lee Jin Ho revealed idols’ fees for appearing on music shows.
On November 10th, through his YouTube channel “Entertainment President Lee Jin Ho”, Lee Jin Ho posted a new video and said, “There are a lot of idol groups that are popular all over the world. People thought that the money they receive for appearing on music shows in Korea would be as high as their popularity, but these expectations were shattered.” Lee Jin Hoo added, “I was shocked because of such a small fee.”
The fee for appearing on music shows is a separate matter from the number of people within a group. Artists are said to be paid more based on their stages. However, there is a difference in the appearance fee depending on the level of recognition and popularity, so trot singers or solo singers can make more profit than those who are active in idol groups.
Lee Jin Ho said, “You can’t make money from music show appearances. Unless you are the top 3 artists representing Korea, you cannot receive more than 500,000 won. Super-big ultra-popular stars cost 500,000 won, and common idols are only 100,000 won.”
According to Lee Jin Ho, KBS2 ‘Music Bank’, MBC ‘Show! Music Core’ and SBS’s ‘Inkigayo’ are all at the same level. However, he mentioned Mnet’s ‘M Countdown’, saying that it pays idols about 50,000 won in the current market price. Lee Jin Ho explained that ‘M Countdown’ is “a broadcaster who asks for a tax invoice to be removed even if they only pay 50,000 won.”
Usually, it costs about 10 million won a day and 60 million won a week for an idol to prepare for a music show stage. Lee Jin Ho pointed out, “It usually takes 16 hours to get up at dawn, get hair and makeup done, rehearse in the morning, and do a live broadcast until the night.”
He also explained, “Usually, when idols release an album, they promote for about two weeks, so it costs 120 million won for two weeks. For a typical idol, they spend about 30 million won per week and 60 million won for two weeks on costumes.”
However, he said, “Even though it costs so much money, there is a line of idols who want to appear on music shows. This is because once an idol appears on a broadcast, the money their agency invested in the past will be recovered.”
According to Lee Jin Ho, the performance fee that broadcasting companies have set for each episode is returned to the viewers as it is.
He said, “If a lot of money goes into the stage, it will eventually be covered through expensive events, which in turn will come back to fans who look at them and those who pay lots of money to watch the events.”
Source: Insight
