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TVXQ vs BIG 3: When SM just needs a group to be able to surpass both YG and JYP

The statistics in the last 5 years forced Korean netizens to exclaim that SM will never be eliminated from BIG 3 once they still have in hand the goose that lays the golden eggs of Kpop.

Recently, a post on a Korean online forum listed the total revenue that TVXQ had earned from music activities in the last five years. TVXQ has been well known for being one of the idol groups that make the largest profits in Kpop, but the exact numbers over years have still shocked a lot of people.

Particularly, in just few years, the profit that TVXQ earned alone even outweighed the total profits of YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, and accounted for more than 70% of SM Entertainment’s revenue. For this reason, it is also commented that when it comes to sales and profits, Kpop has a “BIG 4” combination of SM, YG, JYP and TVXQ.

Below are the specific statistics showing the profits that TVXQ has brought in since 2013 so far, in comparison with the amount of money that BIG 3 has earned in the same years. Please keep in mind that the below information is only based on the profit coming from TVXQ’s music activities, and in fact this figure will be be much larger if the amount of money they have earned from filming, advertising activities, etc for many years is counted as well.

[2013 Annual Revenue]

SM $256M, YG $114M, JYP $74M

TVXQ $191M   (TVXQ 75% SM 25%)

Active SM acts in 2013(16 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, SNSD, f(x), Sungmin, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Henry, Sooyoung, Seuhyun, Yoona, Minho, Taemin, Krystal

Japan tour ~$110M  (source: naver, wikipedia)

World tour  ~$37M  (source: naver)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$39M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$5 (wikipedia)

[2014 Annual Revenue]

SM $269M, YG $146M, JYP $45M

TVXQ $181M   (TVXQ 67% SM 33%)

Active SM acts in 2014(21 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, SNSD, f(x), Sungmin, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Donghae, Henry, Zhoumi, BoA, Sunny, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Minho,  Victoria, Krystal, D.O, Seulgi

TVXQ 2014 Annual Revenue

Japan tour ~$102M (source: hakuhodo)

World Tour ~$23M (source: naver)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$9M (source: hanteo)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$40M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$7M

[2015 Annual Revenue] (TVXQ are active in half of the year due to military service)

SM $288M, YG $166M, JYP $43M

TVXQ $183M   (TVXQ 63.5% SM 36.5%)

Active SM acts in 2015(26 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, SNSD, f(x), Red Velvet, Leeteuk, Heechul, Kangin, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Siwon, BoA, Taeyeon, Seohyun, Yoona, Minho, Victoria, Amber, Luna, Suho, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Joy, Seulgi

Japan tour ~$124M (source: hakuhodo)

Asia tour ~$25M (source: naver, wikipedia)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$3M (source: hanteo)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$27M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$4M

[2016 Annual Revenue] (TVXQ are inactive due to military service)

SM $299M, YG $275M, JYP $62M

SHINee $89M (SHINee 27% SM 73%)

Active SM acts in 2016(42 acts): SHINee, SNSD, EXO, f(x) Red Velvet, EXO CBX, NCT, Kangta, Kim Jungmo, Jay, Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun, Siwon, Henry, Zhoumi, BoA, Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Yoona, Onew, Key, Jonghyun, Taemin, Victoria, Amber, Krystal, Loona, Suho, Lay, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, Joy, Irene

SHINee (SHINee is the highest earning act of SM in 2016)

Japan tour ~$63M (source: wikipedia)

World tour ~$20M

Korean album, single, DVD sales ~$2M

Japanese album, single, DVD sales  ~$1M

Fanmeeting ~$3

+TVXQ film concerts ~$21M

[2017 Annual Revenue] (TVXQ are active in half of the year due to military service)

SM $350M, YG $324M, JYP $94M

TVXQ $142M (TVXQ 40.5% SM 59.5%)

Active SM acts in 2017(34 acts): TVXQ, Super Junior, SHINee, EXO, EXO-CBX, Red Velvet, NCT, Kangta, Jay, Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Henry, BoA, Sunny, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Seohyun, Yuna, Onew, Key, Minho, Taemin, Viktoria, Krystal, Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Chanyeol, D.O, Kai, Joy

Japan tour ~$97M (source: nikkei)

Asia tour ~$13M (source: wikipedia)

Film concerts ~$30M (source: wikipedia)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$1M (source: hanteo)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$15M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$3M

[2018 1st Half Revenue]

SM $303M, YG $187M, JYP $105M

TVXQ $188M (TVXQ 63% SM 37%)

Japan tour ~$122M (source: dispatch)

Asia tour ~$24M (source: wikipedia)

Korean album, single, DVD sales: ~$4M (source: oricon)

Japanese album, single, DVD sales: ~$25M (source: oricon)

Fanmeeting ~$13M (source: wikipedia)

There is a need to restate that this is the amount of money that TVXQ earned in the first 6 months of 2018. In the second half of this year, they will have a lot of activities in Japan, which seems to be promising to bring huge profits. There is a new Japanese album released on September 19th and a new Japanese tour starting on September 26th and lasting until early 2019.

Top 5 groups getting their fans to struggle to buy concert tickets as they sell out too fast!
The legendary “red ocean” of TVXQ is only seen at their concerts

After seeing this post, Korean netizens expressed their admiration as TVXQ is still able to consistently generate huge profits for their agency during the past few years, although the group has debuted for 15 years. Many netizens also insisted that SM would not be able to stand in the current position without TVXQ. At the same time, as long as TVXQ is under SM’s management, SM will never be able to lose their place in BIG 3.

1.[+109, 0] SM is nothing without TVXQ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

2.[+101, 0] SM’s cashcow is TVXQ… TVXQ’s Japanese fans are so loyal and great. Korean fans change their favourite group right away when they find another group. TVXQ have been active in Japan for long years, still make a lot of money

3.[+94, 0] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋヽ(´▽`)ノ

4.[+70, 0] “TVXQ bring in the most income in SM, one tour roughly brings in $100 million USD”

5. [+29, 0] TVXQ earns more than Japanese singers ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

6. [+28, 0] I really wonder how much SM offered TVXQ to renew the contract ㅠㅠ

7. [+27, 0] It’s really great that Yunho and Changmin are very humble. They continue their business with no greed and show off.

8. [+23, 0] TVXQ is milking Japan ㅎㅎ

9. [+21, 0] TVXQ is so cool!

10. [+19, 0] SM wouldn’t be one of Big3 without TVXQ. SM, treat TVXQ well.

Sources: pann-choa

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