MOMOLAND member Hyebin has candidly exposed the brutal truth behind how idols at mid-sized agencies settle their earnings — and why so few actually take home real money.
On July 6, Hyebin uploaded a video to her YouTube channel titled "Why Idols Don’t Make Money." She opened up by saying, "It’s already been over 10 years since I became an idol," adding, "Many people think idols make a lot of money, but that’s not always the case."
Hyebin first broke down the costs that pile up even before debut. "Unless you’re with a big agency, lesson fees, food, housing, and practice room rentals from your trainee days get billed to you after debut," she explained. "In simple terms, it’s all on tab — you debut already owing tens or even hundreds of millions of won."
Despite MOMOLAND gaining attention relatively quickly after debut, she said turning a profit wasn’t easy. "Our CEO invested their entire fortune, and MOMOLAND took first place on a music show just two years after debut. People called it a ‘miracle for a mid-tier idol group,’" Hyebin recalled. "You’d think we were making money at that point, but the reality was different."
She also explained that many activity-related costs are effectively charged back to the members. "Getting just one song can cost tens of millions of won, and a single music video can run into several hundred million won. That total gets split with the company and then split again among the members," she said, adding, "Everything from jacket shoots and managers’ salaries to vehicle fees and hair and makeup costs all go into the settlement."
Event fees also didn’t add up the way people expect. "Even if an idol group’s average event fee is around 50 million won, you first split that in half with the company. If there are nine members, you then divide the remainder by nine. After additional expenses, the money that actually lands in my hand per event was only around 2 million won," she explained. She added, "And even that needs to be saved up to pour back into the next album or music video. The money basically makes a U-turn before it even settles in your account."
In the end, Hyebin stressed that "only a tiny fraction of idols truly make money." She continued, "Among ordinary people, the top 1% of the most talented become trainees; of them, the top 1% debut; and even among debuting idols, only the top 1% make real money. I wasn’t part of that 1%."
Hyebin debuted with MOMOLAND in 2016 and rose to popularity with multiple hit songs. Beyond group promotions, she has been actively expanding into musicals, web dramas, and more.