In addition to being a musical genre, K-pop is an economic model that has evolved year after year.
Its popularity dated to 2012 when the artist PSY released his biggest hit song, “GANGNAM STYLE”. The song went viral on YouTube, achieving more than 4,100,000,000 views and generating around 20 million dollars. This iconic trend sparked by GANGNAM STYLE caught the attention of Western celebrities such as Britney Spears and Neymar. Both encouraged recognition of South Korean entertainment through social media posts and television shows, where they performed their rendition of the song.
K-pop is no longer an up-and-coming industry. On the contrary, it has played an essential role in society and supports the global economy through the millions of dollars generated by BTS and Black Pink bands.
Have you ever wondered how much money these bands and their agencies generate? Today you will find out!
Table of Contents
SM, YG, JYP and BIG HIT: the South Korean entertainment companies with the highest revenues in 2020
The K-pop world is dominated by four giant companies: JYP, YG, SM and Big Hit. The latter two are currently the most successful. But only Big Hit can boast the most internationally successful idol group to date, Bangtan Boys or BTS. In turn, it has been the company with the highest turnover in 2020, registering a total of 77.5 million dollars. A figure that is not surprising, considering that BTS placed three different albums among the best-selling albums in the world in 2020.
BTS AND BLACKPINK: The highest-earning K-pop bands on YouTube
BTS and Black Pink are the South Korean bands with the most fans worldwide. Their fandoms are characterised by being loyal, always keeping an eye on their activities and supporting them with every music release. Therefore, it is not surprising that both bands are successful on one of the most used platforms in the world.
With more than 57.3 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 12.5 billion videos views, BTS generates approximately $17.1 million a year from the platform. On the other hand, Black Pink, with about 64.7 million subscribers and over 19.2 billion views, generate around $11.7 million annually – a crazy figure!
K-pop will be among the best-selling albums in the world during 2020
2020 was a successful year for K-pop! Three Asian groups managed to place their music albums among the best-selling albums worldwide. South Korean boy band BTS topped the rankings with 4.8 million copies sold with their album Map of the Soul: 7. BTS also placed two other albums in the world’s top ten: the deluxe edition of BE, in second place, and Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey-, in eighth place.
Meanwhile, the K-pop girl group Black Pink generated around 1.5 million sales with their debut studio album Black Pink: -The Album-, ranking fifth. Black Pink managed to overtake artists such as AC/DC and Justin Bieber in the sales chart.
Debate: K-pop idols, real personalities or a consumer product?
Profit is an essential thing in business. K-pop knows it, and that’s why the k-pop companies manufacture their artists in a meticulous and detailed way.
The first phase is recruiting the trainees, training them, and assembling them as a systematic manufacturing process. Then comes the process of personifying the artist, as all members of the groups must adopt a personality that identifies them. In addition, idols must meet “basic” requirements such as being charismatic and having an impeccable image and behaviour to avoid scandals.
Undoubtedly, K-pop is an industry with a profitable business model that continues to succeed around the world. What about you? Would you be willing to give your all to be an idol, and would you risk building your business in this competitive, shark-infested industry?