Have you watched the news that the Apink members had a great time after they have successfully finished their new single release event in Japan in 2015? Well, as you can see in the picture, the members had a good time at a Japanese restaurant. But not all the k-pop idols can enjoy such a good meal. Before becoming popular stars, k-pop idols have to restrict their expenditure on food. Most of k-pop agencies limit the food expenses, and the limit is about 6 USD per person for a meal. Why do k-pop agencies limit the food expenses? Because it is very important for the agencies to reduce the initial investment and recoup the investment later.
Successful k-pop idol groups usually begin to make net profits 2 or 3 years after their debut. Apink debuted in 2011, and the girl group might have begun to make a net profit in 2013 when “NoNoNo” was released. Before then, the members had to pay back their agency's investment because k-pop agencies invest hundreds of millions of won in training and promoting their idols.
So, how much do you think the Apink members earn? No one knows about their exact incomes but themselves and their agency. However, let's make a guess. Apink is paid about 27,000 USD for a mini concert where the group performs 2-3 songs, while Apink is invited to the mini concerts more than 10 times a week at their peak season. Of course, the members have to share the income with their agency, but it’s no small money.
And let’s guess how much the members earn through their exclusive concert. From January 30-31, 2015, Apink held its first ever exclusive concert in Seoul, and the girl group drew a total of 14,000 fans. You can calculate the net profit as below.
In the k-pop industry, we take only 60% of seats for a concert into account when we estimate the expected profit. The reason why we take only 60% of seats into account is that concert tickets are not always sold out and there are not a few invitation tickets. So, as Apink drew a total of 14,000 audiences through its exclusive concert and the concert ticket costs about 75 USD, we can calculate the concert revenue by multiplying 75 by 8400, which is 60% of 14,000. It’s 630,000 USD, but of these, 75% are considered as production costs, so it is estimated that the net profit of Apink’s exclusive concert was 157,500 USD. And Apink and its agency should split the net profit under the terms of their contract.
