MOMOLAND’s Hyebin is drawing attention after honestly sharing how difficult it can be for idols from small and mid sized agencies to make money, even after gaining public recognition.
On July 6, Hyebin uploaded a video on social media titled “How much do idols earn?” In the video, she looked back on her 10 years as an idol and said, “Do people think idols make a lot of money? No”.
Hyebin explained that many idols outside major agencies start their careers with debt because trainee costs are often charged after debut. According to her, expenses such as lessons, meals, dorms, and practice rooms are later billed to the members.
She said, “After you debut, all the costs used during trainee days, such as lesson fees, food expenses, dorm fees, practice room rental fees, and more, are charged to you”. She added, “So it is basically post payment.”
Hyebin also mentioned MOMOLAND’s success, saying the group even won No. 1 on a music show two years after debut. She recalled, “At that time, it was really called the miracle of an idol group from a small agency”.
However, she said that success did not immediately lead to income. Hyebin explained, “You may think we made money because we became popular, right? No.”
She added that idols often split many activity costs with their company, including song production, music videos, album jacket shoots, manager salaries, vehicles, gas, and hair and makeup for broadcasts.
She continued, “Every time we filmed one music video, I also lost tens of millions of won.” Hyebin said the members could not receive payment until those costs were fully paid back.
Hyebin also spoke about event earnings. She said an idol event fee can be around 50 million won, but after splitting it with the company, dividing it among members, and deducting styling, food, and transportation costs, the final amount becomes much smaller. She shared, “When I attend one event, about 2 million won comes to me.”
She added that even that money often went back into the group’s next activities. Hyebin said, “It gets invested into filming the next music video. Then we go into the negative again.” She also described it as money making “a U turn” before reaching her bank account.
Hyebin then summarized the difficult path of becoming a profitable idol, saying, “Among ordinary people, the top 1% become idol trainees. Among them, the top 1% debut. And even among debuted idols, you have to become part of the top 1% to make money.” She added, “I did not become part of that 1%.”
She also shared that YouTube has now become a new source of work for her. Hyebin said, “Even now, I am doing YouTube because work has slowed down”, adding, “YouTube is my new job”.
Her comments are now gaining attention for giving a direct look at the financial reality that some idols face behind the stage, especially those from smaller agencies.
