The amount of money that K-pop Idols pocket from their YouTube Channel is enough for retiring at an early age. Over five billion YouTube videos from all over the world are being watched every single day. The platform is even more popular these days, with users spending at least 40 minutes on average on YouTube sessions. YouTube offers convenience and reaches far more people worldwide with the internet, given that millions of people worldwide can easily access the site. Like Instagram and Twitter, YouTube is considered a major social media platform where all sorts of content can be streamed. Since YouTube earns from their users' content and advertisers, they give incentives to the users' content by sharing the profit from the advertisers.
Different companies and personalities utilize YouTube to make extra money on the side. Some of the personalities even rose to fame because of YouTube; they are currently called Vloggers with different followings. With this in mind, other K-pop idols have also joined the YouTube platform to extend their popularity and to earn from the YouTube views they will gain. A lot of celebrities have their channels where they post vlogs regarding their daily lives and even share behind the scene clips of their music videos. In August of this year, Forbes Korea has released the list of celebrities who have recorded the highest earning on their YouTube channels, and not surprisingly, 16 out of the 20 on the list are Kpop singers. Listed below are the highest-earning K-pop Idols.
Tomorrow X Together (TXT)
With estimated annual earnings of 1.1 billion Korean won, which is around US$989,000, Big Hit Entertainment's Tomorrow X Together (TXT) takes the seventh spot. Tomorrow X Together, also known as TXT, has the same management as the biggest boy group in South Korea, BTS. The group currently has 8.07 million, 874 uploaded videos with 551.4 million views. The boy group that only debuted in 2019 has five members and has consistently grabbed the attention of other Kpop fans. Two years after their debut, the group has already surpassed 10 million followers on TikTok, the third-highest followers after BTS and Blackpink.
Aespa
SM Entertainment's Vespa takes the sixth spot with US$1.2 million. Aesop's channel currently has 2.96 million subscribers and only 94 videos uploaded, garnering 406.3 million views. The group is considered to be the monster rookie group which is a group that already excels right from the start, the most famous monster rookie group is Blackpink. The group with four members is known for its hits Next Level, Stage, and Black Mamba. They had their explosive debut in 2020, and in just a year after debuting, they already won multiple awards, which include the Asian Pop Music Awards' best new artist in 2020.
IU
IU takes the fifth spot with estimated earnings of US$1.4 million on her YouTube channel. Dubbed the nation's little sister, IU debuted in 2007 and has since captured the hearts of South Korea with her talents, sweet personality, and stunning visuals. She has accumulated 1.09 billion views on her YouTube channel, and it continues to rise each day. She has estimated annual earnings of 1.6 billion Korean won or equivalent to US$1.4 million.
Seventeen
The group Seventeen reportedly earned US$1.7 million, according to Forbes Korea list. The Kpop group has been making waves in South Korea since its debut in 2015 under Pledis Entertainment. The YouTube channel of the group has 7.15 million subscribers and 951 videos with 2.3 billion video views. The group had a promising debut when they debuted as one of the monster rookie groups who had earned three rookie awards in the same year their debut. The group is currently one of the leading groups in South Korea today.
NCT Dream
NCT Dream is also a group under SM Entertainment that debuted in 2016. The group is reportedly earning US$1.9 million annually from their YouTube channel. They currently have 4.18 million subscribers and 242 videos with an accumulated 459.7 million views. The group has received the most attention on their channel with their videos featuring their subunits. In addition, their channel consists of videos, including behind-the-scenes footage of their photoshoots, dance videos, vlogs, etc.
Blackpink
Blackpink takes the second spot with their US$11.6 million annual earnings on their YouTube Channel with not-so-surprising results. The group currently has 69.3 million subscribers and 395 videos with 20.9 billion views. The group is currently the leading girl band in South Korea and has been invading the worldwide market. They are among the most followed celebrities across all social media platforms. With different awards won by them, Blackpink is capturing the love of worldwide fans, which their YouTube channel's views can prove.
BTS
Upon reading the title, anyone would have guessed that Big Hit Entertainment's BTS would top the list with their US$16.5 million earnings on their YouTube channel. The highest-earning YouTube vloggers have 60.9 million subscribers and 1,628 videos with 13.7 billion views. With their billion views, it is not surprising that they are earning that much in a year. The Kpop legend has been conquering the whole world, including the US market, so it is not surprising that billions of people worldwide are watching their videos. Their official channel, BangtanTV, originated from their group name Bangtan Sonyeondan which they are called in South Korea. They usually upload videos of their interviews, some vlogs, and creative content. As a result, their channel's audience soars up high with much love from the global community.