MOMOLAND singer Hyebin is pulling back the curtain on one of K-pop's least discussed realities.
The 30-year-old, who made her debut with the nine-member girl group MOMOLAND in 2016, explained the financial reality behind being a K-pop star in a video shared to her YouTube channel titled “Why Idols Can’t Make Money.”
“It's already been over 10 years since I became an idol,” Hyebin said in the video, per a fan translation. “I bet you guys are curious about how much money idols actually make, right? Am I right? You probably think they make a crazy amount of money, don't you? Nope, not at all.”
Hyebin explained she spent years buried in debt because of the way expenses were handled at her former label, MLD Entertainment.
“Since [record labels] invest in trainees during their trainee days, people tend to think being a trainee is completely free. But unless it's a major agency, that is not true. Honestly, I used to think that too,” she said. “In most K-pop agencies, like the mid-to-small one I was in, everything used to train [such as] lessons, food, housing practice room rentals, you name it, gets billed straight to you once you debut. Basically, it's a post-paid system.
“Because of that, you start your debut already hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt,” she added.
MOMOLAND experienced a breakthrough in 2018 with their hit single “Bboom Bboom.” But Hyebin said that K-pop artists and their agencies typically split expenses evenly, leaving members responsible for half the costs of songs, music videos, album photo shoots, managers' salaries, transportation, fuel, and even hair and makeup for television appearances.
While a typical idol event might bring in around 50 million South Korean won (about $33,000 USD), Hyebin said between agency cuts, dividing the remaining money among her nine bandmates, and additional expenses, she was left with only about 2 million won (about $1,300 USD).
“The money you worked your butt off to make from events? It sits in a pile and goes straight into investing in the next music video. Then boom, you're back in the negatives,” she said. “It's a literal infinite Dormammu [a Marvel supervillain] loop. I'm telling you, the money pulls a U-turn before it even touches my bank account."
Although she laments that only a tiny percentage of K-pop stars ever reach a point where they make substantial money, Hyebin says she has supported herself by performing in musicals, appearing in Korean variety shows, DJing, MC work, doing odd jobs, and now YouTube.
After they made lineup changes and initially disbanded in 2023 following the expiration of their contracts with MLD Entertainment, MOMOLAND announced in May 2025 they would reunite under Inyeon Entertainment, per Soompi. In September of that year, the group released the single “Rodeo.”
