15 Most Profitable K-Pop Idol Agencies Thanks to Album Sales in 2020

Kapanlagi.com - For most people, 2020 may have been a difficult time due to the pandemic. Various industries were affected, including the entertainment industry. However, the pandemic did not deter K-Pop idol agencies.

With various innovations, they continued to debut and encourage their artists to make comebacks. As a result, these K-Pop idol agencies managed to survive, and many even gained significant profits.

Here is the ranking of K-Pop idol agencies based on their album sales in 2020, from the lowest to the highest. Who do you think made the most profit this year?

1. Source Music

Source Music currently only has one K-Pop idol under its label, which is GFRIEND. Throughout 2020, GFRIEND released 3 albums: Labyrinth, Song of the Sirens, and Walpurgis. Source Music managed to sell 234.4 thousand albums in 2020 from these three albums.

2. FNC Entertainment

FNC Entertainment is an agency of K-Pop idols such as SF9, AOA, CNBLUE, F.T. Island, N.Flying, Cherry Bullet, and a rookie named P1Harmony. The agency's biggest album sales are contributed by SF9, who released two albums this year, 9loryUS and First Collection, followed by N.Flying. The total album sales of FNC Entertainment this year are 292.5 thousand.

3. Yuehua Entertainment

K-Pop idols produced by Yuehua Entertainment in Korea include NIQ, WOODZ, EVERGLOW, and Cosmic Girls. WOODZ contributed the highest album sales for the agency with their two albums this year, Equal and Woops!, selling 245 thousand. In addition to the album sales of EVERGLOW and Cosmic Girls, this agency managed to sell 324.2 thousand.

4. BE:LIFT

BE:LIFT is a joint venture between CJ ENM and Big Hit Entertainment that has just debuted their first K-Pop idol, ENHYPEN. Despite that, BE:LIFT was able to achieve a profit from the sales of ENHYPEN's debut album alone, totaling 369.5 thousand. This number is predicted to continue increasing.

5. Cube Entertainment

Cube Entertainment has several famous K-Pop idols, such as (G)I-DLE, PENTAGON, and CLC. (G)I-DLE contributed the highest album sales for Cube Entertainment. In total, this agency was able to sell 490.8 thousand albums throughout 2020.

6. Konnect Entertainment

This agency owned by Kang Daniel has been quite successful in terms of album sales, considering Daniel's high popularity. From the sales of the Cyan and Magenta albums, this agency was able to achieve a profit of 604.7 thousand album units in 2020.

7. RBW

RBW or Rainbow Bridge World is a Korean entertainment agency that houses famous K-Pop idols such as MAMAMOO, ONEWE, and ONEUS. The high popularity of MAMAMOO makes them the biggest contributor to album sales for the agency. In total, RBW was able to sell 670.7 thousand sales in 2020.

8. KQ Entertainment

KQ Entertainment only has one K-Pop idol, which is ATEEZ. Despite being relatively new in their career, ATEEZ's popularity continues to significantly increase. This has had a positive impact on their album sales. The total sales of ATEEZ's two albums released in 2020 were able to generate a profit of 711.8 thousand for their agency.

9. Starship Entertainment

Starship Entertainment houses several famous K-Pop idols such as MONSTA X and CRAVITY. The majority of album sales from this agency are contributed by MONSTA X. The overall total album sales from Starship Entertainment's artists amounted to 993.4 thousand in 2020.

10. Off The Record Entertainment

Off The Record Entertainment only houses two K-Pop idols, namely IZ*ONE and fromis_9. However, both of them have been successful in album sales. IZ*ONE's popularity as a group formed by Produce 48 contributed to a total album sales of 1.51 million units in 2020, including fromis_9.

11. YG Entertainment

YG Entertainment has many top K-Pop idols, such as BLACKPINK, TREASURE, iKON, WINNER, Sechskies, and Mino. BLACKPINK's album sales alone reached 1.25 million this year. In addition, TREASURE has achieved success with three albums selling a total of 700,000 units this year. YG Entertainment's total album sales in 2020 amounted to 2.75 million.

12. Pledis Entertainment

Pledis Entertainment houses SEVENTEEN and NU'EST. This year, SEVENTEEN achieved great success with the album Heng:garae, which sold 1.5 million copies. The same goes for [Semicolon], which sold nearly a million copies. When combined with NU'EST, Pledis' album sales this year amounted to 2.92 million.

13. JYP Entertainment

JYP Entertainment has several famous K-Pop idols such as TWICE, GOT7, Stray Kids, ITZY, and DAY6. In terms of album sales, TWICE is the biggest contributor to this agency, followed by GOT7, as well as Stray Kids and ITZY, who are rapidly gaining popularity. The total album sales obtained by JYP Entertainment throughout 2020, including DAY6, amounted to 4.07 million.

14. SM Entertainment

SM Entertainment has many popular K-Pop idols, such as EXO, NCT, Red Velvet, SHINee, SuperM, BoA, and some solo artists. Although EXO did not make a comeback this year, the solo albums of each member, such as Baekhyun, Suho, and Kai, were able to generate revenue for SM Entertainment. In addition, NCT's massive comeback has solidified SM Entertainment's total album sales this year to 8.16 million.

15. Big Hit Entertainment

Meanwhile, the agency with the most successful album sales this year is Big Hit Entertainment. This agency is home to BTS and TXT. BTS alone contributed a total album sales of 7 million from Map of The Soul: 7 and BE released this year. The re-release of the album Skool Luv Affair was able to achieve 680,000 sales. Meanwhile, TXT contributed 800,000 units from the sales of their two albums this year. In total, Big Hit Entertainment was able to sell 10.05 million album units in 2020.

Those are the K-Pop agencies that made the most profit in 2020 thanks to the album sales of the idols they represent. Are you among those who contributed to the profits of these K-Pop idol agencies, KLovers?

(kly/tmi)