60 replies to this topic

[Kuraudo17]

Oh even with a middle ground agency like UFA they make a great deal of money so can afford attractive salaries for young girls it's more than enough even when they are starting out. Most of it when they are young goes to supporting family and their rent etc if they needed to move to Tokyo i imagine so that is why they live on an allowance but still their spending money seems to be enough to live well. You get girls talking about going out for meals and stuff often and that's not exactly cheap in Tokyo.

But there are idols who are much lower down on the chain who struggle to make any real money and many idols chasing the dream drop out alltogether before they even got anywhere so it's not always guarenteed to make you a good living.

"Attractive" salaries? Considering that no one has backed out from a contract after being chosen in auditions, I don't think it has anything to do with attractive salaries when you join at first... mostly the dream and of course you went through all the tests so might as well be an idol high salary or not.

[Kuraudo17]

One thing to consider is that anything these girls want, like Sayu's need to have all of the latest electronic gadjets, they seem to go and get. iPhones? Laptops? Music devices? They have them all!

I wanna see if Aichan has a cellar of Dom Perignons, or Risa has Italian/Scandinavian male boxers models flown into Tokyo just to give her backrubs

Yeah, you don't really have to be a celebrity to afford the latest gadgets, unless you buy 10 of the latest Macbooks every week...

[Moondoggie]

"Attractive" salaries? Considering that no one has backed out from a contract after being chosen in auditions, I don't think it has anything to do with attractive salaries when you join at first... mostly the dream and of course you went through all the tests so might as well be an idol high salary or not.

The whole dream is about the glamour that a life as an idol can bring. Would young girls be flocking to do something if they didn't think they could be rich with tons of fans? I doubt it.

There are lots that get in smaller agencies that don't make much money and struggle and those ones tend to give up it's only the bigger agencies that offer good money and promotion that tend to keep idols.

So i think money is an important factor over just dreaming to be an idol looking at the amount every year who give it up because they aren't getting anywhere and are struggling to make ends meet.

[Kuraudo17]

"Attractive" salaries? Considering that no one has backed out from a contract after being chosen in auditions, I don't think it has anything to do with attractive salaries when you join at first... mostly the dream and of course you went through all the tests so might as well be an idol high salary or not.

The whole dream is about the glamour that a life as an idol can bring. Would young girls be flocking to do something if they didn't think they could be rich with tons of fans? I doubt it.

There are lots that get in smaller agencies that don't make much money and struggle and those ones tend to give up it's only the bigger agencies that offer good money and promotion that tend to keep idols.

So i think money is an important factor over just dreaming to be an idol looking at the amount every year who give it up because they aren't getting anywhere and are struggling to make ends meet.

The dream could easily be an illusion (like idols are illusions), and the new ones are mostly children. If they can't make ends meet, their parents would.

[Piper G]

If I dream of being an idol it's a lot more about being able to sing and have people enjoy it than money. Perhaps I'm weird though

I believe H!P has a promotional deal with Apple. The girls are always appearing in MacPeople.

[hafiz18]

didnt momo said that being an idol is a way to get out of poverty..

so the idols must had been paid really good money..

[writerserenyty]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the stories of more idol groups wasn't like this. AKB worked itself up from the ground up, which means I bet it took a long time for them to actually become profitable. H!P is a different story, since they were from the start highly promoted by Asayan and the whole public audition thing. I'd honestly bet that a lot of idols from smaller groups don't get paid very much, but do it just to be an idol.

[SI51]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDvgZzdQVIA#t=0m58s

I just saw this, and thought it was relevant.


Maximum monthly earnings of Former MM Ichii Sayaka and Former Onyanko Nitta Eri. Only 120,000 yen and 200,000 yen. Ichii Sayaka claims they didn't get anything from the CD sales. Nitta Eri used to get paid 5000 yen per filming of Yuuyake NyanNyan.

AKB girls claim they don't get much either.

the host even mentioned how it ruins the "Dream" (as mentioned in this thread ), but Sayaka implies the "Dream" is more about the experience....

[Chibs]

you have to realize sayaka quit just after they made it big time. i doubt the girls now make so low.

[SI51]

^
yeah, and which girls are you refering to?

People need to realize the golden era MM are an exception, not the norm.

In a recent episode of Gurunai, the contestants had to guess the rent that Kikuchi Ami (Idoling!!!) pays. Yamase Mami (former idol) guessed that her rent would be the lowest. Her reasoning? Idols don't get paid. And she was right... Despite Kikuchi appearing in more TV shows then any idol right now, she had a low rent apartment which she shares with her older sister.

Just like other workplaces, Idol salaries increase according to your track record. It's also a business where people are constantly dropped or replaced. You have to prove that you are beneficial to the agency's future before they will make any large effort to keep you happy and stay on board. You hear stories all the time of one hit wonders not even getting a penny despite their success.

I've seen a lot of people speculate that H!P girls get paid well solely because of H!P past success. I think it's being extremely optimistic to assume that anyone past the 5 gen started off with a decent contract (though I doubt they had one either). Sayaka's case proves that UFA in the past were no more generous then any other agencies, and I don't see any reason for them to be now. UFA knows that the odds of newer girls reaching H!P's previous level of success are not good. I think they would take a "prove to me that your worth it" stance now more then ever.

Sayaka left "just after" they made it big? She stuck around until Happy Summer Wedding, and already had 3 million sellers under her belt before that. And its not like MM were doing very poorly before Love Machine. It just goes to show you that Idols have to stick around and be popular for a while before they are even considered for a generous pay raise.

[Krusha]

Sayaka also was part of Pucchimoni which had a big hit as well.

Idols in general don't make much at all, they make money through commercials, advertisements and stuff associated with them outside of the group - and even that isn't much. Those who really make money are popular talents, or musicians.

[SylviaDelaney]

Hm, I'd wager idols in an established group like Momusu or AKB make the equivalent of around 12,000 US$ a year on average but those with lots of external work make closer to the equivalent of 20,000 US$. In an indies or still up and coming/struggling idol group I'd say the members would make around the equivalent of 10,000 US$ a year if lucky.

[ItsudemoAibon]

^
Well, it's been documented that in her best year Sayu made about $450k. Fukuchan makes about $167k (over $3k/week)........these girls aren't hurting.

"Attractive" salaries? Considering that no one has backed out from a contract after being chosen in auditions, I don't think it has anything to do with attractive salaries when you join at first... mostly the dream and of course you went through all the tests so might as well be an idol high salary or not.

Interesting...........this was posted before both Aina Otsuka and Uta Shimamura backed out of their contracts,

[randomrrr]

It's been documented that in her best year Sayu made about $450k.

 

Interesting. I didn't know this. The closest thing I know was Sayu said every day her mom gave her 10,000 yen allowance, IIRC. Can't remember where I read about it though.

[ItsudemoAibon]

When Sayu was under 18, her parents were in charge of her money. Even though she was making tons of dough, her mom gave her an allowance for carrying cash. $80-100/day was enough for Sayu to traipse around Tokyo. Evidently she socked a lot of money away........she was able to take two years+ off and take it easy......or do whatever she felt like doing.

[Nighttiger]

Hi I want to know if true or not, I was looking up translated information about C-ute came across an article about Chisato Okai, in a dramafever article it said "young Japanese singer Chisato Okai loses 10 years of Savings to wild spending by parents"? Is that common among idols with big families

[Juandalyn]

Nope, it was just a really sad case with Chisato. I'm sure the majority (at least of H!P idol parents) takes good care of their daughters income.

 

You do have families where the idol becomes the main earner in the family, though. That was the case with Kago Ai. But considering that some if not many of the H!P girls are rather well off I don't think it happens as often anymore.

[minaeshi]

I find it really hard to believe that Mizuki is only a couple years older than me and she's making 3 times as much money in a week, as what I make in a month. $3k a week is like $420 on average each day. What on earth. 

[Juandalyn]

Granted, she also has to live in Tokyo which is super expensive and then she won't be making this much money after graduation anymore - which might be in a few years

[miyooooons]

I'm under the impression that the longer the girls stay, the more their salaries increase. I don't have much evidence to back this up other than Berryz, Aichan, Gaki, and others who had stayed 10+ living apparent lavish lifestyles after graduating. That's just my feeling though.
I think it may also depend on what group you're in and what kind of income your specific group is bringing in. I don't imagine it to be any crazy 6 figure amount, but I think after a few years it becomes a couple thousand more than what you could earn at a part-time sales job. And obviously outside work such as CM's and promotional deals are a big factor in these girls' income.