News Park Jiwon: "fromis_9 Had No Income or Settlements Until Our 7th Year… I Lived on Allowance From My Mom" (Knowing Bros) (1 Viewer)

[centen]

@Flover

박지원 "프로미스나인, 데뷔 7년차까지 수입·정산 無.. 엄마 용돈으로 생계 유지" ('아형')

프로미스나인 박지원이 데뷔 7년차까지 제대로 된 정산을 받지 못했다며 관련 비화를 전했다. 29일 JTBC '아는형님'에선 박지원, 지상렬, 이은결, 츠키가 게스트로 출연해 입담을 뽐냈다. Mnet 오디션 프로그램 '아이돌 학교'의 파생그룹인

tvreport.co.kr

fromis_9's Park Jiwon revealed that the group did not properly receive any earnings or settlements until their 7th year since debut, sharing details about the difficult period they went through

Park Jiwon, who is in her 8th year since debut as a member of fromis_9 confessed, "Honestly, we went through a difficult period because we had no income for 7 years"

When Kim Shinyoung asked, "Does that mean you didn't receive any settlements if you had no income?" she replied, "That's right. We worked without receiving settlements, and I lived off the allowance my mother gave me"

She continued, "There were times when I had to pay for meals. Whenever that happened, I was always anxious that my card would get declined because of insufficient funds. And unfortunately, that period coincided with COVID-19, so we weren't able to do many activities"

trans credits: @/fiq_d_flover

 

[centen]

It's wild to me that the entertainment industry is the one industry in which business expenses can be entirely offloaded to the idols while the companies take in the profits.

 

[dark_tranquility]

That's so heart breaking
Those girls did not deserve it
Some people man

 

[Abeamus]

It's wild to me that the entertainment industry is the one industry in which business expenses can be entirely offloaded to the idols while the companies take in the profits.

This isn't the issue here though and it's more so that the company already pays a ton training the members while receiving no income for that period in hopes that when they debut they will be able to repay the cost of their training and they should start earning when they have done that.

The problem with this setup though is it is miserable for 90% of idols because you just won't break even without a massive hit like Gfriend mentioned paying off their debt by Fingertip which Glass Bead did okay, Me Gustas Tu and Rough were massive hits and Navillera did pretty good yet it still took 2 years to pay off the money spent training them and unfortunately fromis_9 were probably bordering profitability most of the time which chips away at that debt incredibly slowly.

 

[kimsguardian]

damn you pledis, i hate you

 

[centen]

This isn't the issue here though and it's more so that the company already pays a ton training the members while receiving no income for that period in hopes that when they debut they will be able to repay the cost of their training and they should start earning when they have done that.

My employer also paid a ton in training with no idea on whether or not I would ultimately be a net positive to the company. Training expenses are a basic part of operating any business.

 

[Abeamus]

My employer also paid a ton in training with no idea on whether or not I would ultimately be a net positive to the company. Training expenses are a basic part of operating any business.

And since I assume you are talking about a big known company ones like SM and such have no training debt because they can afford it and while Pledis probably could have done the same smaller companies would not function if they had to bare the cost of the training since Mamamoo alone cost nearly $2M.

You do not have to like the system but no one has come up with a better idea that would not simply completely gut the scene and only a handful of companies have the money to simply wave off the debt.

 

[TrinityJade]

Really heartbreaking... 7 years is insane
I know fromis_9 isn't that popular, but most people know who they are, so it's not like they're a niche group either...

 

[centen]

And since I assume you are talking about a big known company ones like SM and such have no training debt because they can afford it and while Pledis probably could have done the same smaller companies would not function if they had to bare the cost of the training since Mamamoo alone cost nearly $2M.

You do not have to like the system but no one has come up with a better idea that would not simply completely gut the scene and only a handful of companies have the money to simply wave off the debt.

I'm of the opinion that, if you cannot afford to pay your employees, then you don't have a business. You have a very expensive hobby that you are offloading the costs to other people to subsidize.

But given how the industry is as it is, I understand that other people think that's an acceptable trade-off.

 

[Abeamus]

I'm of the opinion that, if you cannot afford to pay your employees, then you don't have a business. You have a very expensive hobby that you are offloading the costs to other people to subsidize.

But given how the industry is as it is, I understand that other people think that's an acceptable trade-off.

Thing is they usually do pay for their living like you hear all about them living in dorms and the manager usually has a company card that they can use for food like even Loona had that and BBC literally dragged them into debt although even these situations can get dire if the company is really poor like I think Stellar was sharing 1 meal a day.

What Pledis was doing exactly with fromis_9 I genuinely have no idea but there is a lot of question marks when it comes to Pledis treatment of women that sounds more like a Pledis specific problem than some big overarching Kpop industry thing.

There is always the option of getting another job though like Hyelin from EXID had a second job to help pay for things the group needed before they hit it big which is not ideal but if a company can spend 2 years training an idol and for them to just leave and debut with another company they just would not take that risk.

 

[RandAlThor]

I'm of the opinion that, if you cannot afford to pay your employees, then you don't have a business. You have a very expensive hobby that you are offloading the costs to other people to subsidize.

But given how the industry is as it is, I understand that other people think that's an acceptable trade-off.

it is brutal, but as hard as it seems.
I think that when done right it can allow less well off kids to get the foot in the door.

Someone is gong to pay the training cost of a Raw person to get each to a base line. The wealthy have the classic private training .

Now where i really think you are closer to what should be real, is after you have group 'ready ' those costs should be the company's.

A perpetual state of treading water like what seems to have happened to Fromis is crazy. Unless Pledis was up front each quarter say.

this is what you generate this is the fixed cost.
Then let the members decide if this is enough a life with enough hope to keep at it.
I call it the bar band phase. most old school acts had to grind and grind with side jobs until they got out of that phase
I remember stories of say Destiny's child milling members who were unhappy with how much early work it was with no pay.
TLC ect.

Clearly Gyuri did not think so much earlier than the rest.