Two former K-pop idols are pulling back the curtain on the industry’s pay gap, revealing that life behind the glamorous stage image is far less lucrative than most people think. Former Dal Shabet leader Serri and ex-Fiestar member Cao Lu sat down together and spoke candidly about the economic reality idols actually live with — years of unpaid labor, trainee debt, and paychecks that never matched the fame. Cao Lu and Serri (Credits: Koreaboo)
The conversation was uploaded on October 16 under the provocative title “‘If you’re in Dal Shabet, people think you own a house’… A girl group asking for concern for celebrities too.” When asked whether she received any profit distribution during her Dal Shabet days, Serri admitted she “didn’t receive any profit distribution until my third year.” As leader, she eventually marched into the CEO’s office holding her members’ hands to demand payment — only after that did the company start paying them “little by little.”
Profit Sharing Was Rare Outside Big Agencies
Cao Lu’s story was even starker. She revealed that Fiestar members “didn’t get any profit distribution until our contracts ended.” Looking back, she regretted not speaking up sooner: “I was the eldest, and I think I should have been more assertive.”
Serri put it bluntly: “Back then, unless you were with a major agency, profit distribution just didn’t happen.” Both singers agreed the public’s perception of idol wealth is badly skewed. “People say, ‘Idols make a lot of money,’ ‘You don’t have to worry about celebrities,’ but honestly, only the top 5 to 10% actually earn well,” Cao Lu said. Serri echoed the sentiment: “Unless you’re in the top 10%, it’s mostly the same situation” — even with Dal Shabet’s name recognition in Korea.
Trainee Debt and an Industry Still Evolving
The pair also tackled the controversial practice of billing trainees for their training costs. Serri was direct: “To be frank, I believe companies should invest in trainees’ expenses.” With music videos, song production, dancers, and costumes piling up after debut, adding trainee-era bills on top means idols “drown in debt.”
Cao Lu offered one small comfort — unrepaid expenses at contract’s end don’t follow you: “If you can’t repay everything by the time your contract ends, you don’t have to pay more.” Serri also noted that contract terms vary by company and that “nowadays, profit distribution works better than in the past,” expressing gratitude that her Dal Shabet years built the foundation for her current singing career.
The takeaway? As Serri summed it up: unless a song cracks the chart’s top five and keeps life “somewhat comfortable,” the idol hustle is a lot tougher than it looks.
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Source: Koreaboo — read the full story there.
