Here’s How Much K-Pop Idols Can Earn From The “Dear. U Bubble” Messaging Service

Dear U. Bubble is a messaging service for idols and fans that runs on a subscription basis. Idols use it to send mass messages to fans. Fans can pay a monthly rate to receive these messages and send replies. While it is not entirely a 1:1 service, fans receive exclusive messages and have the chance to directly send their own to their star.

The current cost of a subscription is ₩4,500 KRW (about $3.36 USD) per month. While there is no maximum limit to the number of messages idols can send out, there is a minimum of once per month. On the other hand, fans can send up to three replies per message from their idol.

So just how much of this ₩4,500 KRW (about $3.36 USD) goes to the idol? According to a divisions chart provided by officials, Dear U receives 40% of the fee, while the server platform receives 30%. The idols’ companies takes back 30%. This 30% at ₩1,350 KRW (about $1.01 USD) is further split between the idol and the company. The idols receive 60% of the money received by their company, making their cash out per subscription ₩810 KRW (about $0.60 USD).

If an idol has 10,000 subscribers a month, they can easily make over ₩8.00 million KRW (about $5,970 USD) per month! Popular idols can fill up those numbers easily. Of course, there’s no way to know the actual subscription numbers for each idol. Even so, some idols work extremely hard to give fans their money’s worth. NCT’s Jaemin is known for his dedication to his fans and his plentiful Bubbles.

It’s no wonder that subscriptions are hard to cut off!