BoA Reveals What Made Her Sign With SM and Exactly How Much the Invested in Her Debut

On a recent episode of SBS’s Because I Want to Talk, BoA opened up about her career at SM Entertainment and the jaw-dropping amount of money they invested in her debut.

BoA shared that when people hear about the fact that she’s been a singer for 20 years, most are shocked and ask how old she is.

Most people ask me how old I am. Because I spent my teens, 20s, and 30s as a singer.

– BoA

As an idol who debuted in 2000 as a 13-year-old girl, BoA added that her audience also changed over the years.

Before, I told my fans to study hard. But now, I ask them if they took a leave of absence from work to be here.

– BoA

BoA also shared her thoughts and feelings at the time of her debut performance.

It ended in no time. I felt like it should’ve left a stronger memory since I trained for so long, but it’s all hazy. I don’t remember a specific part, but I do remember thinking, ‘I just had my first performance. I finally debuted.’

– BoA

But what gained the most attention was BoA’s confession that she received business cards from over 20 agencies and her reason for why she chose to go with SM Entertainment.

Before I picked SM Entertainment, I received business cards from over 20 agencies. But there weren’t companies that ended with ‘entertainment’, but more like ‘agency’ and ‘records’. But I got a call from SM Entertainment first, so I went to audition, and I passed right away.

– BoA

And it paid off because SM Entertainment ended up investing a lot of money on BoA’s debut.

SM Entertainment invested 3 billion won (~$2.5 million USD) on my debut. At the time, even 30,000 won (~$25 USD) was a lot to me, and I didn’t even know what billion meant. When I heard about it later, I realized SM invested a lot in me. But I also made a lot of money for them, so…

– BoA