Blackpink were allegedly paid millions of dollars each by their company to renew their contract.

Blackpink is a South Korean girl group founded by YG Entertainment and comprised of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. They are regarded as the most successful Korean female group abroad and a driving force in the Korean Wave, having been dubbed the biggest girl group in the world.

They debuted in August 2016 with their song ‘BOOMBAYAH’ and had a seven-year contract with YG Entertainment. With Blackpink’s contracts with YG Entertainment set to expire in August 2023, the label issued a statement to South Korean media in July 2023 confirming that contract renewals were currently being discussed.

This was followed by another statement in November 2023 confirming that they were still negotiating with the artists regarding their exclusive contracts. On December 5, 2023, YG Entertainment stated that all four Blackpink members had extended their contracts for group activities and promised a new album and globe tour in the future. 

However, they did not sign contracts for their solo activities. Instead, Jisoo signed with her brother’s label, Blissoo, whereas Jennie and Lisa, opened their labels Odd Atelier and LLOUD, respectively. 

Rosé has not revealed her solo endeavors yet, but it is believed that she has also left YG Entertainment in terms of solo activities. Many believe that, like her members, she will also open her own labels or entertainment agency.

Blackpink. (Source: )

However, at the time of writing, Rosé has not made any announcement as such.

Since the contract renewal, netizens have often wondered what the negotiation terms were and how much YG Entertainment paid to Blackpink members to renew their group contracts.

On March 21, 2024, YG Entertainment released its 2023 financial statement. Immediately, netizens focused on the hefty bill of 41 billion won in the “contract down payment” category. 

This is the amount that an entertainment agency must pay when signing an exclusive deal with an artist. YG Entertainment signed no new artists or renewed contracts with any of their current musicians in 2023, with the exception of Blackpink. 

In the case of BABYMONSTER, their debut project had already been planned, hence the expenditure in training and introducing the rookie female group did not fall under the category mentioned. 

As a result, netizens theorized that Blackpink’s contract down payment is 41 billion won, with each member receiving around 10 billion won, which is almost 7.5 million USD, for agreeing to extend the group contract. 

YG Entertainment released a statement claiming that the contract down payment was not just for Blackpink but many others.  “Last year, there were renewals and new contracts not only for Blackpink but also for many IPs,” they said “Although we cannot disclose all contract details, the amount cannot be viewed as Blackpink’s only down payment.”

Regardless of their statement, given the scale of the contract down payment of roughly 41.2 billion won (30.6 million USD), it is believed that even if other IP contracts were included, the deal with the Blackpink members, whose down payment is extremely large, would have cost close to 10 billion won or 7.5 million USD, per individual.

At the time of writing, YG Entertainment has not clarified the amount paid to each member of Blackpink for the contract renewal.