YouTube is among the major social media platforms where most of the popular K-pop artists have their channels. In addition to uploading their songs and performances, or dropping teasers, the idols also vlog about their lives or give a sneak peek into behind-the-scenes clips. Posting on YouTube also brings in revenue for artists, as they earn some extra cash as YouTubers.
Forbes Korea revealed a list of the top K-pop celebrities of 2021 who were estimated to have the highest-earning channels on YouTube. Let us take a look at the five K-pop artists who are the highest earners on YouTube, in ascending order.
Got7's BamBam is at the Fifth Position earning US$1.5 million
The singer has 1.15 million subscribers and 94 videos with 85.5 million views. He is deserving of a huge round of applause for making it to the top five as an individual artist. BamBam's YouTube channel features diverse content, including choreography videos and vlogs.
Seventeen is at the Fourth Position earning US$1.7 million
The K-pop group has 7.15 million subscribers and 951 videos with 2.3 billion views.
Seventeen, which was formed in 2015 by Pledis Entertainment, earned three rookie awards in their debut year itself. They post interesting content such as fancams, which are close-up videos filmed by a member of the audience during a live performance, as well as vlogs like Inside Seventeen.
NCT Dream is at the Third Position earning US$1.9 million
The boys' band has 4.18 million subscribers and 242 videos with 459.7 million views.
Formed by SM Entertainment, NCT Dream featuring on this list comes as no surprise. NCT Dream is a subunit of NCT, which also has many other subunits, that receives the most attention from the public on its channel.
BLACKPINK is at the Second Position earning US$11.6 million
The super girls' K-pop group has a whopping 69.3 million subscribers and 395 videos with 20.9 billion views. Incidentally, they are ahead of the top-rankers on this list in terms of the number of YouTube subscribers and total views.
BLACKPINK is arguably the most famous and leading K-pop girls' group, so it is only natural that they rank in the top two. They are also the most followed Korean stars on Instagram. The group has numerous accolades and milestones in its name.
BTS is at the First Position earning US$16.5 million
The most famous K-pop band to date, BTS has 60.7 million subscribers and 1,628 videos with 13.7 billion views.
The legendary group's YouTube channel is called BangtanTV, a name which originates from the group's name in Korean, Bangtan Sonyeondan. The boy band posts some creative and out-of-the-box content, including posts such as "Study with BTS". It is not surprising to see them in the top position on this list.
Did you guess the top five names on this list correctly? Did your favorite K-pop artist make it to the list?