WINNER’s Kang Seung-Yoon has revealed just how much his songwriting earned him at his peak — over 100 million won in royalties, with tens of millions of won landing every month for about two years.
The singer shared the figures on fellow singer-songwriter Jang Jae-In’s YouTube channel, in a video uploaded on October 2. The two first met on Mnet’s “Superstar K2” in 2010 and have stayed close for over a decade.
When Jang asked about his royalties, she admitted her own have dried up, joking that at her best she earned “about the price of two domestic midsize cars.” Kang named his biggest hit, “REALLY REALLY,” and said his title tracks hit No. 1 from that point on. He received over 100 million won at the peak, and for roughly two years “several tens of millions of won per month kept coming in steadily.”
Asked whether idol earnings or royalties were larger, Kang was direct: “The money I earned as an idol was obviously bigger. Concert revenue and advertising revenue were bigger. But royalties were no less big back then. Right now my royalty income has fallen too much.”
Among the title tracks he credited for the royalty boom was “REALLY REALLY,” one of several No. 1 hits from his songwriting run.
The confession is a rare window into what a songwriting idol can earn in the streaming era — and how quickly it can fade.
