One of the fastest emerging stars of late has been solo singer IU. She's been churning out hit after hit ever since her catchy song from last year, "Marshmallow". More than just being a star, she's been the?trend these days.

Whatever she wears, sings, or says becomes news. Scoring spots on variety shows, live concerts, and product endorsement deals, IU's been busy this year. So the question is how much money did she earn for all her work?

The most profitable type of work was commercials. IU shot seven different commercials for 2010, signing for a year-long contract with each of them. Monetary value-wise, the 18-year-old singer raked in over 1.4 billion won.

As for her music, IU has released successful singles and collaborations such as "Nagging" with 2AM's Seulong and "It's You" with Sung Shi-kyung. Her recently released third mini-album, "Real", has already been climbing up on various music charts with the title song, "Good Day" hitting number one. Profits are estimated to be around 3 billion won.

IU's also been keeping busy on various variety programs and events which earned her an additional 500 million won.

Combined, the young star's annual earnings for 2010 stands at about 5 billion won. This is about the same amount as a small or medium sized company's annual sales figures.


Source:KBS Global