In Korea, it's not just the name of the artist or group that matters, but also which entertainment company is the one backing them up. Aspiring artists can only dream of being signed onto one of the "Big 3" companies: SM Entertainment led by Lee Soo-man, YG Entertainment headed by Yang Hyeon-seok, and JYP Entertainment fronted by Park Jin-young. SM Entertainment has churned out hit makers such as Girls Generation, TVXQ, Super Junior, Boa, etc. YG Entertainment has produced what's arguably the most popular male idol group in Korea, Big Bang, and the ever so popular group 2NE1. JYP Entertainment is responsible for having catapulted Rain to world stardom level, the Wondergirls, 2 PM, 2AM, etc. So how did these three companies do in 2009? On the 12th, reports of SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment's financial statements from the Financial Supervisory Board had been released. This follows YG Entertainment's reports having surfaced earlier on the 9th.

In terms of total revenue, SM earned the most with about 61.8 billion won in comparison to 2008's 43.7 billion won. However, YG Entertainment had the biggest increase in sales compared to 2008, shooting up by 92% increase, from 18.5 billion won to 35.7 billion won in 2009. JYP Entertainment's records weren't too shabby either with 10.2 billion won this past year.

With the various costs taken out of the mix, operating profits for the three entertainment powerhouses stood at about 9.3 billion won for SM Entertainment, 7.4 billion won for YG Entertainment, and 230 million won for JYP Entertainment. Net profits tallied up to be 4.5 billion won for SM Entertainment and 4.2 billion won for YG Entertainment. JYP Entertainment saw a net loss of 4.7 billion won. Reports indicate that this is not necessarily because its fellow artists haven't been doing well, but because a majority of the funds had been invested into the Wondergirls' stab at breaking out in the US market.

Source:KBS Global