Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40: BLACKPINK Returns to Throne After 5 Years, BTS on Hiatus

The 2024 Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 list was revealed. All eyes were on who would hold the top spot after BTS for the past five years, who went on hiatus, and who would inherit the throne.

On April 23, the economic magazine Post Korea released the 2024 Power Celebrity 40 list. This is the Korean version of the Highest-paid Celebrity 100 that Forbes selects each year.

The Power Celebrity 40 determines the rankings based on a celebrity’s annual income (50%), quantifying the influence of media, social media, and broadcasting (50%) and adding these four indicators to calculate the total score. The estimated income and influence index increase as the celebrity gets more exposure to the public through active activities such as works (movies, dramas), games, broadcasts, performances, and advertisements during the survey period. Therefore, even if a celebrity has a high reputation, if the public’s attention decreases or the activities are sluggish for a year, they drop in the rankings. On the other hand, even if they are not explosively popular, if they consistently engage in broadcasting and performance activities and frequently appear in advertisements, they can maintain the title of Power Celebrity 40.

Amid the world-class K-pop groups and sports stars who have dominated the top of the Korean celebrity list in recent years, the star who took the honor of first place this year was none other than BLACKPINK. They reclaimed the top spot for the first time in five years since they ranked first in 2019. BLACKPINK completed a total of 66 performances in 34 cities across 22 countries worldwide starting from the end of 2022 and grabbed the record of the girl group with the highest concert sales in the world with this world tour. In addition, they ranked first in the social media sector (YouTube 57.85 million + Instagram 93.3 million) in addition to their income, making them the overall number one.

Following BLACKPINK, the top 10 included Son Heung Min, NewJeans, Kim Min Jae, Lim Young Woong, Lee Jung Hoo, Jimin, Lee Kang In, Jungkook, and aespa. The list was dominated by idols and sports stars, except Lim Young Woong (5th place).

A star worth noting is NewJeans. Despite making their debut less than two years ago, on July 22, 2022, with a song called “Attention,” NewJeans caught attention by ranking third, the highest. NewJeans, evaluated as having both popularity and musicality, rose 24 steps from 27th place last year. Although they didn’t have many performances last year, they have 9 songs in the top 200 of the Circle Chart, consistently earning music source income. In addition, it is understood that they received the highest treatment in the market, shooting 31 advertisements during the survey period and raising advertising income to the scale of 30 billion won ($25 million).

While girl groups ruled the top 40 charts, the lack of a breakout boy group to follow BTS is a missed opportunity.