A 30-year study of South Korea’s music sector since the H.O.T era reveals a painful truth: nearly 45% of K-pop groups disband within three years of debut, which is well short of the industry’s standard seven-year contract. As per research, the upfront launching cost of an idol group is somewhere between ₩5 billion to ₩10 billion (~ $3.5 million to $7.0 million USD), nevertheless, only a minor fraction of acts produce enough sales volume to break even. The study, authored by Sungshin Women's University professor Kim Jeong-seop, was published in the Journal of the Korea Entertainment Industry Association. Notably, the research followed 1,182 idol groups who debuted during the 1996 to 2025 period. The census shows an average of 39.4 groups entered the market annually in the three-decade period, making a cluttered ecosystem identified by steep early turnover and revenue concentration at the top.