86.6% of Artists Earn Less Than 1 Million Won Per Month

Ministry of Culture Announces 'Artist Survey'... Average Annual Income 7.55 Million KRW
Sharp Contrast Between Architecture, Comics, Broadcasting Entertainment and Photography, Popular Music, Gugak
45% Report Stress Due to Low Pay, Lack of Time, and Emotional Labor

Last year, the average annual income of artists was 7.55 million KRW, which was 41% (5.26 million KRW) less than the 12.81 million KRW recorded in 2017. According to the "Artist Survey (2020 data)" announced by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the 31st, the cause was a decrease in artistic activities. Due to the spread of COVID-19 and other factors, the average number of activities remained at 3.8 times, a 48% (3.5 times) decrease from 7.3 times in 2017. Accordingly, 86.6% of artists had a monthly average income of less than 1 million KRW, compared to 72.7% in 2017.

The average annual income of artists varied significantly by field. Architecture (38.21 million KRW), comics (21.95 million KRW), and broadcasting/entertainment (18.08 million KRW) were relatively high, whereas photography (2.73 million KRW), popular music (3.73 million KRW), and gugak (traditional Korean music) (3.80 million KRW) were very low. The proportion earning more than 60 million KRW was 2.1%. On the other hand, those with no income or less than 5 million KRW accounted for 69.6%. The harsh reality was also evident in artist households, with an average annual total income of 41.27 million KRW, about 20 million KRW less than the national average household income of 61.25 million KRW. Copyright income, which has a considerable impact, was held by about one in four artists (26.9%), mainly in popular music (75.0%), comics (59.9%), and literature (43.3%). The proportion of artists who experienced "career interruption" by giving up artistic activities was 36.3%, an increase of more than 10% from 23.9% in 2017. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official explained, "It was relatively high in film, broadcasting/entertainment, theater, and popular music," adding, "The main reasons were lack of income (69.6%) and childbirth/childcare (9.0%)."

Artists who presented works at least once and successfully concluded contracts accounted for 54.3%, an increase of 7.6% from 46.7% in 2017. About 90% of these contracts were made in writing. The use of standard contracts was 66.0%, up 21.3% from 44.7% three years ago. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official explained, "The rate of standard contract use was high in theater (75.0%), literature (70.6%), film (70.5%), and gugak (70.4%)." There were also 11.2% of artists who experienced unfair contracts, a slight increase from 9.6% in 2017. The issues mainly involved unfair contract terms, coercion to accept terms different from the contract, and refusal, delay, or restriction of fair profit distribution.

Forty-five percent of all artists reported experiencing stress from artistic activities. The main factors cited were lower pay compared to other fields (74.5%), lack of time for artistic activities (40.2%), emotional labor (36.6%), and low social recognition of artists (29.6%). The proportion of women who said they received unequal treatment compared to men was 26.8%, while only 8.0% of men reported experiencing inequality. The remaining 65.2% said men and women were treated equally. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official added, "The younger the age, the higher the response rate for 'female inequality,' and the older the age, the higher the response rate for 'gender equality.'"

The Artist Survey is conducted every three years under Article 4-3 of the "Artist Welfare Act." This time, 5,109 artists from fourteen fields participated through interviews, phone calls, and online surveys from September to November. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official said, "We were able to reconfirm the decreased income from artistic activities and the poor economic situation due to COVID-19," adding, "We will expand support for artists' creative safety nets such as employment insurance and creative preparation funds, and implement the ‘Artist Rights Protection Act’ to create a fair artistic creation environment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.