The big three entertainment companies in South Korea, SM, YG, and JYP Entertainment released their gross sales revenues for the first quarter of 2012.

According to their 2012 First Quarter Report, total sales for SM Entertainment increased 198.71% from the 2011 report for the same period with a sales revenue of 38.4 billion Won ($32.6 million USD). YG Entertainment recorded a sales revenue of 17.8 billion Won ($15.1 million USD), and JYP Entertainment recorded a sales revenue of 1.1 billion Won ($934,000).

JYP Entertainment's revenues are less compared to SM and YG due to the fact that many of their popular artists are signed to the agency's subsidiaries.

The employee salaries of the Big 3 have been revealed as well, attracting much attention due to the fact that the figures are smaller than expected when considering the high revenue that the companies bring in.

General staff employees of SM Entertainment have an annual salary of about 22.39 million to 29.99 million Won (about $19,000 to $25,400). YG Entertainment staff members earn 24.16 million to 26.12 million Won (about $20,500 to $22,200), while JYP staff members earn 10.75 million to 22.61 million won (about $9,100 to $19,200).

Source: Seoul via Nate, ilyoseoul