YouTube sensation and K-pop superstar Psy is estimated to bring in $8.1 million this year for his dance-craze-and-insanity-inducing single, "Gangnam Style." After galloping past Justin Bieber's "Baby" clip in the horse race for YouTube's most popular video ever, "Gangnam Style" has earned a relatively paltry $870,000 in ad revenue from the site for nearly 900 million views.
The majority of Psy's "Gangnam" earnings come from endorsement and commercial deals for Korean noodles, phones, and refrigerators, adding up to about $4.6 million. Online downloads in the U.S. account for another $2.6 million of the Grammy-snubbed rapper's profits.
Interestingly enough, Psy has only made about $61,000 from the single in his home country. Despite being downloaded over 3.6 million times there, the majority of South Koreans get their music via subscription-based websites that only pay, on average, 10 cents per download and 0.2 cents per stream.