It looks like all that pony dancing is finally paying off for South Korean singer Psy. The international phenomenon behind the ultra viral "Gangnam Style," will reportedly take home an estimated $8.1 million this year.
Psy, who rose to international fame over the summer with his YouTube mega-hit, nabbed some well-paying commercial endorsements along with his online music sales. According to the Associated Press, the Korean super star will earn $4.6 million in commercial endorsements that include work with Samsung and LG Uplus in South Korea.
The 34-year-old, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, owes his success to the Google-owned video sharing site YouTube, as well as a small chunk of his earnings this year. "Gangnam Style," which has reached nearly 900 million views, could bring in about $870,000 to Psy and his agent YG Entertainment, TubeMogul estimated.
The earnings stem from ad revenue on his own video as well as from videos identified with his copyrighted content. The AP reported that by late September, over 33,000 videos had been identified with using "Gangnam Style."
Psy will also rake in revenue from the online sale of his song and video from Apple iTunes and from a music streaming service in South Korea. The artist's team will earn $2.6 million from 2.9 million iTunes downloads of "Gangnam Style," which sells for $1.29. According to the AP, Apple tends to keep about 30 percent of all sales made on iTunes.
The star will also take home around $61,000 from downloads made through a South Korean streaming service and about $50,000 in CD sales in his home country.
But not all of Psy's revenue will stem from his catchy hit. According to the report, Psy's family has a combined 30 percent share-hold of DI Corp. The company, which develops equipment that other companies use to make computer chips, has seen stocks double since the release of "Gangnam Style."
Psy, a veteran performer in his home country, rose to international fame almost over night after releasing his catchy song "Gangnam Style." The song is based on the upscale neighborhood of Gangnam District in Seoul. Despite being called a satire by many in the media, Psy told fans during a Reddit AMA that the song "is not a critique, just FUN!"
"Gangnam Style" is currently No. 5 on Billboard's Top 100 chart and No. 7 on iTunes Top 100 Songs. The song's video continues to dominate the iTunes Top 100 Music Videos chart at the No. 1 spot. By Wednesday night, it had 888,538,748 views on YouTube.