Album sales of Kpop idols are at the strongest increase in a decade. The epidemic that caused the concert to be canceled is said to be the reason for this achievement.
According to The Korea Times, the Korean pop culture market has suffered a heavy blow from the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic. However, the K-pop industry was less affected by the strong increase in album sales. Even, The Korea Times assessed that the number of album sales of Kpop idols is at the strongest increase in a decade.
Tens of millions of album copies sold
Noeasy - the second full album of boy group Stray Kids -recently became the first million-selling product from JYP Entertainment - one of the 4 biggest K-pop entertainment companies. The album has sold more than 1.22 million copies as of the end of September, according to data from Gaon Chart.
Two other groups from JYP, ITZY, TWICE also achieved impressive album sales. With the first full album Crazy in Love, ITZY sold 259,705 copies in the first week. This is the most outstanding achievement in ITZY's album sales since its debut. Meanwhile, TWICE is currently the girl group with the top album sales in Kpop with a total of 6.34 million copies.
Three other well-known agencies - Hybe, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment - also hit the milestone with albums by BTS, Seventeen, EXO, Baekhyun, NCT Dream, NCT 127, aespa, and BlackPink.
According to Korea Joongang Daily, Seventeen's album Your Choice released in June has sold more than 1.14 million copies within 4 days of its release. This is the group's fourth consecutive million-selling album. Seventeen's previous album Heng:garae (2020) sold 1.9 million copies in the first week.
NCT 127 even sold 2.1 million copies of the Sticker album on September 17-24. According to information from the management company SM Entertainment, NCT 127 has broken its own album sales record.
In mid-September, Forbes reported that BTS's single "Butter" CD sold more than 2.64 million copies in Korea alone. The CD quickly rose to number one on Gaon - Korea's weekly best-selling albums chart. The above achievement is enough to make Butter the best-selling product of the year.
After dropping to a low of 7.38 million copies in 2014, Korean album sales rose to 8.38 million in 2015, 10.8 million in 2016, 16.93 million in 2017, 22.82 million in 2018 and 24.59 million in 2019.
Kpop aims for 100 million album copies
According to Kim Jin Woo, head of research at Gaon Chart, 42 million people bought K-pop albums in 2020. In particular, about 43 million copies of albums were sold in the first nine months of the year, surpassing last year's total. . The entertainment industry expert attributed the sharp increase in album sales to the limitations of the pandemic, in addition to the global popularity of the group BTS.
"Fans seem to be looking for a way to ease their disappointment when they can't attend concerts due to Covid-19 by purchasing albums. In addition, the pie in the album market has become bigger thanks to the growth of the fandom. overseas K-pop music," Kim Jin Woo told The Korea Times.
According to statistics from the Korea Customs Service, K-pop album exports rose 119.o $173,948 million in the firsar. The number above shows the pop9% tularity of K-pop albut nine months of this year compared to the same period last yems abroad. Japan is the largest importer.
The Korea Times article points out that as revenue from concerts and fan meeting events has plummeted, K-pop companies are relying more on album sales.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic information system, physical and digital album sales accounted for 44.5% of SM's total sales in the first half of this year, up 12.5% year-on-year. last year. JYP's album sales also increased by 56.5%.
Some industry insiders forecast K-pop album sales could hit 100 million copies this year. However, experts say that whether K-pop can achieve this number depends on the situation of the pandemic.
The Korea Times reported that from November, the Korean government decided to adjust the distancing regulations and switch to the "living with Covid-19" option, treating the virus as a respiratory infectious disease, for example. seasonal flu. In that situation, music nights and entertainment events will begin to be held again.
"Before moving to the option of living with Covid-19, the concerts will be scheduled to take place in turn from November. In that situation, the consumption of the fandom, which focuses on buying albums. , can be scattered," Kim said.
"However, the global appeal of K-pop is infinitely expandable. Therefore, even if we can't reach 100 million copies, we can gradually increase album sales year by year," Kim Jin Woo said. determined.