Did COVID19 help increase K-pop album sales?

[satoori]

Did COVID19 help increase K-pop album sales?

An unprecedented record was set in the Korean music industry this year during the COVID19 pandemic. The total number of albums sold in the music industry this year exceed 40 million copies. This is the result of an increasing number of domestic and overseas fans who have purchased albums because they were not able to meet the idol groups through concerts.

According to the Korean Association of Music Contents, the actual album sales reached 40.2 million copies by the 50th week of this year (December 12th). The figure is up 64 percent from last year's total of 24.59 million copies.

Sales of albums in Korea have been steadily growing since 2016 as 10.8 million copies were sold in 2016, 16.93 million in 2017, and 22.81 million copies in 2018. However, this year's increase is exceptionally high.

In particular, there are eight groups of artists who have sold more than 1 million albums this year. BTS is followed by Seventeen, NCT, BLACKPINK, NCT 127, IZ*ONE, TWICE, and Baekyun. As the music market moved online, the 'million-sellers' fame continued to grow globally as groups such as BTS and EXO expanded their global fandoms.

Kim Jin Woo, a senior researcher at Gaon Chart, said, "the increase in album sales since 2017 has had a significant impact on overseas shipments. In particular, album sales helped Korean exports year."

K-Pop groups such as BTS, BLACKPINK, NCT, and MONSTA X have been on the Billboard charts several times this year, and the expansion of the global fandom seems to have affected the album sales greatly.

According to a recent report by the Korea Customs Service, the number of albums exported in the first 11 months of this year soared to 123 million dollars. The figure is up 78.2 percent from the same period last year. The number of countries exporting albums has also increased to about 110 countries.

Looking at the number of recorded exports, growth in North America is noticeable. Imports of K-pop albums in the U.S. grew 117 percent compared to last year. The U.S. overtook China and became the second-largest buyer of albums from Korea.

Non-Asian continents that imported music from Korea have also increased. The non-Asian continents importing K-pop albums has increased from 7.4 percent in 2017 to 24.2 percent this year. Asia's share decreased from 92.6 percent in 2017 to 75.8 percent this year (January-November), but North America increased from 5.3 percent in 2017 to 14.2 percent this year as Europe increased from 1.8 percent in 2017 to 8.1 percent this year.

Last year, only TWICE ranked in the top 10 among girl groups for album sales, but this year, BLACKPINK and IZ*ONE posted high sales as well. Among the girl groups, BLACKPINK ranked fifth place overall with sales of about 1.7 million copies sold, while IZ*ONE sold about 1.4 million copies and TWICE recorded about 1.3 million albums. 

As the music market has been booming this year, 17 albums have sold more than 500,000 copies. Last year there were only 7 albums that reached more than 500,000 copies sold.

It is also notable that non-idol singers ranked in the top album sales. Kim Ho Joong, who appeared in 'Mr. Trot' (TV Chosun), ranked 13th overall and sold about 539,000 copies of his first full-length album, 'Our House,' which was released in October.

Researcher Kim Jin Woo stated, "The result reflects the kind of retaliatory consumption phenomenon that occurs when external fan activities such as concerts are impossible due to COVID19 and the continued expansion of global fandom. In addition to BTS, the booming physical album market is expected to continue for the time being, considering the fact that million-seller groups such as NCT, Seventeen, BLACKPINK already have loyal fandoms as well as the possibility of overseas fans joining multiple fandoms."

(source)

[satoori]

"Looking at the number of recorded exports, growth in North America is noticeable. Imports of K-pop albums in the U.S. grew 117 percent compared to last year. The U.S. overtook China and became the second-largest buyer of albums from Korea."

 

wow..o.o

 

 

[GiganticMint121]

I feel like sales could have been even higher? In Korea at least. In person fansigns would have driven sales up 

[Guest]

now they can start selling only ONE VERSION ^___^ fuck these companies and their 53 versions and huge ass boxes i hope you choke

[satoori]

8 minutes ago, cornichon said:

now they can start selling only ONE VERSION ^___^ fuck these companies and their 53 versions and huge ass boxes i hope you choke

bts did one version with their most recent album

i mean, no one is forcing fans to buy more than one version. even with one version some fans buy more lol. tbh i feel groups doing two versions is reasonable, it give fans options. but that's just my opinion^^

edit: at least kpop groups don't do crazy bundles like western artists 

Edited December 23, 2020 by satoori

[Guest]

1 minute ago, satoori said:

bts did one version with their most recent album

i mean, no one is forcing fans to buy more than one version. even with one version some fans buy more lol. tbh i feel groups doing two versions is reasonable, it give fans options. but that's just my opinion^^

2 versions is like ok (esp if you compare to western artists that do regular and deluxe versions, thats kinda the same thing) except when youre in2it and only the cover change between the 2 versions :B

[satoori]

12 minutes ago, GiganticMint121 said:

I feel like sales could have been even higher? In Korea at least. In person fansigns would have driven sales up 

yea i sort of agree with this

especially for some smaller company groups

[satoori]

Just now, cornichon said:

2 versions is like ok (esp if you compare to western artists that do regular and deluxe versions, thats kinda the same thing) except when youre in2it and only the cover change between the 2 versions :B

what?! seriously lol

[Ghosty]

In my opinion, rather than COVID19 increasing album sales, I feel like K-pop just got bigger as a whole during the pandemic, lol. All those groups listed already have a loyal fandom. BTS are still peaking and I don't see them having dwindling album sales anytime soon. Blackpink released their long-awaited first studio album. Seventeen has been selling more and more every comeback. Baekhyun already has a huge fanbase and he gained a lot of fans during City Lights, SuperM, etc. IZ*ONE came back after a brief hiatus because of the scandal, and that encouraged more buyers. And Fiesta did well, which transitioned into a bigger fanbase for Secret Story of the Swan. + Road To Kingdom contestants all received great album sales. The list just includes strong sellers to begin with, tbh.

Mr. Trot was also huge, so a lot of the stars in that show have sold A LOT of albums, so that wasn't a surprise at all. 

[hynapia]

5 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

In my opinion, rather than COVID19 increasing album sales, I feel like K-pop just got bigger as a whole during the pandemic, lol. All those groups listed already have a loyal fandom. BTS are still peaking and I don't see them having dwindling album sales anytime soon. Blackpink released their long-awaited first studio album. Seventeen has been selling more and more every comeback. Baekhyun already has a huge fanbase and he gained a lot of fans during City Lights, SuperM, etc. IZ*ONE came back after a brief hiatus because of the scandal, and that encouraged more buyers. And Fiesta did well, which transitioned into a bigger fanbase for Secret Story of the Swan. + Road To Kingdom contestants all received great album sales. The list just includes strong sellers to begin with, tbh.

Mr. Trot was also huge, so a lot of the stars in that show have sold A LOT of albums, so that wasn't a surprise at all. 

I was about to say this. All the groups in that list are already super popular (BTS, Twice, BP) or growing in popularity (SVT, NCT, Izone) so high sales were expected. The market is also becoming more competitive in general, with 3rd gen groups constantly achieving new records and 4th gen groups growing in popularity so fans are more dedicated to break those records, especially by buying more albums.

[bumpbumplove]

Ig those with idle money can't spend them on travel and offline concerts anymore, so they bought more albums to support their idols.

There's also the fansign video call lottery that international fans can participate. Just look at the photocard pulls (not mine btw) 

[Faelix]

I will say yes? I personally bought ATEEZ entire discography (beside newest album) during quarantine this Spring. I also feel like kpop simply got bigger, it could be that aswell.

[rananicolee]

It does help that kpop albums are becoming more accessible in America since they are being counted on the Korean charts. I went to Target yesterday and BTS, Blackpink, Super M, NCT, etc. My local walmart (I live in a very small town with a very small walmart) and they have kpop albums that aren't just BTS now. 

[Mrs. Morale]

No, if it wasn't for covid I would have brought more. I calculated in August that I would have $500 by as December, and you know how much I have now, $50

Edited December 26, 2020 by fullofjoy

[CandyCane23049]

It was easier for U.S fans to do fansigns now as well.