It seems the 2nd Gen of KPop is truly the "Silent Generation " - it lacks albums which sold more than a million copies in Korea

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    (In Korean)


    This is a list of singers based in K-O-R-E-A which sold more than a million albums.


    A lof of them are singers who were active in the 1990s and early 2000s before KPop. I won't list them.


    Singers who have albums which sold more than 1 million copies in Korea - (in order of appearance)


    H.O.T

    Seventeen
    BTS

    NCT

    EXO

    BlackPink

    god

    NCT Dream


    (the rest are singers who were active before the KPop era.)


    That list is from around the end of Aug 2021. Since then the following acts, in addition for those mentioned above, sold more than 1 million copies


    txt

    enhypen

    aespa

    IVE(Likely)

    Lim Youngwoong, who is an idol for the over 45 crowd


    1st Gen - HOT, GOD

    3rd Gen - BTS, EXO, BlackPink , NCT, NCT Dream, Seventeen

    4th Gen - txt, enhypen, aespa, IVE, Lim Youngwoong (kind of)


    2nd Gen nowhere to be found.


    It is said that DBSK and SNSD have million copy albums in Japan but none of them in Korea.


    The 2nd Gen arguably worked the most but reaped the least of what they had sown. Truly a silent generation , with the except of a single person who I won't mention here because her name is not in the above who have albums which sold more than a million in Korea.

  • incidentally they don't produce more albums anymore right


    I wonder if any companies would be willing to do a limited run for "after the fact" fans that liked the music after disbandment.

    They will not. After disbandment there are a lot of interests involved so unless the members agree to assemble (like Sechs Kies where one of them refused to participate) no new albums

  • well, 2gen was during the emergence of digital charts when physical albums lost importance

    Even the third gen million sellers mostly got theirs fairly recently during the physical sale boom/ inflation

    Yes the 2nd Gen was caught in between

  • HOT and GOD succeeded because their generation was truly in physical age.


    3rd and 4th Gen succeeded because of the fan culture - where dick-measuring behaviour by fandoms causes them to buy physicals, which nobody even uses to listen to music.


    2nd gen was caught in the middle - transitioned to digitals, so reduced physicals sales and fandom cults had not become so large or so crazy.


    Therefore very little physical sales.

  • They will not. After disbandment there are a lot of interests involved so unless the members agree to assemble (like Sechs Kies where one of them refused to participate) no new albums

    I don't mean new albums, I wonder if there is a possibility for "rerun" albums, like previous albums pressed into production for a small limited run.


    Edit: even anniversary collection sales where they do smth like a 15 year aniversary of debut or smth and stick one of each album in a "collection" sale

  • I don't mean new albums, I wonder if there is a possibility for "rerun" albums, like previous albums pressed into production for a small limited run.


    Edit: even anniversary collection sales where they do smth like a 15 year aniversary of debut or smth and stick one of each album in a "collection" sale

    If there is some kind of crowdfunding, that would work. The companies won't lift a finger to do that on thei own.

  • I’m curious how you include artists that haven’t sold a million in your list (Ive) but not ones who actually have like NCT 127 or Baekhyun, but mmkay. (Also how you’re saying sold 1 million “just in Korea” when there is no way to seperate that info out of the Gaon and Hanteo sales, unless there’s something I missed?)


    The obvious answer is of course the globalization of Kpop and the changes in technology, notably in the way the internet and social media made it easier and faster to get and consume information and music.


    I wouldn’t say they are the silent generation, many of them are continuing to work with CFs or even music careers built out of those smaller album selling years. TVXQ is still making a shit ton off tours whether or not they sell a million albums in Korea.

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    Its going to be hard and exhausting to crowdfund and handle that kinda money but it does leave an interesting option.

    I would think that Makestar (for example) would be happy to have a second income stream. Or SM (also for example) could set up a sublabel for reissues, like Rhino is to Warner Music in the US.

  • I’m curious how you include artists that haven’t sold a million in your list (Ive) but not ones who actually have like NCT 127 or Baekhyun, but mmkay. (Also how you’re saying sold 1 million “just in Korea” when there is no way to seperate that info out of the Gaon and Hanteo sales, unless there’s something I missed?)


    The obvious answer is of course the globalization of Kpop and the changes in technology, notably in the way the internet and social media made it easier and faster to get and consume information and music.


    I wouldn’t say they are the silent generation, many of them are continuing to work with CFs or even music careers built out of those smaller album selling years. TVXQ is still making a shit ton off tours whether or not they sell a million albums in Korea.

    I didn't make that video ,which was produced 12 months ago. I have added those who actually sold more subsequent to the production of the above clip.


    The list apparently comes from Gaon, although I don't know how the person who made it got the numbers for pre-2005 people.


    I think DBSK is no longer doing tours, just 'fanclub meetings'. Others have mostly passed on to the history books

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