It cannot be denied that interest in KPop has seriously declined - the decline of first week sales, 2023 and 2024

Maybe not a decline but a correction. Like how stocks are overvalued and it trends so high that none wants to buy in, then the market correct itself and the price is affordable. Maybe KPOP is doing the same thing?

All the hyped lasted for a while and now those people doesn't care anymore and so we see volume decrease, leaving real fans, maybe?

KPOP shouldn't be in your face "AHA look at this new thing here!", but rather it should be a genre of music that ones actually listened and enjoyed, it's healthier for the industry.

someone (cough wsoet) needs to make a chart for say the last 4-5 years of data

Quote from selfmate

someone (cough wsoet) needs to make a chart for say the last 4-5 years of data

I'd previously generated a chart showing monthly median physical sales, which does indicate that we've declined from the peaks we saw in 2023:

GaonCircle_MedianMonthlyPhysicals_2024-04.png

good! let's go back to pre pandemic era

Quote from wsoet

I'd previously generated a chart showing monthly median physical sales, which does indicate that we've declined from the peaks we saw in 2023:

GaonCircle_MedianMonthlyPhysicals_2024-04.png

this includes both bg and gg right?

Quote from selfmate

this includes both bg and gg right?

Indeed. In fact, this comprises all artists.

For seventeen it was a best album/kinda like repackaged with insanely pricey tag. Kinda like 2x of normal albums and 1 kg weight. If you count that as normal albums it might already around 5M-6M (though I know we cant count it like that)

I think for Seventeen you gotta wait for their actual cb to see

its bc of the bad economy

Nah you were onto something

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IMG_1693.png

IVE Switch sold 1.7m

Quote from WhyKnock

Whatever the conclusion of the Hybe-MHJ saga might be, it seems that KPop has suffered a blow from which it will be hard to recover.

The rebellion of Wu Yifan and Luhan, combined with the departure of Jessica Jung from SNSD, created a huge crisis in SM. JYP and YG were also at their bottom at that time, and never losing an opportunity, Lee Jieun attempted a takeover of KPop which almost succeeded.

MNet and SM fought tooth and nail to defeat Lee Jieun, but Exo never really recovered from this.

2015 was a very boring year. The #1 act was Big Bang, in its last hurrah, and in this midst of despair, GFriend, an unknown act, gained a lot of popularity, something which is unthinkable now.

2016 saw the rise of Twice and BTS and 2017 saw the blossoming of the 3rd Gen of KPop, but the entire KPop world had to endure the rule of Lee Jieun for one year as she was voted as the most popular singer of 2017 and her ballad Through the Night won the only nonKPop Song of the Year title in the KPop era.

The 2024 crisis is like the 2014 crisis, almost to the bone.

First Week Sales Records 2023

SVT 17th Heaven 5.09M

SKZ 5-star 4.62M

SVT FML 4.55M

SKZ Rock-Star 3.70M

NCT Dream ISTJ 3.65M

JK Golden 2.46M

TXT Freefall 2.25M

TXT Temptation 2.18M

ZB1 Melting Point 2.13M

Taehyung Layover 2.10M

Enhypen Orange Blood 1.87M

Ateez The WOrld Ep. Fin Will 1.71M

aespa My World 1.60M

New Jeans Get up 1.65M

NCT 127 Fact Check 1.65M

IVE Ive Mine 1.61M

EXO Exist 1.56M

Ateez The World Ep: Outlaw 1.52M

I stop here.

17 albums with first week sales of 1.5M or more.

Such were the halcyon days of 2023.

5 months of 2024 have passed.

SVT 17 is right here - 2.97M, a 42% decline from 2023 (if an act released more than 1 albums with more than 1.5M sales I work with the one with the highest sales.)

NCT Dream Dream()Scape 2.46M 33% decline

TXT minisode 3: Tomorrow 1.55M 31% decline

Gidle 2 1.54M, the only major act in 2024 whose sales have increased.

ZB1 You had me at Hello 1.35M 37% decline

IVE IVE Switch 1.32M 18% decline

(aespa's ARMAGEDDON is still counting, but it will probably not exceed 1.2 M, a decline of at least 25%)

Twice With You-th 1.06M. It did increase, and the same to several other acts, since they were not subject to the halcyon days of 2023

NMixx a Midnight NMixx's dream 1.03M

LeSserafim Easy 989K

NewJeans How Sweet 885K, a decline of 45%

I think the numbers speak for themselves.

The flagpole act now, Seventeen, suffered a decline of 40%.

NCT Dream, txt and ZB1 all suffered hits greater than 30%.

Stray Kids is afraid to release a new album since it will probably show a similar decline.

Gidle, Twice, NMixx and LeSserafim did better, but their sway on the world is much weaker. Twice is a mature group, whose upside is now going to be limited, and Gidle is in its 6th year, with Shuhua probably not continuing and Jeon Soyeon will do whatever she feels like with it.

No need to retell the story of the MHJ saga, but NJ, expected to be the flagpole of 4th Gen, has been hit big and it is said only 30,000 copies sold in Japan, which will be another topic.

IVE and aespa did maintain themselves more or less effectively, but it cannot be denied that the HUGE decline on interest over KPop has taken place and it is unlikely to be reversed by the return of BTS.

Illit has its limitations ; having 2 Japanese means it is geared toward Japan. Baemon was defeated even by Ilit.

(Before someone says Twice had 3 Japanese members, I have to remind again that it began as 5 Koreans, 2 Japanese, 1 Taiwanese and 1 American.)

That is the biggest story; all the MHJ stories are just soap operas compared to this big issue.

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Quote from WhyKnock

The problem is people do not buy albums to listen to it. IT is like a fandom goods, so those who are going to buy SVT albums will buy it whether it is $20 or $200.

So I don't think a regular release will improve the numbers significantly.

Price does matter. It’s freaking expensive not to mention the shipping fee