Minimum sales BTS has to hit to stay relevant 16
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10M or more (6) 38%
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7.5M-10M (3) 19%
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5M-7.5M (2) 13%
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3M-5M (5) 31%
Le Sserafim's album is a failure, no matter how much last minute sales could be conjured up, since it won't hit its height of 1.29mil (Unforgiven) or even its last album , easy, at 989k or so. All figures are first week sales but first week sales usually take majority of all KPop act sales.
Both aespa and Gidle lost 1/3 of their sales, and these are called successes. IVE held the best, losing maybe 20% OF their sales. NJ had lost about 45% of its sales.
Seventeen declined from 5.0mil, to 2.9M. SKZ declined from 4.6M to 2.3M.
If that is not a bloodbath I don't know what it is.
Now, the big question is how much sales will BTS make.
I have said many times that people who failed arithmetic at grade school played a huge role on BTS' enlistment. They floated the longer career theory, and argued it was better to finish their military services and perform till the end of their lives.
I have argued against it all my life and I am being proven correct.
It would have been much better to continue to rule the world till around 2025 and go their way like a supernova, defeating Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen and Kendrick Lamar on the way and having a concert income north of 3 billion, rather than going around arenas in their aging bodies to perform in front of an ever dwindling audience.
Sam Smith recently had a duet with Taeyeon. Who would have thought that Sam Smith and Taeyeon would be used in the same sentence? But such is the fate of a has been singer who is only in demand in the periphery.
Some people thought BTS' comeback album would hit 10 million.
But given the general collapse of KPop albums around all corners, Whyknock thinks it will be lucky to hit 3 million, not beating its record of Map of the Soul:7 at 3.3mil.
Which seals its decline decisively.