Kpop labels lowkey acting like the US Music Market is similar to the Japanese one

1st Official Post

    In the US market with only physical sales you ain’t going anywhere, not even acts like Taylor Swift that is still able to pull big physical sales thanks to her big and solid fanbase in the US in the streaming era is showing longevity solely because of that.


    You need SEAs (streaming equivalent album and TEAs (tracks equivalent album) to stay on chart for long time. Kpop groups nowadays are getting high debuts on Billboard 200 and then free falling in the second week because of that. Kpop companies do not realize the importance of streaming and it is affecting the performance drastically.


    Even in Japan streaming is taking over and songs on their official lists are carried by streaming not physical sales (Dynamite for example). Many artist got #1 and top 10 debuts thanks to physical sales push and after that the song dropped many spots because fans already bought the copies.


    I really like how kpop companies are stepping up and trying to push their acts that already have stable fanbase in many countries in the US market to expand their acts to a bigger audience in the biggest music market but they are treating the US like if it is just a “first week game” where only debuts are important and screw the follow weeks.


    Fans as well rely a lot on physical sales and forget about streaming and the digital sales which is thanks to how Kpop companies push the physical sales agenda as expected since they gain the most from it.





    • Official Post

    Charting well in other countries are just feathers in their cap. Like none of these companies are going to scoff at charting at number 1 on Billboard, but for them just saying "X's album charted at #1 in the US" is more than enough because it illustrates that their group has impact and reach in the market.


    Hell I don't even think the US record labels who have signed deals with groups care that much about their streaming numbers for anything other than reach. US labels aren't signing k-pop groups for marketing or publicity. They're signing them because they can sell physical albums in large amounts which is something their own US based artists will never be able to do.

    Okay but what can companies do about streaming?

    They can't do anything, except have the song put on big playlists like TTH, which can't be very easy to do or else more kpop acts would be doing it.

    Quote from quark12395

    Charting well in other countries are just feathers in their cap. Like none of these companies are going to scoff at charting at number 1 on Billboard, but for them just saying "X's album charted at #1 in the US" is more than enough because it illustrates that their group has impact and reach in the market.


    Hell I don't even think the US record labels who have signed deals with groups care that much about their streaming numbers for anything other than reach. US labels aren't signing k-pop groups for marketing or publicity. They're signing them because they can sell physical albums in large amounts which is something their own US based artists will never be able to do.

    US based artist will never able to do because physical sales are obsolete for them, but you are correct kpop labels only care about getting more and more physical sales.

    Quote from Queeeenie

    Okay but what can companies do about streaming?

    They can't do anything, except have the song put on big playlists like TTH, which can't be very easy to do or else more kpop acts would be doing it.

    It’s complicated but those groups signed with US label should try to push their song to see what can happen who knows.

    But it still boils down to the same thing though


    They don’t have any “significant” fanbase in the US

    I used this word to show that there needs to be some sort of demand for them in the first place

    Streaming is what shows demand, not exactly physicals. Because bundling is over, the amount of physicals needed to chart is paltry and not anything impressive. Also it’s the streaming that is the core of the longevity.

    All the groups I have noticed who are able to chart on US Spotify and Apple Music are the ones lasting longer on the billboard charts


    Also most kpop stans and companies still run with the kpop mentality. All goals and plans are geared towards first day (and now first week too) Preorders to get high sales record and then they go fkk the rest of the week, fans plan streaming parties to beat day records and the rest is fkkk them. Everything is all about the peak instead of longevity. Even armys struggled with this mindset until dynamite made us adapt. Unless this part changes, I doubt kpop will ever go beyond that.

    Well, peaking is easier. It's a lot of time and effort during a short amount of time, it's manageable.


    Honestly any non-english speaking act that manages to make a dent in the US market deserves my respect in my opinion. This is super-hard, and having fans ready to buy your music, in a country where most people just listen to their daily mix on Spotify and call it a dayartists... it's definitely something note-worthy.


    Let's not forget that kpop is pretty niche in the US. Beside Butter, Gangnam Style and Dynamite, 95% of the population probably never heard a kpop song to begin with.

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