kpop album sales and gimmicks: when will it crash and burn?

  • im honestly wondering how long the current kpop album sales market will last before the numbers take a massive nosedive. there's only so many fans a group can gain, only so many fans that will stay loyal until the inevitable disbandment or parting of ways, only so many bulk buyers, only so many orphanages to donate bulk bought albums to. sooner or later kpop's system of mass consumption will crumble and I feel like a lot of things happening right now are pushing the limits.


    thoughtS?

  • The gimmicks are gonna happen if fans keep on supporting them or until new rules are put in place to control it.


    I think it’s gonna last longer if there’s no intervention and I honestly don’t see the issue with it. People can do whatever they want with their money and if they wanna buy 10 or 20 albums, that’s on them.


    And most of the current boy groups feed on physicals. So I’m all up for fans doing whatever they want to support their faves. That’s just my opinion on this.

  • as long as i'm around/fellow collectors keep collecting, everyone will be doing well!





    on a serious note though, the industry is slowly figuring out that people like vinyls and cassettes- especially SM recently, so there will be increased sales bc of that for sure. also fans are gonna support their faves p much always so i don't think any crashing and burning will occur as long as loyal fanbases are around.

  • The gimmicks are gonna happen if fans keep on supporting them or until new rules are put in place to control it.


    I think it’s gonna last longer if there’s no intervention and I honestly don’t see the issue with it. People can do whatever they want with their money and if they wanna buy 10 or 20 albums, that’s on them.


    And most of the current boy groups feed on physicals. So I’m all up for fans doing whatever they want to support their faves. That’s just my opinion on this.

    i agree that its not rlly a big deal from that aspect, but the amount of waste and potential environmental impact... its literally buying something to throw it away unless you're a re-seller. and many kpop companies are making albums bigger or bulkier. its just a little sad to me

  • but i mean, everyone who is currently a kpop stan now will not be one forever and many people will and do move on after their bias group disbands. im moreso talking about moving foreward, not just the sales for current groups. but there will be a generation sooner or later where no1 can hit 500k sales, bg, gg, or otherwise.

  • but i mean, everyone who is currently a kpop stan now will not be one forever and many people will and do move on after their bias group disbands. im moreso talking about moving foreward, not just the sales for current groups. but there will be a generation sooner or later where no1 can hit 500k sales, bg, gg, or otherwise.


    hmm. i think it depends on the people. i've had my favorite groups/bias groups at the time disband and i still stayed- probably bc i'm multifandom. that generation may come but not anytime soon- in music, especially with kpop, there are perks for purchasing physicals such as pcs and posters, and that will be hard for a lot of people to give up.

  • Imo, there's not that many correlation between bulk buying and the 'rise of physical sales' as much as a lot of Kpop fans tend to think. Bulk buying existed since 2nd gen era, yet album sales keep decreasing at that time. The main reason why the current kpop album sales market can be as big as it is today is bcs of a better Kpop album distribution WorldWide, which also explain why old groups like Super Junior and Shinee manage to break their album sales record with their latest comeback eventho they're much less popular rn compared to their heyday (no offense). So, unless the interest for Kpop WW suddenly drop, I don't think Kpop album sales will took a nosedive.

  • hmm. i think it depends on the people. i've had my favorite groups/bias groups at the time disband and i still stayed- probably bc i'm multifandom. that generation may come but not anytime soon- in music, especially with kpop, there are perks for purchasing physicals such as pcs and posters, and that will be hard for a lot of people to give up.

    all im going to say is that bgs like h.o.t and sechkies were selling 1mil albums in in the 90s/early 2000s and then when second gen started in like 2006/8 is all dissipated. even big bang never sold much more than 200k on an album when they were the biggest international group at the time, had member versions of their album, AND photocards. the physical album market world wide is in an overall decline. kpop just had an artist like bts drive the focus on sales way up

  • Imo, there's not that many correlation between bulk buying and the 'rise of physical sales' as much as a lot of Kpop fans tend to think. Bulk buying existed since 2nd gen era, yet album sales keep decreasing at that time. The main reason why the current kpop album sales market can be as big as it is today is bcs of a better Kpop album distribution WorldWide, which also explain why old groups like Super Junior and Shinee manage to break their album sales record with their latest comeback eventho they're much less popular rn compared to their heyday (no offense). So, unless the interest for Kpop WW suddenly drop, I don't think Kpop album sales will took a nosedive.

    part of what you're saying is true, but the point about no correlation just isnt. its a fact that the average bulk buyer bulk buys MORE nowadays specifically bc of the increase in photocard and album versions across the board. when a bg goes from 3 versions of an album to 4 or 5 the next cb, the sales increase is exponential. same with the photocard version increase. there are literally groups with like 50 pcs available for ONE cb promo cycle.

  • part of what you're saying is true, but the point about no correlation just isnt. its a fact that the average bulk buyer bulk buys MORE nowadays specifically bc of the increase in photocard and album versions across the board. when a bg goes from 3 versions of an album to 4 or 5 the next cb, the sales increase is exponential. same with the photocard version increase. there are literally groups with like 50 pcs available for ONE cb promo cycle.

    Honestly I'm still not convinced, I'm pretty sure that practice exist since 2nd gen era as well. I remember SJ-Mr. Simple album had 2 different versions with 10 different cover for example, so thats basically 20 diff versions (and thats not counting the photocards). Another reason why I'm not convince by "bulk buy/gimmicks=massive rise in sales" is bcs the rise for physical sales happened all across the board, whether its a soloist or a group, majority of their album sales are rising in the past few years, eventho in general "non-Idol acts" don't really do gimmicks as far as I know.

  • Honestly I'm still not convinced, I'm pretty sure that practice exist since 2nd gen era as well. I remember SJ-Mr. Simple album had 2 different versions with 10 different cover for example, so thats basically 20 diff versions (and thats not counting the photocards). Another thing why I'm not convince by "bulk buy/gimmicks=massive rise in sales" is bcs the rise for physical sales happened all across the board, whether its a soloist or a group, majority of their album sales are rising in the past few years, eventho in general "non-Idol acts" don't really do gimmicks as far as I know.


    album versions ,never to the extent it is now. and photocards def weren't either. in 2nd gen one pc per member per album was the standard. most groups only had a single album version too. now each version of the album has a different photocard set, thats 3-5 sets, 5-12 members, and there are preorder sets that are different for each store that sells the album, sometimes 5 more sets.


    idt you're understanding how excessive it ACTUALLY is rn.


    if things had stayed exactly as they were in 2nd gen, sales never would have increased this much. literally every top 5/6 bg can hit 1million sales. its no longer an exclusive club. bts was literally pushing the envelope for a non big 3 group when they did 2 version for their hyyh albums back in 2015

  • album versions ,never to the extent it is now. and photocards def weren't either. in 2nd gen one pc per member per album was the standard. most groups only had a single album version too. now each version of the album has a different photocard set, thats 3-5 sets, 5-12 members, and there are preorder sets that are different for each store that sells the album, sometimes 5 more sets.


    idt you're understanding how excessive it ACTUALLY is rn.


    if things had stayed exactly as they were in 2nd gen, sales never would have increased this much. literally every top 5/6 bg can hit 1million sales. its no longer an exclusive club. bts was literally pushing the envelope for a non big 3 group when they did 2 version for their hyyh albums back in 2015

    Dude I know how excessive it is now for idol groups, but I still don't think thats the main reason for the rise in physical sales. Otherwise, soloist and non-idol acts album sales would've stay the same (since in general they don't really do gimmicks like idol groups do). But their sales still rising massively nonetheless.

  • Dude I know how excessive it is now for idol groups, but I still don't think thats the main reason for the rise in physical sales. Otherwise, soloist and non-idol acts album sales would've stay the same (since in general they don't really do gimmicks like idol groups do). But their sales still rising massively nonetheless.

    what soloists are you talking about tho? bc if you mean someone like baekhyun thats a different story. but fair enough. correlation obviously doesnt automatically equal causation. but there is no other reason kpop companies would be that excessive with photocards and album versions if they didnt see any profit in it. if people were willing to buy the same amount for less content... best believe kpop companies would be fine with that

  • i agree that its not rlly a big deal from that aspect, but the amount of waste and potential environmental impact... its literally buying something to throw it away unless you're a re-seller. and many kpop companies are making albums bigger or bulkier. its just a little sad to me

    Oh environmentally wise, that’s kinda sad if you put it that way. I’ll honestly encourage fans if they wanna support their faves to just buy in an appreciable amount and rather use the rest of the money to buy the album digitally as they all count towards the chart at the end of the day.


    Just a suggestion for those who buy over 10 albums. You support your faves and also don’t pressure the environment.

  • Until next year when fans will have to choose between bulk buying and concert tickets

    Tbh during pandemic I payed for more concerts than ever


    Never thought Id see 4 SHINee concert in one year

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  • I blame the companies for putting fan signs based on number of albums purchased.


    Thats the number 1 motivation for bulk buyers. Since fan signs became online, ifans also joined the race to compete with kfans over fan sign slots. Thats the main reasom for the increase in physical album sales.

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  • what soloists are you talking about tho? bc if you mean someone like baekhyun thats a different story. but fair enough. correlation obviously doesnt automatically equal causation. but there is no other reason kpop companies would be that excessive with photocards and album versions if they didnt see any profit in it. if people were willing to buy the same amount for less content... best believe kpop companies would be fine with that

    The one thats fairly popular internationally tbh, whats first come to my mind is Taeyeon and IU, both can crack 200k mark multiple times since 2017-now, Taeyeon's most popular album "I" was at 100k+ sales mark by the end of 2015, so from 100k to 200k for her, thats almost double the sales, she manages to double her sales eventho her previous album was much more popular imo. Also back then during 2nd gen era only 4/5 acts (all idol group) managed to reach 200k sales mark (with all their gimmicks and fansign events), but now even a soloist can easily reach that mark without as much gimmick as Idol group did. And yeah I never said the amount of gimmicks didn't affected album sales AT ALL, it's just not as big as a lot of ppl think, in my opinion.

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