Are member versions of albums a good move? And does any member version album sell really well?

  • Solo versions good strategy? 17

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    Out of curiousity, cause I dont see a lot of albums being released with member/solo versions except some boy groups. Some of them have member CD but they're random so can't choose (e.g. Twice). Are solo versions good strategy to boost sales?


    From stan perspective, it will be much easier to just buy the member you stan, especially if you're OT1 stan.


    From company perspective, it will be hard to control the amount to be manufactured for each member, since not all members of the group share similar popularity. For example, if aespa were to have member versions, winter and karina versions will be sold out easily while the other two sit in inventory. I think the only group with all solo versions to sell equally well ( more or less) is Blackpink, given that individual girls have massive following. So far, Blackpink only released solo versions for Japanese albums but I dont have any stat


    Does anyone have any data of any group to show / share? Might be interesting to study, as this could be good indicator of the popularity of individual members and highlight the popularity gap. E.g., i know RM's fancams always have lower views than others, does that also mean his solo version (if there is any), also will sell lesser as compared to popular ones like V, Jimin and Jungkok?

  • it's been known to rally the solo fanbases who'll buy as much as possible so their fave doesn't look like a flop


    like I know BTS fanbases even had competition who could buy the most just the regular versions, so everyone would know which member was the most ~popular, imagine what they'd do to get their bias as the top-seller.

  • it's been known to rally the solo fanbases who'll buy as much as possible so their fave doesn't look like a flop


    like I know BTS fanbases even had competition who could buy the most just the regular versions, so everyone would know which member was the most ~popular, imagine what they'd do to get their bias as the top-seller.

    I guess one of the reason why they dont do solo versions. The gap would be huge i guess (dont come at me)

  • Different versions have never been considered that evil master plan to sell better until NCT started selling millions. Obviously it could help but it also could worsen it, because some akgaes would be content to buy only one ver they're sure of their fav's covering, instead of buying 4 vers of regular albums expecting their fav PC to show up in one of them.


    anyway to answer op. Maybe compare to the sales of magazine covers if a group has some.

                                                   


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  • BTS have only done individual magazine covers and this is the result


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    I don't think we'll ever get member only version albums from BTS because of BTS not Hybe.

  • BTS have only done individual magazine covers and this is the result


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    I don't think we'll ever get member only version albums from BTS because of BTS not Hybe.

    Im really surprised at that gap ... when I was following BTS in their debut days, the gap wasnt that obvious but now, jungkok is almost 10x of j-hope

  • Different versions have never been considered that evil master plan to sell better until NCT started selling millions. Obviously it could help but it also could worsen it, because some akgaes would be content to buy only one ver they're sure of their fav's covering, instead of buying 4 vers of regular albums expecting their fav PC to show up in one of them.


    anyway to answer op. Maybe compare to the sales of magazine covers if a group has some.

    Do u think Sm will do for aespa in future? Cause SM is known to release solo cover.. the gap of sales gonna be AWKWARD 🙈🙈

  • Im really surprised at that gap ... when I was following BTS in their debut days, the gap wasnt that obvious but now, jungkok is almost 10x of j-hope

    I don't think the gap is that huge, but the maknae line have a much more dedicated fanbase who'll buy stuff (and bulk buy it for the aforementioned reasons). It's the same with the fancams, there'd be a gap naturally but the reason the gaps look so huge is because ML fans buy ads and views. The likes gap is never as bad.

  • I don't think they make as much difference as many claim.

    For example back in 2011, Super Junior released the first album with individual covers and it became their best selling album. The next year, their outsold it with an album that didn't have individual covers. In fact even their latest album from last year outsold Mr Simple which was their only album with individual covers. It goes to show that the individual covers simply coincided with an increase in the group's fandom, momentarily they gave a false impression that they were the reason behind their increase in sales but when you look at the bigger picture now, it's obvious that it was just a coincidence.


    Fans who want to bulk buy or maximise their chances at getting into fansigns or getting their bias' pc will buy multiple copies regardless of whether there are individual covers or not.

  • For me it depends. While it may not be a good idea for K-pop albums to have member versions I feel like it's something the J-pop industry should be proud of bc member versions of J-pop albums can be a way to like commemorate a member's graduation (like when one of Morning Musume's 2011 singles had a special member version due to Takahashi Ai graduating from the group later that year) so... 😏

    nothing here for now hehe (/▽\)

  • Do u think Sm will do for aespa in future? Cause SM is known to release solo cover.. the gap of sales gonna be AWKWARD 🙈🙈

    I hope not but maybe. They still need to strengthen their fanbase IMO. Karina and Winter are very popular individually and Ningning is close. I am sure Giselle would get her own fanbase with time. Just hope they don't do the comparisons in sales so soon.

                                                   


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  • it seems to be a good move for increasing sales since solo stans can make it an ego battle

    but i'm not sure if its a good idea in terms of branding of the group

    But you have no way of knowing which version sold more since all of them have the same barcode and will count as one album all together.

  • But you have no way of knowing which version sold more since all of them have the same barcode and will count as one album all together.

    ohh i did not know that i thought it be similar to magazine covers


    like when wall street journal did individual covers of bts, the number of sales were visible for the first few days on the website so solo fbs started buying in bulk, like literally cartons upon cartons of magazines, just to "show their support"

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