K-pop's Album Market Experiences Unprecedented Growth, Driven by Boy Band Fandoms

Courtesy of CIRCLE CHART

According to data released by Circle Chart on Tuesday, physical album sales in Korea reached a notable milestone, surpassing 111.6 million copies from January to November this year. This figure represents a substantial increase of 144% compared to the total annual album sales of around 80 million copies recorded in the previous year.

The cumulative album sales for 2023 had already exceeded last year's total annual sales by 106% as of September. In October, the figures crossed the 100 million mark, marking a historic achievement in Korean music history.

▲ Courtesy of CIRCLE CHARTIn November alone, over 15.1 million physical albums were sold, reflecting a remarkable 217.2% year-on-year increase and establishing a new record for the highest monthly sales after October.

Circle Chart noted that compared to last year, when monthly sales exceeded 10 million copies only once, 2023 witnessed six months with sales surpassing this threshold, indicating a continuous expansion in the scale of K-pop physical album sales.

The surge in the album market is notably attributed to the fervent fandoms of boy bands. As of November, Stray Kids led the charts with a market share of 27.7% in album sales, followed by BTS's Jungkook, Enhypen, and ZeroBaseOne.

From July to October, other boy bands consistently dominated the top spots in the monthly album sales market share, with NCT Dream, NCT, BTS's V, and Seventeen each taking the lead in their respective months. The data underscores the significant role played by boy band enthusiasts in driving the remarkable growth in the Korean physical album market throughout 2023.

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