K-Pop Album Monthly Sales Set New Record Again... 14.3 Million Copies Sold in July

Monthly Sales Record Broken in Just One Month
Similar to Annual Sales Levels from 6-7 Years Ago
Album Share in Entertainment Company Revenue Also Increasing

K-pop album sales have recorded the highest figures ever for two consecutive months. The monthly sales volume now matches the annual sales volume from several years ago. The share of physical albums (CDs, LPs, tapes), commonly referred to as 'physical albums,' in entertainment companies' revenue is also gradually increasing.

Last month, a total of six artists achieved million-seller status. The photo shows NewJeans, who recorded 1.47 million album sales last month.

According to the July review released on the 18th by the government-certified chart Circle Chart, the total sales volume of the top 400 albums last month was 14.3 million copies. This broke the previous record for monthly sales set in June (12.64 million copies) within just one month. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 32.1%. This is the highest monthly sales volume since Circle Chart began compiling data in 2010.

The 14.3 million copies sold nearly match the annual sales volume from six years ago (16.93 million copies). One year before that, in 2016, annual sales were 10.8 million copies. Now, this amount is sold within a single month. Album sales first surpassed 20 million annually in 2018 (22.82 million copies), followed by 25.09 million in 2019, 41.7 million in 2020, 57.08 million in 2021, and 77.11 million last year. Sales have grown for eight consecutive years since 2014. From January to last month this year, 69.93 million copies have been sold. At the current pace, it is expected that annual sales will easily exceed 100 million copies.

The revival of physical albums, which once seemed to be on the decline, is a global phenomenon. According to the 2022 Music Industry White Paper published by the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), the global album market generated $5 billion in revenue in 2021, a 16% increase compared to the previous year. The world's largest music market, the United States, as well as the third-ranked United Kingdom and fifth-ranked France, all recorded double-digit growth. This was the first revenue growth in the album market in 20 years. The album market, which peaked at $23 billion in 2001, had been declining annually and shrank to $4.2 billion in 2020. KOCCA explained in the white paper that "the growth of the physical album market is the result of the MZ generation, who have consumed music cheaply in a digital environment, awakening to 'paid experiences.' This should be understood as a change in music consumers' consumption tendencies rather than a short-lived trend."

KOCCA also noted that the MZ generation's desire for ownership has recently contributed to the growth in K-pop album sales. Korean entertainment companies started marketing by including random photocards of members in albums early on. For example, when purchasing a BTS album, one photocard of the seven members is included. Many fans buy multiple albums to obtain the photocard of their favorite member. Additionally, as K-pop has expanded globally, overseas fans' desire to own albums has also been stimulated. In fact, from 2019, when K-pop album sales roughly tripled, to last year, Korea's album export value increased from $74.59 million to $231.38 million.

Albums are a core source of revenue for entertainment companies. In the case of HYBE, album sales accounted for 41.7% of its revenue in the first half of this year. The share of album sales was 30% in 2021 and 31.1% last year, showing a steady increase. From January to June, HYBE sold 22.2 million albums, capturing a 40% market share. Other companies show similar trends. During the same period, JYP's album sales accounted for 51.3% of its total revenue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.