K-Pop Album Market Once Called 'Dead' 10 Years Ago, Now Expected to Reach 100 Million Sales This Year

Circle Chart projects 100 million albums through May 8 review
Surpassed 10 million in 2016 with 30% annual growth
Also drives global album market rebound after 20 years

This year marks the first time in K-pop history that the era of 100 million physical albums (CDs, LPs, tapes) is expected to open. Considering that the wholesale price per album (purchase price at sales outlets) exceeds 10,000 KRW, the market size surpasses 1 trillion KRW. Thanks to the K-pop craze, the global album market has also rebounded for the first time in 20 years. This is a turnaround for the album market, which was once considered a 'declining industry.'

Stray Kids' third full-length album, 'Five-Star,' released on the 2nd, surpassed 4.61 million copies in first-week sales, setting a new K-pop album record. (Photo by JYP Entertainment)

Circle Chart revealed in its May review released on the 8th that “the cumulative sales volume of the top 400 albums from January to May was 42.9 million, about 15.2 million more than the same period last year,” and added, “If sales volume maintains last year’s level through December, album sales this year will approach 100 million.” Last month’s sales volume was 10.27 million, a 10.1% increase compared to the same period last year. Circle Chart is Korea’s official chart operated by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is similar in nature to the US ‘Billboard’ and Japan’s ‘Oricon’ charts.

From January to last month, album sales increased by more than 10% year-on-year every month for five consecutive months. Last year’s annual sales volume was 80.74 million. When Circle Chart began compiling data in 2011, sales volume was 6.92 million. If this year’s sales approach 100 million, it will represent approximately a 14-fold growth in 12 years. Annual album sales surpassed 10 million (10.8 million) in 2016 and have since experienced an average annual growth rate of over 30%. BTS, who ranked first in album sales for six consecutive years from 2017 to last year, led this growth.

The album market was once a 'declining industry.' Album sales peaked at 410.4 billion KRW in 2000 and then repeatedly declined. At that time, there were three artists who sold over 1 million albums, including Jo Sung-mo, and 81 albums sold more than 100,000 copies. However, after the emergence of digital music, the market lost dominance to online streaming, and in 2004, digital music sales (185 billion KRW) surpassed album sales (183.3 billion KRW). In 2007, only three albums sold more than 100,000 copies, and the album market shrank to 78.8 billion KRW. The top seller then was SG Wannabe’s 4th full album, which sold 199,998 copies. The market, which had been stagnant for a while, began to rebound around 2014, when the K-pop craze started to rise. This year, 12 albums have already sold over 1 million copies. Stray Kids’ 3rd full album, released on the 2nd, set a new first-week sales record with 4.61 million copies sold. KMCA analyzed that “the rising awareness of K-pop artists through BTS and other factors created a trickle-down effect that led to increased album sales.” Marketing strategies such as including random photocards and autograph event entry tickets in albums also stimulated album consumption.

The growth of the domestic album market is also overturning global trends. According to the ‘2022 Music Industry White Paper’ published by the Korea Creative Content Agency, global album sales in 2021 reached 5 billion USD (approximately 6.5 trillion KRW), a 16% increase from the previous year. The album market, which was 23 billion USD in 2001, had declined every year until it dropped to 4.2 billion USD in 2020. The growth compared to the previous year was the first in 20 years. Overseas demand for K-pop albums is also on the rise. Last year, K-pop album exports reached a record high of 233.11 million USD (approximately 300 billion KRW).