Hive Album Sales Already Surpass Last Year... 22.2 Million Copies in Just 6 Months

Circle Chart Album Sales for First Half of the Year on the 14th
HYBE Holds 40% Market Share with 22.2 Million Albums
Surpasses Last Year's Album Sales in Just 6 Months

HYBE is dominating the physical album (CD·LP·tape) market by leveraging the power of its 'multi-label (record planning company)' strategy. YG Plus, which distributes HYBE's albums, is also beaming with joy.

View of HYBE headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the first half review data released by Circle Chart on the 14th, the sales volume of the 'Top 400' album chart from January to June was 54.87 million copies, a 57% increase compared to the same period last year. Among these, album sales by HYBE artists reached 22.2 million copies, accounting for about 40% of the market share. Seventeen (8.9 million copies), Tomorrow X Together (3.6 million copies), NewJeans (2.2 million copies), LE SSERAFIM (1.87 million copies), ENHYPEN (1.83 million copies), and BTS's Jimin (1.61 million copies) were all among the top ten sellers in the first half of the year.

HYBE's album sales for the entire last year were 20.7 million copies. This figure was surpassed in just six months. Considering that BTS concluded their 'full group' activities last October, this achievement is even more remarkable. HYBE praised this as the "power of the multi-label strategy," stating that they created a virtuous cycle structure that guarantees the independence of each label and increases the possibility of creating super IP (intellectual property). Securities firms expect HYBE's second-quarter sales to exceed 600 billion KRW, the highest ever, driven by album sales which account for a large portion of revenue. First-quarter sales were 410.6 billion KRW.

HYBE also changed the rankings of album distributors. YG Plus, which distributes HYBE's albums, recorded the highest distribution market share in the first half of the year at 41.5%. Kakao Entertainment was second with 28.9%, and Dreamus was third with 17.6%. In the same period last year, Dreamus was first with 34.9%, YG Plus was second with 33%, and Kakao Entertainment was third with 17.3%. YG Plus, a subsidiary of YG Entertainment, has been distributing HYBE's digital and physical music since 2021, including YG's artists. Before the partnership with HYBE, until 2020, YG Plus was classified as 'Others (less than 5%)' in industry market share statistics.