Seventeen Album Pile Abandoned in Shibuya, Japan... Due to Photocards?

"Piled Up with 'Take as Much as You Want' but Ultimately Disposed
Mass Album Purchases Due to Photocards and Entry Tickets"

A large number of albums by the popular Korean idol group Seventeen were found discarded in a busy district of Tokyo, Japan, attracting attention.

On the 30th of last month, a Japanese netizen named A posted a photo on the social networking service (SNS) 'X (formerly Twitter)' showing dozens of Seventeen albums stacked in boxes on the street. He reported, "Near Shibuya Parco, there is a large pile of Seventeen albums with a sign saying 'Please take as many as you want'." Subsequent posts on X provided updates on the situation. At the location where the albums were piled, a warning sign was posted stating, "If found selling or distributing goods on private property, the police will be notified immediately. Surveillance cameras are in operation." Following this, all the piled albums were placed into garbage bags and moved elsewhere.

Albums of the idol group 'Seventeen' piled up on the streets of Shibuya, Japan
[Image source=Social Networking Service (SNS) capture]

The main reason why large quantities of singers' new albums are discarded is due to photocards and event entry tickets. Photocards included in albums usually come in dozens of types and are provided randomly, so fans often purchase albums in bulk to collect them. Fans who buy albums mainly for photocards and similar items typically donate or discard the albums afterward.

This is one of the chronic problems in the K-pop industry, which Min Hee-jin, CEO of ADOR, also mentioned at a press conference on the 25th of last month. She expressed her opinion, saying, "I wish they would stop making random cards and pushing sales like this," which resonated with many people. She further criticized HYBE, stating, "It's just melting paper, what kind of wordplay is that? Paper melts anyway," and added, "They should rather print fewer albums," pointing out the structural problem that encourages bulk album purchases.

Currently, in the K-pop market, besides including 'bait products' like photocards to boost album sales, suspicions of so-called 'pushing' are continuously raised. 'Pushing' refers to a method where intermediaries purchase a certain portion of album stock to increase sales figures, and these intermediaries hold fan sign events by mobilizing members until the stock is exhausted. This vicious cycle eventually exhausts the artists with numerous events and burdens fans with repeatedly purchasing the same albums.

Seventeen [Photo by Pledis Entertainment, Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, Hanteo Chart announced that Seventeen's best album '27 IS RIGHT HERE,' released on the 29th of last month, sold 2,260,905 copies on the day of release. This is a record for the highest first-day sales of a K-pop artist's best album according to Hanteo Chart standards. Additionally, on April 30th, the daily album ranking announced by Japan's Oricon on the 1st showed that the '27 IS RIGHT HERE' album topped the chart with 255,979 copies sold. Seventeen is scheduled to hold concerts in Japan at Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka on the 18th and 19th, and at Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa on the 25th and 26th.