K-Pop Album Sales Drop 19.4% in 10 Years — Lack of Mega Groups and Intensifying Regional Competition

Last year, the K-pop album market turned negative for the first time in 10 years. According to Circle Chart statistics, K-pop album sales in 2024 reached 93.28 million units, a 19.4% decline from 115.78 million units in 2023. This means the “100 million album era” ended after just one year. On an artist basis, SEVENTEEN’s sales dropped sharply from 16.07 million units in 2023 to 8.98 million units in 2024, while Stray Kids’ sales fell from 10.94 million units to 6.11 million units. Unlike in 2023 when SEVENTEEN and Stray Kids each sold 5 million units for their single albums, the highest sales volume last year was only around 3 million units. The number of “million-seller” groups — those that sold over 1 million units — also decreased from 26 to 24 teams. Industry insiders point to the hiatus in activities by BTS and BLACKPINK as the main cause, analyzing that the failure to emerge new “mega groups” on par with them among later entrants was a critical factor. In particular, YG Entertainment, BLACKPINK’s agency, recorded its best-ever performance during tours in 2023, but turned immediately into losses due to a hiatus in 2024, continuing its poor performance. In Japan, exports of K-pop albums declined severely. According to customs statistics, K-pop album exports to Japan in 2024 (based on shipping dates) amounted to $89.785 million, a 24.7% drop from the previous year. This indicates a possible peak in Japan, the largest consumer market for K-pop. The United States and Canada saw increases (0.4% and 0.6% respectively), but Europe experienced significant declines, including the Netherlands (35.4% drop), France (17.2% drop), and the UK (15.7% drop). Kim Jinu, a music industry data journalist, explained, “Groups that are almost identical to K-pop idols are being produced in Japan and Southeast Asia,” adding that “they function as substitutes for K-pop.” He further analyzed, “Ironically, as K-pop grew in the Japanese market, it raised the competitiveness of Japanese artists overall. It is now a time when they need to stay vigilant to maintain their position as the birthplace of K-pop.” However, the industry believes that weak album sales alone do not necessarily mean a crisis for the entire sector. A music industry insider explained, “K-pop is highly volatile depending on artist-related issues. Unlike the video industry dominated by OTT platforms, it has relatively strong resilience due to its ease of IP utilization.” In fact, HYBE recorded its highest revenue ever last year at 2.2545 trillion won. While album and music stream revenue dropped by 11.3% to 861 billion won, concert revenue surged by 25.6% to 450.9 billion won. Even despite BTS’s absence, a total of 10 groups held 172 concerts, helping to offset the weakness in album sales. SM Entertainment also saw its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024 rise by 11% to 181.8 billion won, with concert revenue jumping by 88.2% to 22.5 billion won. During the same period, large-scale concerts were held such as 12 by NCT WISH, 9 by NCT DREAM, and 9 by TVXQ!. New groups are also achieving success. ILLIT, RIIZE, TWS, BABYMONSTER, and NCT WISH have entered stable growth trajectories, while highly accomplished newcomers like KickFlip, Hearts2Hearts, and Wish continue to make their debuts. In the domestic market, the surge in trot music is prominent. Trot singers such as Lim Young-woong, Song Ga-in, Yeong-tak, and Lee Chan-won are overtaking K-pop stars to dominate the top positions on domestic music charts. Trot is a semi-traditional pop genre born under the influence of Japanese enka music in the 1930s, and it experienced a new golden age in the early 2020s thanks to the cable TV program “Mr. Trot.” Trop fans show equal enthusiasm to K-pop fans by using multiple online accounts to increase streaming numbers, donating charity funds under their favorite stars’ names, and purchasing albums repeatedly to secure fan meeting opportunities.