K-Pop Album Sales Drop 19.5%, Growth Stalled in 2024... Recovery Expected with BTS and BLACKPINK’s Returns

The rapid growth trend that characterized the K-Pop market for several years after the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down significantly. In 2024, physical album sales declined by 19.5% compared to the previous year, raising concerns across the industry. According to the Circle Chart, total physical album sales (for positions 1–400) amounted to approximately 98.9 million units, a decrease of 21.3 million units from the prior year and the first time sales fell below 100 million units. The number of million-selling albums—those selling over 1 million units—also dropped sharply, from 33 in 2023 to 20 in 2024, a reduction of 13 albums. As for album exports, the value reached $291,837,000 in 2024, an increase of only 0.55% from $292,310,000 in the previous year. This represents virtually no growth and contrasts sharply with the rapid export growth seen after the pandemic in 2020. Export values had risen steadily from $74,594,000 in 2019 to $136,201,000 in 2020, $228,500,000 in 2021, and $231,389,000 in 2022, before coming to a complete halt. In terms of export destinations, Japan topped the list with $89,786,000 (130.3 billion won), followed by the United States at $62,930,000 (87.5 billion won) and China at $59,789,000 (86.8 billion won). These three countries accounted for 72.8% of total exports. Notably, while Japan’s exports declined by 24.7% compared to the previous year, China’s exports increased by 76.4%, helping to offset the overall decline despite ongoing economic challenges and the Hanban restrictions. The industry is analyzing various factors behind the sales drop in 2024. First, excessive marketing practices that have long been criticized as part of the “K-Pop problem”—such as fierce competition over first-week sales figures, frequent fan signings, and overproduction of albums—have eased somewhat. Additionally, fan communities of major idol groups did not engage in as intense a competition to set sales records as seen in 2022 and 2023. A senior researcher at Circle Chart analyzed that “the decline in sales was concentrated among top male groups, while female groups performed relatively well with little change compared to the previous year.” Another factor may be the presence of major sports events such as the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2024, which diverted attention away from K-Pop. As a result, the operating profits of major agencies like HYBE and SM both declined in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year, with YG recording an operating loss and turning into a loss-making company. However, experts are focusing on the potential for market recovery in 2025. BTS’s five members—RM, V, Jimin, Jung Kook, and SUGA—are set to complete their military service in June of this year, while BLACKPINK is expected to begin working on new music this spring and start a new world tour by summer. An industry insider predicted that “this year will see a strong lineup as BTS and BLACKPINK return, along with third- and fourth-generation idols and their successors all active simultaneously.” Moreover, major agencies such as HYBE, SM, and JYP will introduce new groups this year. JYP debuted the new male group KickFlip on January 20, while SM plans to launch the eight-member female group Hearts2Hearts and the Korean-English joint male group Dear Alice. There is growing interest in whether groups such as aespa, IVE, and LE SSERAFIM—current fourth-generation idols at the peak of their careers—will be able to effectively take over and drive success in the K-Pop market.