K-POP Album Sales Drop 19.5%... Million-Seller Count Also Falls from 33 to 20

Album sales, which have long served as a key indicator for the K-POP industry, have shown a decline for the first time. According to data from the Circle Chart maintained by the Korea Music Content Association, album sales ranked within the top 400 in terms of cumulative sales dropped by 19.5% in 2024 compared to the previous year. This represents the first sign of adjustment faced by the K-POP album market, which had experienced continuous growth over the past decade. The number of million-seller albums also declined sharply. The count of albums that sold over 1 million copies each dropped from 33 in 2023 to 20 in 2024, a reduction of 13 albums. These numerical changes suggest that the upward trend the K-POP market has maintained for so long may no longer continue. The spread of global streaming platforms plays a significant role behind this sharp drop in album sales. According to data from the Korea Creative Content Agency, 51.1% of domestic music users primarily rely on foreign music streaming services including YouTube. Global brands such as YouTube Music, Spotify, and Apple Music are rapidly reshaping the domestic market by leveraging their vast libraries of global tracks, personalized curation options, and flexible pricing strategies. The dominance of Melon, South Korea’s leading music platform, is under threat. Melon still maintains a strong advantage in terms of the number of domestic songs available, with approximately 90% of its total catalog consisting of Korean tracks. However, the proportion of foreign songs remains below 15%, which limits it for users seeking a variety of genres and content from global artists. In contrast, Spotify offers around 82 million tracks and provides a sophisticated recommendation system based on AI, while YouTube Music delivers an experience integrated with existing YouTube video content. Consumer surveys also revealed Melon’s weaknesses. In a survey conducted among 104 young men and women in their 20s, Melon ranked third in popularity behind YouTube Music, Apple Music, and Spotify. While Melon received positive feedback for its extensive catalog of domestic songs and ease of access through KakaoTalk integration, it was criticized for a lack of foreign songs, an outdated UI/UX design, and high subscription fees. Restoring trust following past controversies over album pre-orders remains another challenge. Nevertheless, some argue that the decline in album sales does not necessarily indicate a crisis for the entire K-POP industry. The surge in album sales from 2020 to 2023 after the COVID-19 pandemic was due to the suspension of offline events such as concerts and in-person fan sign-ups, which forced album sales to serve as a substitute through virtual events. With the return to normalcy and the revival of overseas tours, the industry structure appears to be shifting back toward an offline focus. In fact, out of the 1 trillion won in overseas revenue generated by the K-POP industry in 2023, approximately 600 billion won came from concert sales. The K-POP market now stands at a critical juncture in 2025, needing to pursue new growth strategies. Domestic music platforms must go beyond merely defending their local markets. They need to strengthen connections with global fans by building on K-POP’s strengths, while also innovating personalized recommendation services, improving UX, and expanding their libraries of foreign songs in order to narrow the gap with global platforms.