K-pop Physical Album Sales Drop 19% in 9 Years, with 13 Fewer Albums Reaching Million-Unit Mark

The K-pop physical album market faced a crisis in 2024. According to data from the Circle Chart provided by the Korea Music Content Association, domestic physical album sales from January to November totaled 93.14 million units. This represents a 19% decline compared to 116 million units sold in the previous year. Even if December sales are included this year, the total is not expected to reach the over 100 million units achieved in 2023. Industry indicators also worsened. The number of albums that reached one million units dropped to 20, a decrease of 13 compared to 33 in the prior year. Sales figures for major groups also fell sharply. SEVENTEEN and Stray Kids sold 5 million units each in 2023, but this year SEVENTEEN sold only 3 million units while Stray Kids sold 2 million units. Choi Gwang-ho, secretary-general of the Korea Music Content Association, said in an interview that he had anticipated overheating in the album industry the previous year but did not expect such a significant drop, adding that an annual 20% decline represents a major crisis for the industry. Not only new albums but also sales of existing albums (released over six months ago) plummeted. In the first half of 2024, sales of existing albums dropped by 41.7% compared to the same period the previous year, resulting in only 3.3 million units sold. Sales of existing albums are often used as an indicator of new fan acquisition. Negative news within the industry is cited as a cause of the poor album sales in K-pop. A report released by the Korea Content Agency on December 18 analyzed that disputes between HYBE and ADOR along with various incidents involving K-pop idols have caused fatigue among the public. Music critic Kim Yoon-ha questioned whether there is a direct connection between recent industry conflicts and declining album sales, but he noted that negative public opinion is clearly a harmful factor. He expressed concern that it could have a long-term and decisive negative impact on demand for K-pop. However, the industry expects recovery in 2025. BTS’s SUGA, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook will complete their military service by June, paving the way for new songs in the second half of the year, while BLACKPINK and G-Dragon are also preparing new music. Fourth-generation groups such as aespa, ILLIT, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, and ZEROBASEONE are expected to release new works in 2025 as well.