Stagnant K-POP Album Sales and Accelerating Environmental Pollution: "Gambling-Oriented Marketing as the Primary Cause"

In 2024, the K-POP industry experienced growth stagnation for the first time in a decade. According to statistics released by the Korean Customs Service on the 19th, last year’s export value of physical K-POP albums was 42.38 billion won, representing only a 0.55% increase from 42.15 billion won in the previous year. This marked the first break in the consistent growth trend that had persisted since 2015. Exports to Japan, K-POP’s largest market, plummeted by 24.7% to 13.03 billion won. Although the United States and China helped sustain overall exports by accounting for 72.8%, the industry failed to exceed its annual record of 100 million album sales set in 2023. The main reasons cited were the absence of major groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK, along with a lack of new global mega-hits. The four major agencies—HYBE, JYP, YG, and SM—accounted for 62% of total album sales in 2024, with combined sales reaching 54.74 million units. Although album sales increased by more than 12 times from 7.37 million units ten years earlier, there has been growing criticism that aggressive marketing tactics by agencies, such as photo cards and fan sign sessions, have exacerbated environmental pollution. During parliamentary audits in October last year, Im O-kyung of the Democratic Party stated, “Albums are being consumed recklessly due to marketing practices that encourage gambling, such as fan sign sessions and random photo cards. This is the main culprit behind carbon emissions and resource waste.” She argued that agencies use excessive tactics to maximize first-week sales. According to data from the Ministry of Environment, agencies used 801.5 tons of plastic subject to waste disposal fees alone in 2022. The K-POP fan environmental group “K-Pop Planet” analyzed that producing one album emits 500 grams of carbon, resulting in approximately 44 million kilograms of carbon emissions in 2024. This amount is equivalent to the carbon emitted by a passenger car traveling 9.7 billion kilometers. On the 16th, K-Pop Planet named HYBE the winner of the “2024 Sustainable K-POP Award” for “Environmental Pollution of the Year.” Fans reported that after conducting voting among 14,000 people in 66 countries from November 16 to December 17, HYBE was ranked first as the “Climate Villain” with 50.5% of the votes, followed by YG, SM, and JYP. Since the parliamentary audits, there has been little actual improvement from the agencies. HYBE repeated a general statement saying it was not yet at a stage to finalize specific improvement plans, while YG only replied that it was currently working on directions for 2025. SM and JYP did not even respond to inquiries. There are significant doubts about whether eco-friendly albums promoted by agencies can serve as a fundamental solution. Martyr Verbigie, an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, said, “Using soybean oil ink or recycled materials is a measure that overlooks the essence of sustainability desired by fans. The volume of album sales itself needs to be reduced.”