Has the Twilight of K-Pop Arrived? Album Sales Decline and New Bands Fail to Achieve Great Success

Kapanlagi.com - It can still be remembered how K-Pop succeeded worldwide at its inception and has lasted for more than a decade. Recently, K-Pop is said to be fading. One indication of this is the decline in physical album sales of K-Pop in 2024.

Quoting a report from Allkpop, the end of last year marked an important moment for the South Korean music industry. Circle Chart, managed by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), released an annual report that noted a sharp decline in physical album sales.

From January to November 2024, the number of physical albums sold reached only 93.14 million copies—far below the achievement of 2023, which touched 116 million copies.

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1. Decline in Album Sales

Even if December's sales are included, the total figure is estimated to remain below 100 million copies, as reported by The Korea JoongAng Daily.

This decline is quite surprising because over the past decade, physical album sales in K-Pop have always shown an upward trend. However, in 2024, the graph has moved downward for the first time, particularly felt by male artists.

The group Seventeen, which topped album sales this year, only managed to sell 8.9 million copies. This number has plummeted compared to the previous year, where they sold up to 16 million copies. Stray Kids, in second place, also experienced a significant decline with a difference of about five million copies compared to their sales in 2023.

2. No Major Achievements Yet

ITZY © instagram.com/itzy.all.in.us

The decline is also evident in the number of albums that managed to surpass one million copies. While in 2023 there were 33 albums that achieved this milestone, in 2024 the number has drastically dropped to only 20 albums.

Meanwhile, according to a report from dw.com, newcomers like Baby Monster have yet to make a significant impact. The group failed to enter the top ranks of the Melon Top 100, one of the indicators of song popularity in South Korea.

Other groups like ITZY and NMIXX also experienced a drop in performance, with their latest releases falling significantly in the second week. The latest mini album from Le Sserafim even recorded a 20 percent decrease in sales in the second week after its release.

3. Digital Strength

Seventeen © X/@17CARATS_INA

Several factors are considered to contribute to this negative trend. Some major stars are currently undergoing mandatory military service, the multi-label group format is starting to lose its appeal, and the Chinese market is still not fully open to the consumption of physical K-Pop albums.

However, this decline does not necessarily mark the end of the K-Pop industry's golden era. On the contrary, K-Pop is now showing great strength in the digital realm.

Data from CNBC reveals that streaming K-Pop songs on Spotify has drastically increased: up 180 percent in the United States, 420 percent in Southeast Asia, and 360 percent globally.

Also click: 10 Latest Kpop Songs That Will Shake Up the Second Semester of 2025 (part 2)

(kpl/tdr)