SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - MAY 01: K-pop girl group LE SSERAFIM is performing during their first studio ... [+]
Since South Korea established an official chart system more than a decade ago to track the country’s music consumption, male groups have consistently dominated album sales. But the midyear report from the Circle Album Chart shows that, for the first time, there is an increase in representation for both female acts as well as solo acts to compete alongside the predominant boy bands.
Since establishing the Gaon Chart in 2010, the association now known as the Circle Chart, has tracked global album sales of Korean artists while ranking songs based on streaming, downloads, ringtone sales, karaoke popularity, social-media activity and other metrics. Each year, the 10 biggest-selling Korean albums have consisted of 70 percent or more from male groups. As recently as 2021, all of the Top 10 biggest-selling K-pop albums were all male groups, including the likes of internationally beloved boy bands like BTS, NCT, SEVENTEEN, EXO, Stray Kids, and ENHYPEN all selling more than one million physical copies of their records.
As of the midyear report of South Korea’s biggest-selling albums in 2023, three boy bands are leading the pack, but four female groups and two soloists are close behind.
The biggest-selling album of 2023 from South Korea is SEVENTEEN’s FML, which boasted a notably historic first week of selling more than 4.5 million copies of the six-track EP. According to the Circle Chart, FML has sold 5.4 million copies to join BTS’ 2020 blockbuster album Map of the Soul: 7 as one of the best-selling albums in South Korean history, according to Korea Music Content Association’s certifications.
Not far after SEVENTEEN is fellow boy band Stray Kids with their album 5-Star selling 5.2 million copies, according to Circle Chart. FML and 5-Star mark the first time an album has sold more than five million copies in a calendar year.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER have the third best-selling album from South Korea with The Name Chapter: Temptation earning nearly 2.8 million copies so far.
Next comes some crucial representation from female groups with aespa earning the fourth-biggest-selling album to date from Korea. The quartet’s My World EP just passed the two-million mark to be the first K-pop girl group to do so since BLACKPINK’s Born Pink LP last year. Nine-member female troupe TWICE and their Ready to Be EP is at No. 5 with more than 1.6 million in sales, followed by IVE’s first full-length album, I’ve IVE, which sees the chart-topping girl group earning more than 1.5 million in sales so far.
Male septet ENHYPEN is next up with their Dark Blood EP, selling more than 1.4 million in sales, followed by female quintet LE SSERAFIM with 1.3 million in sales for their Unforgiven studio album.
BTS members Jimin and Suga close out the midyear report, landing at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively, with their Face and D-Day albums, marking some of the biggest global sales ever for Korean soloists. Face has nearly 1.3 million in sales, while D-Day has sold more than 1.1 million copies.
Unlike the rest of the world, many K-pop albums have significant incentives for fans to purchase the physical version with varying versions of the album, special items inside like collectible trading cards, and are sometimes only printed in limited quantities. While male groups historically dominated the space, female groups’ growing recognition and success are developing equally supportive fanbases not only due to women dominating the local charts but, seemingly, more equal resources and investments made by record labels and management to compete with their male counterparts. The same excitement are increasingly being poured into the BTS members solo efforts which began more focused on digital or less on physical product, but have increasingly embraced traditional K-pop releases.
With record-breaking girl group NewJeans just releasing a new EP in July, as well as confirmed and rumored album releases from BTS members like J-Hope, Jung Kook and V, the 2023 album sales report from South Korea seem very likely to showcase a refreshingly diverse ranking.
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