K-pop album sales stagnate in 2024 as streaming grows

nme.com:

K-pop physical album sales, while streaming numbers continue to grow.On January 19, the Korea Customs Service published new trade statistics via The Chosun reporting KRW423.8billion in earnings from physical album exports in 2024, a 0.55 per cent increase from 2023’s KRW421.5billion.

The outlet noted that the modest increase in sales signals a gradual downtrend in physical album sales for the first time since the industry’s consistent growth since 2015.Notably, K-pop exports to Japan – the industry’s largest market – fell by 24.7 per cent in 2024 with KRW130.3billion in sales.

Meanwhile, sales to the US and China made up 72.8 per cent in exports in total last year, marking significant rebounds after Korean content restrictions were enacted in China in 2023.

The outlet also noted that despite the achievement of a record-breaking 100million album sales in 2023, the industry was unable to hit the same numbers in 2024.The Chosun cites industry insiders in attributing 2024’s sales decline to the “absence and underperformance” of major groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK, both of which are currently under hiatus.