What BTS splitting up and NewJeans featuring on US music charts mean for the K-pop music industry

Despite the global market for recorded music getting more competitive, Entertainment in South Korean shows no signs of slowing down, with emerging groups like Stray Kids topping music charts

Sales of records produced by South Korean artists reached US$132.9 million (around HK$1 billion) in the first six months of 2023, according to figures from the Korea Customs Service cited by The Korea Times. This represents an increase of 17.1 per cent over the same period last year.

Japan imported the most K-pop albums between January and June, for a total of US$48.52 million (around HK$379 million). This was followed by the United States, where imports of South Korean pop records totalled US$25.51 million (around HK$196 million).

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This reflects the genre’s growing popularity in the world’s leading music market, as does the dominance of several K-pop groups in the American music charts.

K-pop boy band Stray Kids topped the prestigious Billboard 200 chart twice in 2022, compared with once for BTS and Blackpink, according to Billboard. Less established K-pop groups also made it to the US charts the same year, including Twice, Fifty Fifty and NewJeans.

China is another major contributor to K-pop’s global success. While the country was the second-largest importer of albums produced by South Korean artists in 2022, it is now the world’s third-largest market, with imports totalling US$22.64 million (around HK$172 million).

Germany, Taiwan and Hong Kong also contribute to K-pop’s growth in global album sales, as do the Netherlands, Canada, Great Britain and France.

K-pop at crossroads

These encouraging figures will certainly reassure those in the K-pop business. Some in the industry were worried about the genre’s sustainability at a time when the global market for recorded music is more competitive than ever, with some 120,000 new tracks appearing daily on streaming platforms.

Bang Si-hyuk, founder and chairman of Hybe, the parent company of the band BTS’s production company, said in March that K-pop was “in crisis”.

In case you missed it: Hybe shares plummet after K-pop group BTS announces hiatus

It was a dire warning that certainly echoed the BTS band’s decision to split in June 2022 so that each of its seven members could focus on their solo careers. This risky gamble has paid off for some of them: RM, Jimin and J-Hope have all featured in the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts thanks to their latest solo projects.

“The Korean music industry is very much at an important crossroads,” Bernie Cho, president of DFSB Kollective, a Seoul-based artist and label services agency, told Billboard. Still, the arrival of successful new bands on the K-pop scene also bodes well for the South Korean music industry on the global stage.

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What BTS splitting up and NewJeans featuring on US music charts mean for the K-pop music industry

K-pop at crossroads