by Idol group BTS became a ‘double million seller’ on the first day of their comeback. Hive (199,000 won ▼ 24,500 -10.96%) Other artists in Hive also achieved good results with active activities last month, while Hive’s 2nd quarter earnings turned blue. However, artist-related risk factors remained a variable.
According to the entertainment industry on the 13th, BTS made a comeback on the 10th with the anthology album ‘Proof’, a compilation of their activities over the past 9 years. This album contains 3 new songs, previously released songs, solo songs, and 45 unreleased songs, and sold 2.15 million copies on the first day of release. It is the first time since the album’s 4th album ‘Map of the Soul: 7’ in February 2020 sold more than 2 million copies on the first day of release. BTS is the only singer in Korea to set such a record.
The title song ‘Yet to come’ topped the iTunes charts in 97 countries, including the US and Japan. On the world’s largest music streaming platform ‘Spotify’, it ranked 3rd on the global daily charts and was streamed 7.18 million times on the first day of release alone. The number of views of the music video also exceeded 60 million in one day.
In this quarter, not only BTS but also other Hive artists were active. According to Gaon Chart, the groups ‘Seventeen’ and ‘Tomorrow X Together (TXT)’ took first and second places side by side on the domestic album charts in May. Seventeen’s 4th full-length album ‘Face the Sun’, released on the 27th of last month, recorded sales of 2.06 million copies in a week.
The reaction abroad is also hot. On the 12th (local time), on the US Billboard’s main album chart, ‘Billboard 200’, it ranked 7th and entered the top 10 for the first time, and was also listed on Time magazine’s ‘2022 Best K-Pop Album’.
TXT’s 4th mini-album ‘minisode 2: Thursday’s child’, released on the 9th of last month, sold 2 million copies in two days and topped the Oricon weekly chart in Japan. TXT topped this chart for six consecutive albums, the first among foreign singers. It entered the US Billboard 200 for three weeks in a row and maintained the top spot. Last month, it also recorded its own best 3rd place on the ‘Artist 100’ chart.
The rookie group ‘Le Seraphim’, which released their first mini-album ‘Fearless’, also made a successful debut last month, ranking 6th on the domestic album charts. They sold 307,450 copies within a week, setting a new record in Initial Chodong sales for a girl group’s debut album. The debut song of the same name entered the Billboard chart eight days after its release, and then climbed the Billboard chart for five consecutive weeks.
The world tour of artists who made a comeback in the first half of this month will start. In general, offline performance revenue and the resulting goods (planned product) revenue are considered as the biggest source of revenue for entertainment companies. For this reason, sales are expected to increase as the tour progresses in the second half of this year. Meritz Securities predicted that Hive’s consolidated sales in the second quarter would rise 71% year-on-year to KRW 476.1 billion.
But there are also risk factors. Le Seraphim’s member Kim Ga-ram took a break from her activities as soon as she debuted due to controversy over school violence. There was also noise surrounding BTS’ new album. In this anthology album, indie singer Bobby Jeong participated in the song ‘Filter’. This song was re-recorded on this album after being released through her last regular 4th album. After the release, it became known that Bobby Jung was investigated for assaulting and illegally filming a woman in her 20s, who was an aspiring singer and lover. This case became known when the victim left a will with an extreme choice, and a related trial is currently underway at the Seoul Western District Court. For this reason, last month, when the anthology album tracklist was released, there was a boycott of the album among the fandom.
Military service issues remain. In April, Hive urged the National Assembly to expedite the amendment of the Military Service Act. It was initially known that the decision would be made in April, but the discussion has not been finalized until today, two months after that. BTS’ eldest brother Jin (real name Kim Seok-jin) is due to enlist at the end of this year.
An industry official said, “BTS’s contribution to sales in Hive is close to 70%.” “Thanks to this comeback, this year’s results are promising, but if members start enlisting in the military, a decrease in sales will be inevitable even if they do unit activities.”
