by Although the global pandemic has continued for two years, K-pop groups show their global status through overseas activities. As the global fandom expands, it is expected to record 60 million physical albums sales. In addition, the use of NFTs and Metaverses, which are considered future food items by large entertainment companies, has also been highlighted.
Unlike the global activities of K-pop groups, offline activities decreased in Korea due to the high regulations on concerts due to Corona 19, which left a disappointment. Unlike the rapid rise in physical album sales due to the influence of the global fandom, the domestic music market shrank. In particular, the indie industry, whose primary source of income is domestic performances, had to bear huge losses due to repeated government regulations.
BTS, ‘American Music Awards’ grand prize… Another career-high
BTS, the first K-pop artist to top the Billboard’ Hot 100′ with ‘Dynamite’ last year, also made a career-high this year. ‘Butter’ topped Billboard’s main singles chart, ‘Hot 100’, a total of 10 times, and ‘Permission to Dance’ and ‘My Universe’ (collaborative song with Coldplay) also ranked first on ‘Hot 100’.
At the ‘2021 Grammy Awards’ held in March of last month, they were the first K-pop and the first Asian singer to be nominated for a nomination, and they made a mark in the history of popular music. It won the ‘Artist of the Year award. In addition, ‘Favorite Pop Song’ and ‘Favorite Pop Duo/Group’ trophies were also won, winning three trophies at the awards ceremony alone. As it was also nominated for the ‘Grammy Awards,’ which is scheduled to be held next year, attention is focused on whether or not to win.
In addition, BTS held its first offline concert in about two years in Los Angeles at the end of last month and early this month. Their concert ticket sales amounted to a whopping 39.4 billion won, which is the first time a non-English speaking artist broke the box score of $30 million through a single concert. Next March, BTS, who warmed up the US, will meet its fans through an offline concert in Seoul.
60 million album sales… Domestic music market ‘shrinking.’
According to Gaon Chart, from January to November of this year, the cumulative album sales based on the Top 400 recorded about 55 million copies. It grew by about 31% (13 million copies) from last year’s annual sales (about 42 million copies). In addition, if the December sales are additionally counted, the total album sales this year are expected to reach 60 million copies. In particular, BTS, which recorded the most sales (about 7.2 million copies) and artists who sold more than 1 million albums in cumulative album sales, were 11 teams, an increase of 3 teams from 8 teams last year. In terms of single albums, the number of albums with more than 1 million copies totaled 10, an increase of 4 from last year’s six albums.
Exports also stood out. According to statistics from the Korea Customs Service this year, Korea’s record exports (January to October) reached an all-time high of $189.74 million (about 223.6 billion won). Exports already surpassed $136.2 million in album exports last year. In particular, the proportion of exports to Japan decreased 12%p from the previous year, and China and the US increased by 8%p and 2%p, respectively. As Japan’s share, which has accounted for more than 40% of exports since 2018, has decreased, its dependence on K-pop exports to Japan has decreased.
On the other hand, the amount of music released in Korea and music usage, which shows the overall usage trend, decreased compared to last year. The average monthly usage of the top 400 music sources from January to November decreased by 12% from last year and by 25% compared to 2019. The decline in new song releases and fewer concerts seems to have impacted.
The music industry’s ‘Metaverse’ and ‘NFT’ craze
The metaverse (a compound word of ‘meta’ meaning transcendence and virtual reality and ‘universe’ meaning the real world) that started last year is becoming more active in the music industry. Last year, Blackpink and Twice introduced avatars in ‘ZEPETO’ operated by Naver Jet. In the same year, SM Entertainment introduced the metaverse and girl group Espa with the concept of avatars as the worldview. In addition, K/DA, a girl group that turned game characters into idols, and ETERNITY, an 11-member AI, virtual idol group, appear one after another.
The biggest issue this year is NFT. NFT stands for ‘non-fungible token’ and is mainly created by giving unique values to digital content or products using blockchain technology. Because artist intellectual property (IP)-based contents and products can become infinite digital assets of fans, they are called the new future food of the entertainment industry. JYP and Hive entered the NFT business in partnership with Dunamu, who operates the cryptocurrency exchange ‘Upbit.’ Recently, music agencies such as Brave Girls’ agency Brave Entertainment and Cube Entertainment are concentrating their efforts on the NFT business one after another.
The Indie industry, the primary source of income for concerts, is ‘crying.’
The idol industry has been looking for another way out in the COVID-19 crisis, but the situation in the indie industry, where most of its income depends on concerts, is getting worse. In addition, popular music is always mentioned as a blind spot in the government’s loss compensation system. According to statistical data on popular music performances (concerts) on the integrated performing arts network, sales in the popular music performance industry have decreased by more than 90% from February 2020 to the present.
Accordingly, the Korea Music Label Industry Association (Umre Association) and the Korea Popular Music Performance Industry Association (Umgong Association) have consistently voiced their voices against the government’s discriminatory policies against the COVID-19-related popular music performance industry. After repeated appeals and struggles, the show has recently resumed with difficulty. Still, soon after, as the COVID-19 mutant virus, Omicron, spread and the number of confirmed patients rapidly increased, concerts were being canceled one after another. Damage is expected to grow out of control.
