by While the group BTS kept the top spot on the US Billboard’s main singles chart, ‘Hot 100’, for ten weeks and heated the global market, other songs occupied the domestic charts. ‘Only Look’ was by MSG Wannabe (MOM), a male group formed through MBC’s entertainment show ‘What do you do when you play. What is why the ‘long-term reign’ of BTS, which was achieved with ‘Butter’ and ‘Permission to Dance,’ did not appear in Korea?
According to the July digital music rankings recently released by Gaon Chart, a compilation of domestic charts, ‘Only Looking At You’ surpassed several idol groups to take first place. It remained at the top for five weeks on the digital chart that counted streaming, download, and BGM sales since June 27 before giving up first place on Akmu’s ‘Drop’ on the digital chart in the first week of August.
On the Billboard’ Hot 100′ this year, ‘Butter,’ which held the longest record for nine weeks, was ranked 5th, and ‘Permission to Dance’ ranked 3rd in the overall ranking in July. On individual music platforms such as Melon and Genie Music, in addition to ‘Look Only,’ Lee Moo-jin’s ‘Traffic Light,’ Espa’s ‘Next Level,’ Taeyeon’s ‘Weekend,’ and Brave Girls’ ‘Skirt Wind’ ranked high.
This phenomenon is believed to be because the fandom of BTS, which has spread worldwide, exerts a more significant influence on Billboard. It is said that the ‘firepower’ of K-pop group fans whose main stage is in the global market has recently been concentrated abroad rather than domestically. An official from an idol group’s agency said, “There are jokes that it is more difficult to top the domestic charts than Billboard because (fans) standards for charts are rising.”
Domestic charts are also different in that they reflect the tastes of the more general public. This is why the songs introduced in the broadcast, and the soundtrack of ‘Reverse Running’ were all over. In addition, while the popularity of the dance genre, which led the summer music market, waned while MSG Wannabe was a hit, ballads also enjoyed popularity.
There is an interpretation that sales of physical albums such as CDs have surged worldwide since Corona 19. As a result of building popularity through new English songs, it was possible to top the Billboard for a long time.
Kim Jin-woo, a senior research fellow at Gaon Chart, said, “After Corona 19, fans were unable to perform offline activities such as performances or fan meetings, and album purchases continued as a kind of ‘retaliatory consumption.’ did.
Although album purchases are increasing centering on the fandom, some analysts say that the music market is rather sluggish. Although album sales this year are expected to exceed 50 million copies, music sources in the 1st to 400th places in the first half of the year decreased by 13.3% compared to the same period of the previous year and by 26.3% compared to 2019. Research Fellow Kim pointed out, “Due to the impact of COVID-19, new song releases and music consumption have decreased.
