Customers on April 28 look at albums on display at a K-pop merchandise store in the Myeong-dong neighborhood of Seoul's Jung-gu District. (Yonhap News)
By Charles Audouin
Album exports in the first quarter surpassed USD 100 million in revenue for the first time.
The Korea Customs Service (KCS) on April 28 said such shipments skyrocketed 159% year on year to KRW 124.4 million in the period.
The biggest market was the U.S., which accounted for 28.8% of the exports, surpassing Japan (25.3%), which had ranked first until last year. Rounding out the top five were the European Union (EU) with 16.5%, China 14.4% and Taiwan 6.9%.
Ninety-four of the albums' 131 export markets set record highs for the quarter.
The U.S. also posted the highest annual growth rate for such exports with 506.4%, followed by the EU (461.9%), Japan (157.4%) and China (38.2%).
The statistics were based on the number of physical albums declared for export, and did not reflect online sales such as music streaming and downloads.
K-pop's economic value generated not just from albums but also through streaming, music and video copyrights, and merchandise have led to forecasts of an even bigger economic effect.
"K-pop fandom culture goes beyond simply listening to music; it tends to pursue psychological satisfaction through owning physical albums and supporting artists," the KCS said. "Recent demand for physical albums is rising especially among Gen Z, who is used to the digital environment but increasingly avoids the algorithms of major music streaming services."
The BTS album "Arirang" has been certified platinum in France by SNEP (National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing). (SNEP)
In other news, "Arirang," the fifth studio album of BTS, on April 23 was certified platinum in France by SNEP (National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) nearly a month after its release on March 20.
The boy band now has four platinum-certified albums in France for group releases. SNEP grants the certification to an album with sales equivalent to 100,000 units by combining physical album sales, downloads and streams.
Last month, "Arirang" eclipsed 750,000 cumulative shipments in Japan to earn "triple platinum" certification.
caudouin@korea.kr
