In the first half of 2023, six acts from HYBE, a leading K-pop company, accounted for a staggering 40% of all K-pop album sales. The artists contributing to this impressive figure include BTS‘s Jimin, ENHYPEN, LE SSERAFIM, NewJeans, SEVENTEEN, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
According to Circle Chart, a music sales tracker, K-pop artists sold 55 million albums from January to June 2023. Of these, 22 million, or 40.4%, were by the artists mentioned above. Each is with one of the labels under the HYBE umbrella. Jimin‘s band BTS is with BigHit Music. So are TOMORROW X TOGETHER. Meanwhile, ENHYPEN is managed by BELIFT LAB, LE SSERAFIM by Source Music, NewJeans by ADOR, and SEVENTEEN by PLEDIS Entertainment.
SEVENTEEN emerged as the top performer. The 13-member boy group sold a whopping 8.9 million albums during this period. This figure includes sales from their 2023 mini album FML and their past albums.
Regarding downloads and streams, HYBE’s girl groups made a significant impact. Five of the top 10 most popular songs were from LE SSERAFIM and NewJeans. According to Circle Chart, the latter’s singles “Ditto,” “Hype Boy,” and “OMG” were the top three most-downloaded and streamed songs in the first half of 2023. “Attention” was No. 7 and LE SSERAFIM’s “ANTIFRAGILE” was No. 9.
HYBE attributes its success to its multi-label system, where it acquires smaller K-pop agencies and allows them to maintain their unique style while benefiting from the resources of a larger system.
“The excellent result comes from the power of HYBE’s multi-label strategy,” the company stated in a press release. “HYBE allows the absolute independence of a label’s work to guarantee the birth of super content. This has allowed our labels to fulfill their creative potential and provide high-quality music to K-pop fans.”
— K-pop News Writer
Featured Image: HYBE’s headquarters is a 19-story building in Yeongsan, Seoul. It opened in March 2021. Source: HYBE Corp.’s company profile.)
