"KPOP Chit-chat's 2023 KPOP Summary & 2024 KPOP Outlook" (Part 1) Monthly KPOP Chit-chat #04

2023 was undoubtedly the KPOP bubble.

As mentioned in #2, more than ten KPOP artists ranked in the TOP 10 of the Billboard 200, the main album chart of the world's largest music chart, Billboard, and the total album sales for KPOP reached an all-time high.

Looking at this chart, it's clear that the increase from 2022 to 2023 is astonishing, jumping from 77 million copies in 2022 to over 100 million in 2023.

If this isn't a bubble, then what is?

The top girl group is NewJeans with 4.39 million copies sold (by the way, my favorite Kep1er sold 320,000 copies, ranking 14th. It's a bit sad for us Kep1ians since they sold over a million copies in 2022…)

On the other hand, the top boy group is SEVENTEEN with an astonishing 16 million copies sold!

Stray Kids, in second place, also surpassed 10 million copies, and with BTS currently inactive due to military service, it's undeniable that these two groups are the top boy groups in terms of popularity and sales.

And in just one year since their debut, NewJeans has quickly taken the throne of KPOP Queen, a title that BLACKPINK held for a long time.

Just as BLACKPINK popularized the girl crush concept across KPOP, NewJeans has brought the Y2K (an abbreviation for Year 2000, referring to the late 1990s to early 2000s) movement to the entire KPOP scene.

In fact, it’s clear that since NewJeans, there has been a sudden increase in songs and MVs that resemble their style.

Knowing that during BLACKPINK's time, many girl crush concept groups debuted only to fade away, it’s hard not to feel the impermanence of things when considering that some groups may be heading towards a not-so-bright future due to the current NewJeans boom.

There are whispers that 2023 will be the peak and things will start to settle down, but is that really the case?

With the upcoming comeback of Stray Kids, their fans, known as Stay, will likely aim to surpass their previous work, and they might even target breaking SEVENTEEN's records.

If that happens, TOMORROW X TOGETHER and NCT DREAM, currently in 3rd and 4th place, might also ramp up their sales to keep up.

However, fans' wallets are not infinite, and there are limits.

The author has been buying over 30 CDs every time Kep1er makes a comeback, but this can't go on forever.

Concert expenses are necessary, and fans want merchandise too, which adds up to a lot of costs beyond just CDs.

SEVENTEEN members have started telling fans not to overdo it, and RED VELVET's Wendy even said that buying one CD is enough! She mentioned that she would tell the agency not to release multiple versions of one album, showing that idols are starting to worry about fans' financial situations. This suggests that there is a strong possibility of things calming down in 2024.

Honestly, the exhaustion of KPOP fans over the past few years has been immense.

There are even strong fans who cut back on their own food expenses to buy hundreds of CDs.

Yet, the nature of fans is to push themselves to do their best when they see their idols smiling and active, but it seems like they are reaching a physical limit.

How about we all take a breather in 2024?

Why not prioritize your own happiness this year?

When BTS returns as a full group in 2025, the CD sales war will inevitably come back, so why not take a break until then?

That said, I know very well that otaku won't actually take a break.

Because "my happiness = my bias's happiness"!

If my bias is happy, then I'm happy too!

Alright. I won't say anything about others' otaku activities anymore.

I hope that in 2024, everyone can enjoy their KPOP otaku activities at their own pace.

With that, I would like to conclude this article with these words.

"My bias's happiness is my happiness."