Backed by teenage fandom, BTS' album sales hit record high

By Park Sae-jin Posted : March 9, 2017, 16:39 Updated : March 9, 2017, 16:39

[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]



BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, has broken its own album sale record with the latest album "You Never Walk Alone". The amazing record was made possible by a huge fandom supporting the boys that pushed them all the way to the top of album charts.

According to Gaon Chart, South Korea's state-run music ranking service, BTS has sold 713,063 copies of its new album in February. The monthly sales volume is near equivalent to BTS' total album sales of "WINGS" (751,301 copies), the most sold album of 2016. 

It was the most outstanding record among K-pop groups including girl group TWICE which came back with a new album last year and sold 266,645 copies. Brisk sales of BTS albums were attributable to loyal fans led by students and young adults who have formed fan communities eager to buy multiple copies like followers of other K-pop starlets.

An organized behavior is common among boy group fans. Last year, a YouTuber "YoonSeol" uploaded a video clip, unboxing 12 copies of BTS' album "WINGS". Thousands of similar reviews were witnessed in their fan communities when "You Never Walk Alone" was released. Some fans have bought more than 30 copies each.

Such a fandom is not rare.  Sometimes fans hoard copies as much as they can in a bid to put the group they support onto the top of the album charts.

Special gifts offered with albums attract fans who want to complete a collection. Most albums include photo cards of each member inserted in random so that one should buy multiple times to have a complete collection of photo cards without missing a member or two.

"I had to buy more than 20 copies of 'You Never Walk Alone' to collect all photo cards," a 22-year-old university student Jung Yeong-jo told Aju News. "I had to trade overlapping photo cards with other fans to complete my collection."

However, South Korea's obsessive fandom and loyalty has been controversial and criticized for hurting the music industry. "No matter what, they hoard album copies," said a user "Joojoo" from a South Korean online community Clien. "It is not fair for other artists with a smaller fan base."

Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기