Sales Top 10 best selling groups on Circle Chart ordered by debut year (2010 - 2023) (1 Viewer)

[ichigohon]

Just a small correction, circle is not domestic only (its the former Gaon chart), so I that should be BTS total sales worldwide!

I understand what you mean that it tracks shipments from Korea, but I think BTS's total sales worldwide might be higher as are some other groups because they have American and other global record companies that help distribute albums outside Korea. I'm not super researched on the Circle Chart as it's incredibly confusing, but I don't think albums that are distributed by Warner Records, RCA Records, etc. abroad would count in the Circle Chart. We'd be getting significant amounts of double counting of sales in multiple countries if it was calculated that way.

Also, to build on what @RandAlThor said above, nearly all K-pop groups are signed to a domestic Japanese label or a Japanese subsidiary of their own company so they are made and produced in Japan (the albums not always the music), and have to be exported abroad and due to how Oricon calculates their chart data this explains why Japanese album sales are usually lower than a group's Korean releases.

 

[Moguri]

I understand what you mean that it tracks shipments from Korea, but I think BTS's total sales worldwide might be higher as are some other groups because they have American and other global record companies that help distribute albums outside Korea. I'm not super researched on the Circle Chart as it's incredibly confusing, but I don't think albums that are distributed by Warner Records, RCA Records, etc. abroad would count in the Circle Chart. We'd be getting significant amounts of double counting of sales in multiple countries if it was calculated that way.

Also, to build on what @RandAlThor said above, nearly all K-pop groups are signed to a domestic Japanese label or a Japanese subsidiary of their own company so they are made and produced in Japan (the albums not always the music), and have to be exported abroad and due to how Oricon calculates their chart data this explains why Japanese album sales are usually lower than a group's Korean releases.

mmh, I thought if Warner or RCA would order or get albums to distribute, the shippement to them gets counted in Circle too..

 

[ichigohon]

mmh, I thought if Warner or RCA would order or get albums to distribute, the shippement to them gets counted in Circle too..

I don't think thats accurate, if they're in charge of distribution then they don't buy any albums. They distribute them which is slightly different. YG Plus, Kakao M, etc. don't order the albums, they're just in charge of distributing the albums based on what stores order to be sold. In Korea that would be Kakao M , YG Plus, etc. and abroad that could be any number of labels. The albums that are counted on the Circle Charts are albums that have been sold within Korea, a lot of K-pop album websites are based in Korea, so the purchases of these albums are technically done in Korea and the albums are then shipped to whoever ordered them. A TXT album bought in Waco, Texas at Target would not have gone through those channels and would have been distributed through a domestic supplier. As a result of this, a lot of people who actually buy K-pop albums from the online stores that get their album from Korea are counted as domestic album sales within Korea, and not as album sales in Germany, Canada, Brazil, etc.

 

[Moguri]

I don't think thats accurate, if they're in charge of distribution then they don't buy any albums. They distribute them which is slightly different. YG Plus, Kakao M, etc. don't order the albums, they're just in charge of distributing the albums based on what stores order to be sold. In Korea that would be Kakao M , YG Plus, etc. and abroad that could be any number of labels. The albums that are counted on the Circle Charts are albums that have been sold within Korea, a lot of K-pop album websites are based in Korea, so the purchases of these albums are technically done in Korea and the albums are then shipped to whoever ordered them. A TXT album bought in Waco, Texas at Target would not have gone through those channels and would have been distributed through a domestic supplier. As a result of this, a lot of people who actually buy K-pop albums from the online stores that get their album from Korea are counted as domestic album sales within Korea, and not as album sales in Germany, Canada, Brazil, etc.

Everything you need to know about physical sales in K-Pop

It's normal to see people who are confused about some terms or about physical sales in K-Pop, such as pre-orders and the first week of sales...

koreansalestwt.blogspot.com

2. Gaon and its sales/shipments
Well, once the production company knows how many albums to produce for the stores, they do the respective shipments to those stores. These shipments are the number of copies that are reflected in Gaon. Yes, Gaon does NOT count official physical sales, they count the number of albums that have been produced and shipped to all stores globally, regardless of whether they are small stores or not affiliated with other charts like Hanteo. This is the reason why the numbers in Gaon are very different from those of Hanteo, as well as there is a difference in numbers between the two charts.

 

[ichigohon]

Everything you need to know about physical sales in K-Pop

It's normal to see people who are confused about some terms or about physical sales in K-Pop, such as pre-orders and the first week of sales...

koreansalestwt.blogspot.com

I was confusing Gaon with Hanteo apparently lol, regardless that article doesn't elaborate on what counts outside Korea other than in Japan of which all of my album purchases have been reflected because I only buy at Tower Records and HMV. I'm assuming that Gaon is trying to track total album shipments globally in that case. My bad due to the rebrand of stuff I got my wires crossed on that one.

 

[Moguri]

I was confusing Gaon with Hanteo apparently lol, regardless that article doesn't elaborate on what counts outside Korea other than in Japan of which all of my album purchases have been reflected because I only buy at Tower Records and HMV. I'm assuming that Gaon is trying to track total album shipments globally in that case. My bad due to the rebrand of stuff I got my wires crossed on that one.

As far as I understand it, it does not really matter what counts outside of Korea, as all the albums get originally produced by the korean company and then shipped off and Circle just count those shippments?

Also for Hanteo, many stores are affiliated with them (for example your example Target also counts towards Hanteo). So while Circle number are always higher, the Hanteo numbers usually are somewhat close, maybe 10-30% difference depending on the group. I think the number also decreases more and more, as ofc those companies and stores also understand how obsessed kpop fans are with those numbers, so by not being affiliated with Hanteo they hurt their sales potential.

For Japan I really don't know.. everything seems to be different compared to how it works in the rest of the world.

 

[x_x]

B1A4 YOU WILL ALWAYS BE LEGENDARY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my tennies, vitys, and dreamies all here too my kings.....

 

[ichigohon]

As far as I understand it, it does not really matter what counts outside of Korea, as all the albums get originally produced by the korean company and then shipped off and Circle just count those shippments?

Also for Hanteo, many stores are affiliated with them (for example your example Target also counts towards Hanteo). So while Circle number are always higher, the Hanteo numbers usually are somewhat close, maybe 10-30% difference depending on the group. I think the number also decreases more and more, as ofc those companies and stores also understand how obsessed kpop fans are with those numbers, so by not being affiliated with Hanteo they hurt their sales potential.

For Japan I really don't know.. everything seems to be different compared to how it works in the rest of the world.

Yeah, I confused them as the same. However, I'm against stores abroad being affliated to Hanteo as I think that the Korean music charts should be an accurate reflection of what is actually being consumed domestically. Especially when Gaon can already be used to track it. Back to my example, why should an album purchased in Waco, Texas be counted as a sale in Hanteo? If I buy an Anitta album it probably wouldn't be counted in Brazil as sale, but only in America.

 

[Moguri]

Yeah, I confused them as the same. However, I'm against stores abroad being affliated to Hanteo as I think that the Korean music charts should be an accurate reflection of what is actually being consumed domestically. Especially when Gaon can already be used to track it. Back to my example, why should an album purchased in Waco, Texas be counted as a sale in Hanteo? If I buy an Anitta album it probably wouldn't be counted in Brazil as sale, but only in America.

I don't know if there is maybe another domestic chart?

tbh I have absolutly no idea how it works in other markets and countries, so I rather not speak on it. But the reason why, its really just like I said, kpop fans look out for this stuff, so if you are hanteo affiliated they are more likely to buy from you

 

[the101]

Am always pleased to see NCT ranked so highly.

An important note on Hanteo vs Circle numbers, many large US sellers are counted on Circle but not on Hanteo WITH specific exceptions. For example, Amazon, Target and Walmart are not Hanteo stores and do not count for Hanteo. Walmart is the largest retailer in the US and Amazon is the second. That's why I always throw a massive side eye when people holler that Hanteo charts are the most accurate, as they are leaving out big portions of one of the largest markets for kpop. Those retailers do count for Circle. The exception here are Hybe albums, because Hybe made a deal years ago (I think directly with the retailers) that allowed THEIR albums to count for Hanteo AND Circle AND Billboard.

I don't think there's a clear cut way to determine what is selling primarily in Korea other than to compare the national charts against each other, and even then it only emphasizes a few countries. For example, there are chart-topping and strong-selling kpop groups in Korea that don't even touch US, Japanese and European charts (but tbf they might also be charting well in Indonesia, whose charts aren't as easy to access for folks in other countries.) But it's hard to separate that out from the structure of the way charts are counted - Billboard only counts American-specific versions or albums with American distributors. This leaves out a lot of older kpop groups (BTS "paved the way" in 2017, while many of the current groups had contracts beginning in 2019, which is when you see them start to chart on Billboard more regularly, while newer groups often start very early or immediately with US distro. For example, aespa has US distro but RV does not.) If you look at who has charted in the BB 200 over the last few years, nearly all have US distro - so while The Boyz and Ive sell well in Korea, they do not exist in the BB 200 chart.

You can find a list of countries that consume the most kpop on Circle's website: Japan, China and the US represent 75% of the export market.

CIRCLE CHART - 써클차트

New Circular Wave.

circlechart.kr

K*boo is a trashy website but they do have a good translation of this info:

Circle Chart Has Released Their 2022 Physical Album Export Data Review — Here Is How K-Pop Album Sales Have Changed Worldwide

Circle Chart, formerly known as Gaon, recently released their 2022 Physical Album Export Data Review, and the data they collected is fascinating!

www.koreaboo.com

 

[Moguri]

Am always pleased to see NCT ranked so highly.

An important note on Hanteo vs Circle numbers, many large US sellers are counted on Circle but not on Hanteo WITH specific exceptions. For example, Amazon, Target and Walmart are not Hanteo stores and do not count for Hanteo. Walmart is the largest retailer in the US and Amazon is the second. That's why I always throw a massive side eye when people holler that Hanteo charts are the most accurate, as they are leaving out big portions of one of the largest markets for kpop. Those retailers do count for Circle. The exception here are Hybe albums, because Hybe made a deal years ago (I think directly with the retailers) that allowed THEIR albums to count for Hanteo AND Circle AND Billboard.

I don't think there's a clear cut way to determine what is selling primarily in Korea other than to compare the national charts against each other, and even then it only emphasizes a few countries. For example, there are chart-topping and strong-selling kpop groups in Korea that don't even touch US, Japanese and European charts (but tbf they might also be charting well in Indonesia, whose charts aren't as easy to access for folks in other countries.) But it's hard to separate that out from the structure of the way charts are counted - Billboard only counts American-specific versions or albums with American distributors. This leaves out a lot of older kpop groups (BTS "paved the way" in 2017, while many of the current groups had contracts beginning in 2019, which is when you see them start to chart on Billboard more regularly, while newer groups often start very early or immediately with US distro. For example, aespa has US distro but RV does not.) If you look at who has charted in the BB 200 over the last few years, nearly all have US distro - so while The Boyz and Ive sell well in Korea, they do not exist in the BB 200 chart.

You can find a list of countries that consume the most kpop on Circle's website: Japan, China and the US represent 75% of the export market.

CIRCLE CHART - 써클차트

New Circular Wave.

circlechart.kr

K*boo is a trashy website but they do have a good translation of this info:

Circle Chart Has Released Their 2022 Physical Album Export Data Review — Here Is How K-Pop Album Sales Have Changed Worldwide

Circle Chart, formerly known as Gaon, recently released their 2022 Physical Album Export Data Review, and the data they collected is fascinating!

www.koreaboo.com

oh wow, thanks for clarifying!

I've read that BTS albums bought in Target are counted towards Hanteo and assumed thats true for all Albums, I'm surprised to hear thats only true for HYBE groups!

The RV mistreatment once again

Well I hope IVE can get some US distro going, I guess a smaller label like Starship is just missing the means at the moment, unlike the big 4..

USA, China and Japan as the markets who make up the majority of exports makes total sense, that would have also been the ones I would have guessed based on everything we usually hear!

@ichigohon might interest you too!

 

[ichigohon]

oh wow, thanks for clarifying!

I've read that BTS albums bought in Target are counted towards Hanteo and assumed thats true for all Albums, I'm surprised to hear thats only true for HYBE groups!

The RV mistreatment once again

Well I hope IVE can get some US distro going, I guess a smaller label like Starship is just missing the means at the moment, unlike the big 4..

USA, China and Japan as the markets who make up the majority of exports makes total sense, that would have also been the ones I would have guessed based on everything we usually hear!

@ichigohon might interest you too!

I saw it, and I was a bit surprised to see Japan still the #1 consumer of K-pop but I really shouldn't have been to be honest. A lot of small groups and even medium tier groups get a bulk of their money from the Japanese market. It's not common anymore, but in 2nd and 3rd Gen it wasn't uncommon for some groups (MYNAME and Supernova come to mind) that just completely abandoned the Korean market (Supernova much more so). I think IVE signed a record deal in America relatively recently (or maybe I'm talking out my ass again lol) but if so that should elevate their sales in America a lot higher.

 

[Moguri]

I think IVE signed a record deal in America relatively recently (or maybe I'm talking out my ass again lol) but if so that should elevate their sales in America a lot higher.

yes I remember something along those lines too.

After checking, it was with columbia records, already before the last album was released.

 

[Abeamus]

yeah I thought because of non stop / dolphin era they would have a bigger fandom now, but it seems to not translate like that

Twice has a big lead, but it all depends on how much music they keep releasing and how long their new contract lasts. I can see NewJeans surspassing them later down the road if they keep growing like this

Oh My Girl have only had 3 comebacks since Nonstop and those comebacks are like 33% of their number so in like 4 comebacks they'd be around Gfriends numbers.

 

[Abeamus]

YG stans mantra has always been the digital performance(they claim quality ...). i mean bp albums are a joke song wise 2 songs does not an album make. Nor 8 for a full album. look at say taylors song count.

IZ*ONE for whatever reason was the fulcrum for the girl group album explosion. Part of that was IZ*ONE monetized their fans better than any kpop act except BTS and its close. on a per fan basis they got crazy amounts of sales.
Before them
100k per comeback was darn near unreachable, except for big 3 gg. gfriend for example could never get over that line.

I don't know if I'd say Iz*One potentially pushing fans into just buying albums regardless had a large impact as much as just growth of the industry since for the girl groups that didn't stagnant their sales tripled in some cases like Red Velvet went from just under 300k to over 1M and they aren't exactly at the peak of their popularity that'd call for that sort of growth.

Gfriend especially just stagnated and I'd go as far as to say Viviz has had more buzz recently than Gfriend had for the last year or two of their time as a group.

 

[RandAlThor]

oh wow, thanks for clarifying!

I've read that BTS albums bought in Target are counted towards Hanteo and assumed thats true for all Albums, I'm surprised to hear thats only true for HYBE groups!

The RV mistreatment once again

Well I hope IVE can get some US distro going, I guess a smaller label like Starship is just missing the means at the moment, unlike the big 4..

USA, China and Japan as the markets who make up the majority of exports makes total sense, that would have also been the ones I would have guessed based on everything we usually hear!

@ichigohon might interest you too!

and even still RV is Qualified for 4 gold RIAA certifications.

 

[the101]

oh wow, thanks for clarifying!

I've read that BTS albums bought in Target are counted towards Hanteo and assumed thats true for all Albums, I'm surprised to hear thats only true for HYBE groups!

The RV mistreatment once again

Well I hope IVE can get some US distro going, I guess a smaller label like Starship is just missing the means at the moment, unlike the big 4..

USA, China and Japan as the markets who make up the majority of exports makes total sense, that would have also been the ones I would have guessed based on everything we usually hear!

@ichigohon might interest you too!

Ive just signed for US distro, so I'd expect we'd see them in the charts next cb. They had a strong fanbase at KCON and obvs good streaming numbers here.

 

[Moguri]

Ive just signed for US distro, so I'd expect we'd see them in the charts next cb. They had a strong fanbase at KCON and obvs good streaming numbers here.

yes, but i found out they made that deal already before the last album was released, so the distribution was already in place! but yeah lets see how it goes next CB!

 

[Moguri]

Oh My Girl have only had 3 comebacks since Nonstop and those comebacks are like 33% of their number so in like 4 comebacks they'd be around Gfriends numbers.

thats really strange... why did their company not try to capitalize on the success?

 

[Abeamus]

thats really strange... why did their company not try to capitalize on the success?

Well they broke out in their 5th year which is when you'd usually want to be transitioning to solo work so WM opted to push YooA as a soloist instead and stuck with only having 1 comeback a year for Oh My Girl