Korea's CD exports — yes, CD — hit record in 2022

K-pop CD exports hit a record last year, as K-pop gained popularity globally and as K-pop fans continued to favor physical media to show their devotion to bands and groups. Korean artists sold $233.1 million of CDs overseas in 2022, up ...

Boy band BTS [BIGHIT MUSIC]

K-pop CD exports hit a record last year, as K-pop gained popularity globally and as K-pop fans continued to favor physical media to show their devotion to bands and groups.

Korean artists sold $233.1 million of CDs overseas in 2022, up 5.6 percent from the previous year and the highest ever, according to data from the Korea Customs Service released Monday.

The largest importer was Japan, where artists sold $85.7 million, followed by China, at $51.3 million, and the United States, at $38.9 million. Other economies in the top 10 list include Taiwan, the Netherlands, Thailand, Hong Kong and Germany.

This is a 262 percent jump compared to 2018, when $64.4 million of CDs were sold worldwide. The number has been growing since, but it grew fast in 2020 when the pandemic shut down all offline concerts and tours, giving K-pop fans limited choice of expenditure.

Although K-pop companies do not give detailed breakdown of performance by artists overseas, related data signify that boy bands have especially been selling well internationally.

An image of BTS's 2022 album ″Proof″ [BIGHIT MUSIC]

According to a year-end analysis released by Luminate and Billboard last week, seven out of the 10 best-selling CD albums in the United States in 2022 were by K-pop artists — BTS, Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, Twice, Stray Kids, Enhypen and NCT 127.

BTS’s “Proof” was the No. 2 on the list, with 413,000 CDs sold, coming in after Taylor Swift’s “Midnights,” at 640,000 units. Twice was the only girl group to have its name on the list, coming in sixth with “Between 1&2,” at 199,000 CDs.

“K-pop titles sell particularly well on the CD format, as many releases in the genre are issued in collectible CD editions, each usually housed in elaborate packaging with branded paper goods contained inside,” Billboard explained.

“Proof” and “Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child” by Tomorrow X Together sat on the list of 10 best-selling albums of 2022 in the United States based on physical and digital sales combined.

The tendency of boy bands performing stronger on the albums sales charts is also visible in the domestic market. Girl groups were listened to the most but boy bands sold more albums, end-of-the-year data from K-pop market tracker Circle Chart revealed last month.

In 2022, 18 K-pop bands and groups sold over a million copies of their CDs, among which 13 were boy bands. The top three albums were also male acts — BTS, Stray Kids and Seventeen.

But when it came to streams and downloads, girl groups were the champions. Girl group IVE’s “Love Dive” was the most streamed and downloaded Korean song both domestically and globally. It was followed by Blackpink’s “Pink Venom” globally and (G)I-DLE’s “Tomboy” in Korea.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]