Tomorrow X Together, Ateez, Twice trail Taylor Swift in top 10 U.S. CD sales chart

Six out of the 10 best-selling CDs in the United States in the first half of the year were K-pop albums, according to a report by music and entertainment industry analysis firm Luminate released on Tuesday.

Boy band Tomorrow X Together [BIGHIT MUSIC]

Six out of the 10 best-selling CDs in the United States in the first half of the year were K-pop albums, according to a report by music and entertainment industry analysis firm Luminate released on Tuesday.

Boy band Tomorrow X Together's sixth EP “minisode 3 : TOMORROW” sold 190,000 copies, ranking second to singer Taylor Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department," which sold 1,068,000 copies.

Boy band Ateez's tenth EP "GOLDEN HOUR: Part.1" sold 181,000 copies, ranking third, and girl group Twice's 13th EP "With YOU-th" sold 158,000 copies, ranking fourth.

Boy band Stray Kids' eighth EP “Rock-Star” (2023) sold 109,000 copies, ranking sixth.

Boy band Enhypen's fifth EP “Orange Blood” (2023) and boy band Seventeen's compilation album “17 is Right Here” sold 97,000 and 90,000 copies respectively, ranking eighth and 10th.

The report found K-pop CDs that recorded high sales tended to have multiple versions of the same album. The 10 K-pop CDs that have seen high sales in the United States this year had an average of 14.7 different CD variants and 3.7 different versions of LPs.

The 10 K-pop albums with the highest sales in the United States in the first half of the year had an average of 14.7 different CD variants and 3.7 different versions of LPs, according to the report.

"K-Pop fans who are paid music streamers are 32 percent more likely to purchase CDs in the future when compared to other paid music streamers," reads the report.

Albums on the list that weren't K-pop included Beyoncé's "Cowboy Carter" and Billie Eilish's "Hit Me Hard and Soft," respectively ranking seventh and ninth.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]