From Guaranteed Chart-Topper To Daily Album Sales Of 1 — How One Soloist Coped With Her “Downfall”

Second-generation girl group SISTAR debuted in 2010 with “Push Push” and rose in popularity with each comeback. They became so successful that they won various awards, with Soyou even winning a Daesang (grand prize) for her song “Some”.

Soyou, Bora, Hyolyn, and Dasom. | @sistarsistar/Twitter

Unfortunately, they disbanded at the height of their popularity in 2017. Years later, the members are now focusing on solo careers, with Soyou shocking netizens with her extremely low album sales.

For her Summer Recipe album, the singer sold less than seven hundred albums in the first week. Shocking netizens further, Soyou only sold one album on day five of its release. The low sales became such a hot topic that she had to address them.

During an interview with Eric Nam for the Daebak Show, Soyou candidly admitted that she’d felt somewhat disappointed at the low sales.

But honestly, what was a bit disappointing was that ‘Aloha’… I don’t really pay attention to music charts, but I had my hopes. But it didn’t do as well as I thought.

— Soyou

Rather than take it personally, Soyou reflected on how much the music industry has changed and lightened the mood by wondering if she was “too old” to compete with newer artists.

So I feel like the music charts have changed a lot. It seems like the music industry is really difficult to navigate. I had some concerns about that.

These days our juniors are really young. I wonder, ‘Am I too old now?’

— Soyou

Still, Soyou remained positive. She said, “So that’s why I try to find what I can do best and what people like the most in regards to music.”

Thankfully, Soyou doesn’t seem too fazed by her poor results compared to her SISTAR days as she continues to release singles despite them not charting on Korea’s music charts. Her most recent song “PDA” was released back in July.

Since K-Pop’s oldest idol is 56 years old, Soyou doesn’t have to worry about being “too old” at thirty-two. But because the music industry keeps changing, artists must also evolve. See Soyou speak honestly about the topic here.