The Evolution of the K-pop Album: From Profitability to Innovation

The rise of streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Melon Music, and more came hand-in-hand with a plummeting number of albums sold across the world. In 2023, global streaming revenue amounted to more than USD 19 billion in comparison to USD 5.1 billion of physical music sales. That being said, 2023’s physical album sales are still a marked improvement from 2020’s revenue — USD 3.7 billion. In fact, 2021 marked the first time physical sales had grown in 20 years, and K-pop undoubtedly played a role in this increase. Since the start of the global pandemic in 2020, K-pop’s popularity has skyrocketed, and now, 19 of last year’s top 20 bestselling albums were from K-pop artists. However, K-pop companies are not resting on their laurels in their position. Most recently, K-pop albums have chosen creative methods to continue to fight for high profit in an increasingly technologized society.

Although K-pop albums’ sales are currently not in a threatening position, the utility of the K-pop album is up for debate. After all, out of cars sold in the United States in 2021, only nine models still include built-in CD players, and 46% did not have one at all. Most modern laptops come without a disc drive, and the number of new CD player models launched since 2014 can be counted on one hand. In fact, in 2023, more consumers purchased vinyl records than CDs. Countless publications have posted tips on what to do with old CDs, especially in light of sustainability concerns — which is particularly of note considering the estimation that K-pop CDs produced at least 1,395 tons of plastic waste in 2022. The music industry must adapt to the times to continue to succeed — but history shows that the K-pop industry has plenty of experience rising to the challenge.

Examining the phenomenon behind K-pop’s consistently high physical album sales requires looking back at the previous innovations adopted by K-pop companies to achieve their current level of success. Several aspects of K-pop albums differ from the jewel case packaging of the typical artist’s CD. Perhaps the most integral difference is the inclusion of a photocard, which SM Entertainment first integrated with Shinee and Girls’ Generation albums in 2009 and 2010. Now, in 2024, there is an entire culture around collecting these photocards that have fans spending thousands of dollars to perfect their collections. Companies prepare multiple versions of albums to spur fans’ urges to purchase multiple, and each version usually includes one random card from multiple possible sets of photocards.

For groups with a particularly large number of members, this means there can be as small as a 1 in 50 chance that fans can receive the specific photocard they want. Once the initial album sales begin tapering off, many K-pop companies release repackaged versions of the album with whole new sets of photocards to be collected. The number of photocards and versions of albums have become so excessive that the Fair Trade Commission has recently launched an investigation into the whether or not JYP, YG, and SM are violating laws through this sales method.

Marketing strategies utilized by K-pop companies also encourage excessive album sales. Fansigns — in which fans purchase albums to enter a lottery for the chance to have a brief conversation with their favorite group — have long been one of the prime ways K-pop continued to sell albums. The vendors selling the albums typically do not limit the number of albums fans can buy to enter. As a result, fans try to increase their chances of winning by purchasing more albums than one person would typically need — sometimes in the hundreds. On more than one occasion, this practice has earned criticism due to the amount of waste generated from fans throwing away extra albums. 

Based on these current practices around the sale of K-pop albums, it is clear that continuing like this is not sustainable. Still, despite no current overt need to change these practices from a profit perspective, K-pop companies are continuing to adopt modern and creative album packaging to elevate current sales. To match the recent rise in fervor for vinyl, some K-pop companies — including those behind Enhypen and Twice — have turned to producing vinyl copies of their albums. Some companies have long sold versions of albums that do not even include CDs; instead, digital versions of the album come in trendy, compact packaging along with photocards. These digital albums are produced by various companies and consequently take on many different forms and names, including Kihno kits, SMinis, Nemo albums, platform albums, and Weverse albums. 

In terms of creative packaging, several albums have attained an iconic status within fandom for their unique designs. NCT Dream’s Candy has a special version that resembles a candy box and includes a tin case and a paper ornament. Red Velvet’s The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm album comes in an Orgel Version that embodies their music box concept photos, and their The ReVe Festival 2022 – Birthday album appropriately has a Cake Version in the shape and likeness of a birthday cake.  

However, the latest trend in K-pop albums takes innovative packaging to the next level. To go beyond cool but merely decorative albums, creative teams behind groups like Aespa and NewJeans have incorporated utility into their album designs. NewJean’s first and second EPs came with bags, and the beach bag that comes with their second EP took off when fans began decorating it to match their aesthetics.

As bag charms experience a resurgence in popularity, the teams behind NMixx’s Fe3O4 and NCT Wish’s Wish leaned into the trend by releasing album versions including doll keychains unique to each group. With these keychains, fans can join the bag charm trend while showing off their fandom. Aespa’s CDP version of Armageddon took the internet by storm with its functional bluetooth CD player, as seen by the 4.1 million views on the album details post. Most recently, the Glass Package Version of Key’s Pleasure Shop that includes a “Glass of Pleasure” garnered 1.4 million views from a Pop Base promotional post. These instances show an undeniable, widespread interest among K-pop fans in albums that offer not just CDs, but also tools that fans can incorporate into their daily lives.

Interestingly, many of these practices do not succeed when adapted to the West. The West is far too unwilling to fully invest in ideas that have not been proven successful — hence why Western musical artists had not seen any changes to appearance or contents of their jewel case CDs until a clear demand for vinyls emerged. Meanwhile, K-pop demonstrates a bold willingness to experiment that delegates the Western music industry to the position of follower. In this way, the K-pop industry is a unique microcosm that is difficult to replicate outside of its walls.

Certainly, many of K-pop’s practices are focused on capital gain, but these developments in album packaging have gained recognition for showing creativity as well as consideration for environmental impact. By looking past dollar signs, K-pop will likely continue to remain one step ahead of the rest of the world. With these increasingly innovative album packaging methods, K-pop is single-handedly transforming what is possible within the music industry, both in terms of how fans can express their fandom as well as how groups themselves can express their artistry — and those outside of its bubble can do little but sit back and watch to see what K-pop will come up with next.

(Statista, Music Week, Forbes [1][2], KXAN, New York Times, The Verge, Seattle Times, NME, Hankook Ilbo, Vice, Yonhap News, Korea JoongAng Daily [1][2][3][4][5], Business Insider, Billboard, Enhypen Store, Twice Official Store, Rappler, Sports Keeda, Nemoz Lab, X [1][2][3][4][5], NewJeans Official, TikTok, JYP Shop, Weverse Shop, Vogue Business, Marie Claire, The Tab. Images via Ador, SM Entertainment.)