52.7% of K-Pop Fans Purchase Music Albums to Collect Fandom Goods

- Efforts should be made for eco-friendly consumption, including the provision of information concerning random photo cards -

Although the global sales of physical albums have been decreasing as music streaming service is becoming more popular, the domestic sales of music albums by K-pop idols have increased every year*. The main reason is attributed to fandom marketing taking advantage of fans’ desire to collect fandom goods offered in tandem with albums.

* (2019) 25.09 million copies → (’2020) 41.70 million copies → (2021) 57.08 million copies → (2022) 77.11 million copies (source: Circle Social Chart, 2022)

Accordingly, the Korea Consumer Agency (President Jang Duck-jin) has surveyed key K-pop albums (50 kinds) sold in the past two years. The results reveal that diverse fandom goods** were involved, and the majority of them included random photo cards. In particular, 52.7% of consumers associated with K-pop fandom activities responded that they had purchased music albums when collecting fandom goods. As only 5.7% of consumers in general appreciate music using CDs, it is a concern the environment is exposed to pollution from discarded music records.

** The fandom goods produced using idol stars as models include photo cards, posters, etc. which are mainly sold in tandem with albums.

- (Ordinary goods) items without accidental factors (Random goods) items whose acquisition depends on accidental factors