Nearly half of K-pop acts become inactive within three years of debut, and fewer than 4 percent achieve the commercial success needed to break even, according to a study.
In the past 30 years, an average of 39.4 K-pop acts debuted each year — 19.8 boy bands and 19.6 girl groups — and had an average career span of 4.12 years, or 58.9 percent of the industry’s standard seven-year exclusive contract period, according to a study by Kim Jeong-seop.
Kim, a professor at the Graduate School of Cultural Industry & Arts at Sungshin Women’s University who also chairs the Global K-Culture Economy Forum, analyzed all 1,182 K-pop acts born since boy band H.O.T. — considered the origin of K-pop culture — debuted under SM <a href="https://comicvibe.com/excel-<a href="https://comicvibe.com/zee-entertainment-shares-tank-13-amid-sebi-order-on-subhash-chandra-punit-goenka/” title=”Zee Entertainment shares tank 13% amid Sebi order on Subhash Chandra, Punit Goenka”>entertainment-launches-music-label-with-universal-music/” title=”Excel Entertainment launches music label with Universal Music”>Entertainment in 1996. The study was published in the latest issue of the Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association.
Related Article
-
Seventeen scoops up fans across Asia with its ice cream themed pop-up
-
Actor Gang Dong-won transforms into a Y2K hip-hop artist for ‘Wild Sing’
-
BTS concerts in Mexico City draw 150,000 inside, 35,000 outside venue
Only 55.03 percent of K-pop acts remained active three years after their debut.
“The industry’s structure encourages agencies to decide whether to continue investing in an act based largely on its market performance during its first three years, leading many companies to end a group’s activities or have it effectively disband before completing its initial contract,” said Kim.
He noted, however, that the three-year survival rate for K-pop acts was higher than the 41.5 percent rate for newly established small- and medium-sized businesses, though it was still lower than the 68.1 percent recorded by government-supported startups.
“TheK-pop industry is inherently high-risk, but it has often been viewed more negatively than warranted,” he said. “The study suggests the need to reassess investment risks more objectively to support the development of the music industry.”
Boy bands remained active for an average of 5.11 years compared to 3.13 years for girl groups.
Among all K-pop acts that debuted over the past three decades, only 42 groups, or 3.55 percent, sold more than 300,000 copies of an album, a level that the study regards as the break-even point.
Only 19 groups, or 1.61 percent, sold more than 1 million copies of an album, which the study considers a “hit.”
Just seven acts — BTS, Seventeen, Stray Kids, EXO, Twice, NCT and Tomorrow X Together — surpassed 10 million cumulative album sales, indicating the emergence of an intellectual property identity and a strong global fandom, according to the study.
“BTS’s success is no longer an isolated case, which points to the emergence of a ‘post-BTS era,’ or the birth of several globally successful groups in the future,” Kim said. “Now it’s time to be ready for the next three decades.”
