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| ▲ This photo, provided by ADOR, shows NewJeans,which set a new record for the initial sales of girl groups. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by SKT, shows IVE advertising for SKT as they have been chosen as SKT's official ambassadors. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Melon's website, shows the top 10 of the Melon Top 100 chart being dominated by female artists. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL August, 22 (Yonhap) -- The "girl group's domination" continues in the hot K-pop market this summer.
According to the music industry on Monday, on the afternoon of August 19, female artists, including girl groups, took the 1st to the 10th place on the "Top 100" chart of Melon, the largest music site in Korea.
New Jeans, well known as "Min Hee-jin's girl group," lined up "Attention" and "Hype Boy" in 1st and 2nd places, respectively, while BLACKPINK, who has emerged as a world star, entered the 3rd place with their new song, "Pink Venom."
With the hit song "Love Dive," IVE maintained its 6th place on the chart even though it has been four months after its release, while Girls' Generation, the girl group, ranked tenth, showing off their popularity even after 15 years of their debut.
Additionally, although not an idol group, WSG WANNABE, a female group formed by the MBC TV program "Hangout with Yoo," took the 4th and 5th places, respectively.
Although the summer market has been regarded as the peak season for girl groups in the music industry, it is unusual for girl groups to sweep the top of the charts like this.
In the Melon Weekly Chart during the third week of August last year, among the top 10 artists, only three female artists made it to the top 10 chart, including aespa, Taeyeon, and Red Velvet. Instead, male artists including BTS, Lee Mu-jin, MSG Wannabe and Jo Jung-suk showed good results on the chart.
"New girl groups with strong fandoms around the world, like IVE and NewJeans were formed, and it seems that the ripple effect of the MBC TV program, 'Hang Out With Yoo' was repeated in the music market this year," said an official from Melon regarding the strength of girl groups this year.
As shown in this analysis, new girl groups are making remarkable performances in the music market this year.
Instead of strong high notes and beats, NewJeans succeeded in targeting the fans of the MZ generation with songs that gently stimulate the ears, along with videos and photos that are reminiscent of pop art. IVE made sure to emphasize Jang Won-young and An Yu-jin, who had already built a strong fandom from IZ*ONE, and dominated the music charts with a retro melody featuring an addictive bass.
With the activities of the rookie girl groups being so prominent, it is already predicted that the competition for the Rookie of the Year award at the year-end awards ceremony will be fierce.
This is because, teams that would have easily won the Rookie of the Year award like JYP's NMIXX and HYBE's first girl group, LE SSERAFIM, were constantly out.
In addition to rookies, in the music market this summer, Nayeon, the leader of girl group TWICE released her solo, "POP!" and was a long-term success. Girls' Generation, the representative of "2nd generation idols," also released "FOREVER 1" on the 15th anniversary of their debut and entered the top 10, reminding the presence of the senior girl group along with their "grace."
As such, there are analyzes that pay attention to the "destructive power" that has changed when compared to the past as girl groups have now equated the market.
In the past, there was a perception that "boy group = album" and "girl group = sound source."
This was stemmed from the thought that unlike boy groups which are based on a strong fandom, popular girl groups are strong only on music charts, which is why there was a perception that girl groups lacked "money" wise, with lesser sales of albums and goods.
However, with the rapid growth of the K-pop music market and the establishment of a global fandom during the COVID-19 crisis, the saying that girl groups have less album sales became a saying of the past.
BLACKPINK became the first million-seller in the girl group history with their first full-length album, "The Album" in 2020. The 2nd regular album, which is about to be released next month, also recorded 1.5 million pre-orders, raising expectations for the birth of a "double million seller."
Aespa, a metaverse (virtual world) girl group, also sold more than 1 million copies in the first week of its release, and NewJeans, IVE, and LE SSERAFIM all recorded sales of more than 300,000 copies in the first week.
Girl groups have established itself as a "complete idol" that sells music as well as albums.
Based on such solid popularity, they have become ambassadors of global luxury brands including Chanel, Saint Laurent, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co, Fred, and Miu Miu, showing how active they are in the advertising industry.
"Because girl group songs have easy lyrics and melody, it is easier for people to follow," an official from the music agency said. "This means that it is advantageous for the TikTok challenge, which is one of the most important 'viral marketing' these days. Boy groups, however, are often relatively more difficult, making the TikTok challenge harder," an official from the music agency analyzed.
"IVE's 'Love Dive' or Nayeon's 'Pop!' have one thing in common. It's that all of the hit girl froups songs were popular on TikTok," he continued.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Haemin Kim.)
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