{"id":10374,"date":"2026-10-21T11:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T11:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=10374"},"modified":"2026-10-21T11:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T11:11:15","slug":"k-pop-soars-on-asian-tour-revenue-physical-album-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=10374","title":{"rendered":"K-pop soars on Asian tour revenue, physical album sales"},"content":{"rendered":"
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K-pop boy band Seventeen \/ Courtesy of Pledis Entertainment<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

K-pop is riding a surge in concert ticket and physical album sales, two of the industry’s key revenue streams, as data released this month showed the genre dominating Asia’s touring market and closing in on 100 million album sales for the year.<\/p>\n

The two businesses sit at the core of K-pop agencies’ earnings. At HYBE, concerts brought in 647.7 billion won ($488.5 million) of its record 1.45 trillion won in second-quarter revenue, while albums and digital music accounted for 326.8 billion won, followed closely by merchandise and licensing at 310.6 billion won.<\/p>\n

K-pop acts took six of the 10 highest-grossing touring spots in Asia over the past year, led by boy band Seventeen, which grossed $97.4 million and sold 661,088 tickets, according to U.S. concert industry publication Pollstar’s Asia Focus Top Touring Artists chart. <\/p>\n

The chart covers shows played between Aug. 1, 2025, and July 31, 2026.<\/p>\n

\"K-pop<\/picture>
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K-pop girl group TWICE \/ Courtesy of JYP Entertainment<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

K-pop acts filled the chart’s top four spots. TWICE came in second with $76.18 million, followed by TXT and BTS, which grossed $49.07 million in Asia as part of its “ARIRANG” world tour. BLACKPINK and ENHYPEN ranked eighth and ninth, respectively.<\/p>\n

Seventeen played 22 shows in Asia on its “NEW_” world tour, which kicked off in Incheon in September last year before moving on to stadiums in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Bulacan in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

According to its agency, Pledis Entertainment, the group became the first K-pop act to sell out four concerts at Hong Kong’s 50,000-capacity Kai Tak Stadium. It had placed second behind British band Coldplay on last year’s chart.<\/p>\n

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A version of BTS\u2019 fifth studio album \u201cARIRANG\u201d featuring member J-hope is displayed in the music section of Kyobo Book Centre in Jongno District, Seoul, in March. Newsis<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

100 mil. mark in sight<\/strong><\/p>\n

The album market is showing similar momentum. Cumulative physical album sales from January to September reached 79 million copies, about 7.6 million more than the same period last year, according to Circle Chart.<\/p>\n

The rebound began in March, when BTS released “ARIRANG,” its fifth studio album and first as a full group in three years and nine months. The album sold 3.98 million copies on its first day, according to Hanteo Chart, and logged 4,224,016 copies in the first half of the year on Circle Chart.<\/p>\n

Monthly sales topped 10 million copies for the first time this year in April, when boy bands TXT, NCT WISH, &TEAM and TWS released new albums, and have crossed that line three times so far. CORTIS added to the momentum in May as its second EP, “GREENGREEN,” sold more than 2.3 million copies in its first week.<\/p>\n

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From left, K-pop boy band CORTIS members Martin, Juhoon, Keonho, Seonghyeon and James pose during a showcase for the group\u2019s second EP, \u201cGREENGREEN,\u201d at YES24 Live Hall in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, April 20. Newsis<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August was the strongest month of the year, with sales exceeding 11 million copies. Stray Kids and ENHYPEN sold about 3.9 million and 2.24 million copies, respectively, together accounting for 52.8 percent of sales among the top 400 albums.<\/p>\n

Sales cooled in September, however, falling 38 percent from August and 37.8 percent from a year earlier, despite releases from &TEAM, CLOSE YOUR EYES and BOYNEXTDOOR.<\/p>\n

To return to the 100 million mark for the first time since 2023, the market needs roughly 21 million more copies over the final three months, and a crowded fourth-quarter lineup could help close the gap. <\/p>\n

ATEEZ, which topped the Billboard 200 for the third time with its 14th EP in June, returns with “GOLDEN HOUR : Part.6” on Nov. 13, while TXT will release its ninth EP, “PERFECT STORM,” on Nov. 16. <\/p>\n

BABYMONSTER, IVE and Illit are also among the acts slated to release new music before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

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K-pop boy band Seventeen \/ Courtesy of Pledis Entertainment K-pop is riding a surge in concert ticket and physical album sales, two of the industry’s key revenue streams, as data released this month showed the genre dominating Asia’s touring market and closing in on 100 million album sales for the year. The two businesses sit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-korea","category-trending-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t