NewJeans’ Album Sales Drop by Half: Impact of HYBE-ADOR Conflict?
The 1st week physical album sales of NewJeans’ latest single have dropped by half compared to their previous release.
According to Hanteo Chart data confirmed by media outlet Edaily on June 4, NewJeans‘ single “How Sweet,” released on the 24th of last month, sold 884,717 copies in its first week. This is a 46.3% decrease compared to the initial sales of their previous mini-album “Get Up,” which sold 1,650,181 copies in July last year.
The single “How Sweet” includes the new songs “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum,” along with instrumental versions of both tracks. This single’s release drew significant attention within the industry due to the ongoing management dispute between ADOR’s CEO Min Hee-jin and HYBE.
On its first day alone, “How Sweet” sold over 810,000 copies, suggesting it could become a million-seller. However, daily sales plummeted from the second day, adding only about 70,000 more sales for the rest of the 1st week of release. As of June 3, the total sales stood at 891,179 copies.
It seems the K-pop album market’s growth has hit a snag. While NewJeans was on hiatus without releasing new albums, other groups experienced decreased sales compared to their previous works, failing to achieve new career highs.
Notably, this sales drop was evident at the end of last year and early this year. Industry analysts attributed this decline to fan fatigue after years of intense competition.
With NewJeans’ new release only reaching 880,000 copies in initial sales, there are concerns that the prolonged management dispute has affected the girl group’s fandom cohesion, contributing to the sales decline.
An industry insider noted, “While HYBE’s internal strife may have weakened the fandom’s unity, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the sales decline given the current transitional phase of the album market. We need to monitor the cumulative sales trend further.”
Meanwhile, NewJeans continues to perform well in the digital music domain. Their songs “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum” are ranked 2nd and 3rd on major charts like Melon, Bugs, and Flo.
Source: Daum
