{"id":32756,"date":"2025-07-30T15:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T15:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/32756\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T15:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T15:43:13","slug":"is-k-pops-global-strategy-backfiring-as-popularity-up-abroad-domestic-interest-wanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/32756\/","title":{"rendered":"Is K-pop\u2019s global strategy backfiring? As popularity up abroad, domestic interest wanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Absence of breakout rookie girl groups and weakening domestic fandom raise concerns for K-pop\u2019s future at home<\/p>\n

\"aespa aespa (SM Entertainment) <\/p>\n

Despite chart-topping hits on Billboard and sold-out world tours across the US, Europe and Southeast Asia, K-pop\u2019s grip on its home turf appears to be slipping.<\/p>\n

Industry experts are sounding the alarm over a growing disconnect between the genre\u2019s global success and its dwindling influence at home \u2014 particularly as the domestic fanbase, once the engine of the K-pop phenomenon, shows signs of fatigue.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the issue is a conspicuous absence of breakthrough rookie girl groups in the first half of 2025. These groups have historically driven fandom growth and revitalized the market, but this year\u2019s lineup failed to deliver the same impact.<\/p>\n

Data released in the Circle Chart\u2019s 2025 Mid-Year Report backs this up.<\/p>\n

Total digital music consumption for the top 400 songs fell by 6.4 percent year-on-year and compared to the genre\u2019s 2019 peak, it has plunged by a staggering 49.7 percent.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, physical album sales \u2014 a metric typically bolstered by passionate fans \u2014 also dropped by 9 percent, totaling 42.4 million units, down from 46.7 million the year before.<\/p>\n

\"Rookie Rookie girl group KiiiKiii (Starship Entertainment) <\/p>\n

The number of albums surpassing 1 million units in sales fell from nine to seven, and not a single release managed to exceed 3 million \u2014 a feat achieved by Seventeen just a year ago. These numbers suggest stagnation, or even a decline, in the size and spending power of domestic fandoms.<\/p>\n

Kim Jin-woo, a data journalist at Circle Chart, noted a sharp drop in girl group dominance in the domestic market.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first half of 2024, NewJeans held the top spot in market share and five girl groups were in the top 10. This year, only aespa, Ive and NewJeans made the cut,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n

Kim also cited growing listener fatigue stemming from similar-sounding concepts and English-heavy lyrics aimed at overseas audiences \u2014 part of a broader \u201cde-K-pop\u201d strategy that may be alienating local fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany groups now focus on global accessibility, often gravitating toward a narrow range of genres and English lyrics,\u201d Kim said. \u201cThis might attract international listeners but has started to exhaust interest at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music critic Lim Hee-yun also pointed out that shifting media consumption habits have weakened the dominance of idol groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith music increasingly consumed through self-produced content, fan platforms and social media, fandoms are less concentrated,\u201d he said. \u201cIdols used to dominate the charts thanks to mass fan activity, but that\u2019s no longer the case. In contrast, solo artists are resonating more with casual listeners.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Top 10 of the 2025 mid-year digital chart paints a telling picture: Solo acts like Woodz with \u201cDrowning\u201d at No. 1, Hwang Garam with \u201cI Am a Firefly\u201d at No. 3 and Jo Jazz with \u201cDon\u2019t You Know\u201d at No. 7 \u2014 none of whom enjoy major global recognition \u2014 significantly outperformed their idol group counterparts. Seven of the Top 10 artists were solo performers, leaving aespa, Ive and Boynextdoor as the only groups in the Top 10.<\/p>\n

\"NewJeans NewJeans (Ador) <\/p>\n

Lim added that while idol tracks are \u201cfun and powerful,\u201d they often lack emotional depth.<\/p>\n

\u201cBallads or rock-inflected songs with strong melodic structure and individual expression are better suited for immersive listening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Industry officials warn that this trend raises serious questions about the sustainability of K-pop\u2019s current trajectory. A sluggish domestic market could eventually undermine the health of the entire ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs K-pop pursued global mainstream appeal, the music took on a more (Western) pop-oriented flavor \u2014 but unless you\u2019re on the level of BTS\u2019 Jungkook, that strategy rarely pays off,\u201d an entertainment official said. \u201cEven with its global expansion, K-pop remains confined to a subculture category rather than breaking into the true global mainstream.\u201d<\/p>\n

jaaykim@heraldcorp.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Absence of breakout rookie girl groups and weakening domestic fandom raise concerns for K-pop\u2019s future at home aespa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[24872,64,63,30427,134,30426,136,24868,30425],"class_list":{"0":"post-32756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-aespa","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-boynextdooor","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ive","14":"tag-music","15":"tag-newjeans","16":"tag-woodz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}