Talking about CDs and physical albums in an era where streaming services are becoming increasingly more dominant, might seem odd. But surprisingly, that is exactly what is happening — physical album sales are seeing a major revival globally. Why this sudden boom and are your favourite artistes behind it?
What do stats say?
According to a year-end report by MRC, in association with Billboard, CD sales were up by 1.1 per cent in 2021 from 2020. It was in 17 years that such an annual increase had been witnessed and it was largely pop giants Adele, Taylor Swift and BTS who led to this.
They accounted for 7.1 per cent of all CD sales in 2021. And it is not only CD sales. With more artistes exploring other physical formats like vinyl, the sales for them have increased too. Moreover, four of the 10 bestselling albums in the US in 2021, were K-pop albums. And all of this while the pandemic was raging on in a very big way.
CD sales were up by 1.1 per cent in 2021 from 2020. It was in 17 years that such an annual increase had been witnessed and it was largely pop giants Adele, Taylor Swift and BTS who led to this
The K-pop contribution
The K-pop contribution to this wave of revival is absolutely undeniable. In South Korea alone, BTS’ single Butter had sold nearly three million copies according to the Gaon Music Chart. Despite not releasing any full-length albums in 2021, their two albums from 2020, BE and Map of the Soul:7 ranked among the top-selling albums.
K-pop albums, like all things K-pop, are known for their tremendous visual and aesthetic appeal. For each album, EP, LP or even single released, artistes often bring out various other physical forms such as jewel CD cases, vinyls and now, even cassettes. Moreover, there are often multiple physical versions of the same release as well. Each version usually adheres to a particular theme or aesthetic. For example, Red Velvet’s latest release The ReVe Festival 2022-Feel My Rhythm comes in three versions, two ReVeversions and an Orgel one.
In a typical K-pop album, there is much more than just the music disc. They usually comprise a photobook, which contains pictures of the artiste adhering to the particular version’s theme, a photocard which is usually a selfie of the artiste, posters, sticker sheets, lyric sheets and much more. They might differ depending on the album or the artiste and with more global sales, more innovative collectibles are being added as well. Even for releases that are not full-length albums, the same format is usually followed. All of this actually contributes to making the purchase of a K-pop album more of an experience. It is quite like opening a box of goodies!
Fans often buy multiple copies of these physical releases to collect the various components that come inside. They not only collect the albums themselves, but also often focus exclusively on some collectible. Photocards are one of the most common ones. For K-pop groups, fans might target collecting all versions of the photocards of their favourite member. Since they are provided randomly in each copy of the album, it might take quite a few tries and buys to actually do this. Fans exchange and trade these albums and photocards, and it has become an essential part of the fan experience. So popular are these small cards that companies that partner with K-pop artistes for product advertising have started providing photocards with their own products as well. And indeed, this actually helps boost their sales because these often become rare collectibles in the fandom.
Red Velvet’s latest release The ReVe Festival 2022-Feel My Rhythm comes in three versions, two ReVe versions and an Orgel one
Album bundling and its fall
Until very recently, merch bundling with albums was a common thing till Billboard announced changes to its Billboard 200 and Hot 100 charts. In album bundling, labels and artistes usually offered a merch, such as T-shirts, sweatshirts and such, along with a physical copy of the album or a digital download. These album copies were considered “free” with the merch purchase. However, Billboard recently stopped considering such sales in an effort to “eliminate the practice of counting albums bundled with merchandise and concert tickets on its album and song charts altogether”.
It is without doubt that chart positions have become a goal of every musician and their labels. With bundling, album sales could definitely notch up more than usual and subsequently, contributed to higher chart positions despite pure album sales not being much. Bundling is even made limited edition at times to expedite sales. Elias Leight writes in Rolling Stone: “In a streaming-centric landscape, physical sales and album downloads have perversely taken on more weight. That’s because, under the latest Billboard accounting rules, it requires 1,250 subscription streams to yield the equivalent of one sale — a fan with a Spotify subscription needs to listen to A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s new album more than 60 times during release week to achieve the same impact as one purchase. This is unlikely.”
Although merch bundling was initially seen as a revenue stream to replace pure physical album sales which had dwindled over the years, there is little that artistes actually directly earn from bundling. This is because the prices of both the merch as well as the album that comes with it, is usually reduced to appeal for bundling purchase. It might be a great marketing tactic, but it can weigh heavy on smaller artistes with lower chances of sales or even alternative saleable items. Moreover, the label gets to take a chunk of the proceeds as revenue.
Taking part in the revival
Why then is this revival of physical album impressive? The physical album revival is certainly an interesting one, especially with increasing digitalisation on all fronts. Although streaming is much easier, cheaper and helps artistes, having a physical album is an exciting, tangible part of being a fan. Moreover, K-pop is definitely leading this wave. If you are a K-pop fan, there are multiple Instagram “shops” that take group orders and import albums in bulk to help with customs, which can be quite high, and takes care of other logistical technicalities for a small profit margin and sometimes, even none. So, it is easy these days to get your hands on an album. With new and innovative CD players, like the Astronord CD player which can be conveniently set up on a wall, you can play the CDs as well. However, most of the appeal often lies in the albums being memorable collectibles.
