Much like last year, thus far in 2011, the Korean music industry has been dominated by idols. With top idol groups promoting overseas as part of the Hallyu wave, their influence has spread beyond Asia into Europe and South America as well. With that said, the "report cards" (aka the album and digital sales) of boy groups and girl groups for this year were compared. --> Idol groups' impact on the music industry According to the results of Gaon Chart this year (from January 2nd to October 1st), idols have placed 51 songs out of the top 100 songs on the digital chart. The idols that make up the top ranks include Hallyu's top idol groups: T-ara, 2NE1, Big Bang, f(x), CNBLUE, B2ST, miss A, SECRET, SISTAR, etc. When the album chart was reviewed, it was clear that idols had a stronger influence on album sales than in digital sales. For the album charts from the same period, idol groups had 69 albums out of the top 100, and the entire top 10 (from 1st to 10th) were all albums belonging to idol groups. --> Girl groups dominate online sales (mp3), while boy groups dominate offline sales (CD) Girl groups clearly dominated the digital charts. Out of the 51 idol group songs in the top 100, 31 (61%) of those were by girl groups. In contrast, boy groups had a strong hold over the offline or physical album sales this year. The top 10 album sales for this year (with the exception of KARA at 8th place) were all from boy groups. Super Junior, TVXQ, and JYJ comprised of the the top 3 album sales this year. Choi Kang Ho, director of the Music Contents Industry Association (which runs Gaon Chart) stated, "For offline or album sales, the majority of the consumers are made up of loyal fans of idol groups rather than regular music fans... Boy groups, who have more intimate fans compared to girl groups, have been showing high album sales." --> Girl groups to dominate the rest of the year Girl groups are expected to continue their streak for the remainder of this year. With groups such as SNSD, Wonder Girls, T-ara, and SECRET having already made or planning to make their respective comebacks by November of this year, the fans' anticipation has been growing. In addition, the popular boy groups will all be targeting the overseas market, leaving the Korean market wide open for the girl groups to dominate. Although there is much support for idols and their music, there has also been growing concern over the imbalance of the current music industry. One album producer stated, "With producers all jumping on the bandwagon of producing for idol groups, the idol market has become saturated... To solve the imbalance of the Korean music industry and the continuous progress of Hallyu, investments must be made in other genres." <Idols vs Non-idols Digital Market Share> (Survey period: 1/2/2011 ~ 10/1/20112011, Digital Chart Top 100) Idols: 56% (11,079,642,386 Gaon points) Non-idols: 44% (8,750,954,178 Gaon points) ?Gaon points: streaming + MP3 download + BGM sales + mobile sales <Idols vs Non-idols Album Market Share> (Survey period: 1/2/2011 ~ 10/1/20112011, Album Chart Top 100) Idols: 81% (3,063,899 copies sold) Non-idols: 19% (707,498 copies sold) <2011 Digital Sales Ranking>(1/2/2011 ~ 10/1/2011) 1. "I Cheated"(Feat. ??) - Infinity Challenge GG (G-Dragon & Park Myung Soo) 2. "Please" - Kyung Yeon  2. "Singing Each Others' Songs" - Kim Bum Soo 3. "Roly Poly" - T-ara 4. "Don't Cry Don't Cry" - Park Bom 5. "Pinocchio (Danger)" - f(x) 6. "Lonely" -  2NE1 7. "Tonight" - Big Bang 8. "The Story Only I Didn't Know" - IU 9. "I am The Best" - 2NE1 10. "Intuition" - CNBLUE 11. "Rainy Days" - B2ST 12. "My Heart is Beating" - K.Will 13. "Ma Boy" SISTAR 14. "Starlight Moonlight" - SECRET 15. "Good Bye Baby" - miss A <2011 Album Sales Ranking>(1/2/2011 ~ 10/1/2011) 1. 'Mr. Simple' - Super Junior 2. 'Keep Your Head Down' - TVXQ 3. 'In Heaven' - JYJ 4. 'Big Bang 4th Mini Album' - Big Bang 5. 'Fiction And Fact' - B2ST 6. 'Break Down (EP)' - Kim Hyun Joong 7. 'First Step' - CNBLUE 8. 'STEP' - KARA 9. 'Mr. Simple The 5th Album Repackage (A-Cha)' - Super Junior 10. 'Hands Up' - 2PM 11. 'Big Bang Special Edition' - Big Bang 12. '2NE1 2nd Mini Album' - 2NE1 13. 'Infinity Challenge West Coast Highway' - Various Artists 14. 'Take A Deeper Look (EP)' - Jay Park 15. 'Pinocchio' - f(x) Source + Photo: Herald Biz via Naver