The era of 'million-sellers' has arrived, but it's not always just a result of the increased number of fans. K-Pop companies have also come up with creative ways to make the K-Pop consumption experience more dynamic.
Netizens have recently compiled a list of recently released K-Pop albums to find out how many 'versions' there are of each album.
1. aespa - 'My World'
Intro (4 versions) + Tabloid (1 version) + Poster (4 versions) + Zine (2 versions) + SMini (4 versions)
2. (G)I-DLE - 'I Feel'
Cover (3 versions) + Jewel (5 versions) + Photocard (3 versions) + Photobook (1 version)
3. LE SSERAFIM - 'Unforgiven'
Photobook (3 versions) + Compact (5 versions) + Weverse (2 versions)
4. IVE - 'I've IVE'
Photobook (3 versions) + Jewel (6 versions) + Special (1 version) + LP (1 version)
5. NCT DOJAEJUNG - 'Perfume'
Photobook (1 version) + Box (3 versions) + Digipack (3 versions) + SMini (3 versions)
6. The Boyz - 'Be Awake'
Photobook (3 versions) + Jewel (11 versions) + Platform (3 versions)
7. Seventeen - 'FML'
Photobook (3 versions) + Carat Class (13 versions) + Weverse (1 version) + Deluxe (1 version) + KiT (1 version)
8. ENHYPEN - 'Dark Blood'
Photobook (3 versions) + ENGENE (7 versions) + Weverse (1 version)
Some netizens reacted with comments like:
"To me it all looks like trash."
"The more members you have, the more versions you can sell...."
"Is there a way they can just sell the photocards..?"
"No wonder everyone is selling a million albums."
"These companies and their sales tactics these days... it's ridiculous."
"So many individual fans just buy hundreds of albums all by themselves."
"Every single group here has over 10 versions."
"This is why album sales are meaningless."
"This is so bad for the environment."
"It's seriously too much."
"The more versions there are, the more I just feel like buying only one version that I like."
"Million-sellers? Get rid of all those individual member versions and some of these groups won't even sell half of that."
I think there are a few interesting dynamics happening here. Various versions do tend to be priced differently, which can be nice for a fan wanting a physical album but not necessarily ready to buy a large, luxe version with a full photobook. On the other hand, there is also a sort of circular effect, where agencies are actually responding to fan pressure. Some fans want to buy more albums specifically to help their idols break records, and they can justify the multiple versions as being sufficiently different to be worth their funds (more than just buying the same number of exactly identical albums).
It's always nice when albums are intentionally created to be more easily recycled or are made from more sustainable materials. I don't think certain aspects of fan culture like trading photocards or displaying your bias in your clear concert bag are going away any time soon, at least not where I live.