1 the the report COUNTRY PROFILE 19.02.21 MARKET PROFILE THE SOUTH KOREAN MUSIC INDUSTRY looks set to record another year of growth when 2020’s year-end figures are toed up, with devoted K-Pop fans reacng to the shut down of the live music industry by buying and streaming more of their idols’ music. The Gaon Chart, produced by the Korea Music Content Associaon and sponsored by South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, reported a 40% rise in album sales in the first half of 2020, with the country’s top 400 albums selling 18.08 million copies (including exports). This was up 40% on the first half of 2019 and the highest figure recorded at this stage since Gaon started compiling charts in 2010. Kim Jin-woo, chief researcher at Gaon, told The Korea Herald, that the cancellaon of concerts and fan meet ups due to the pandemic “seems to have aided K-Pop album sales because the fans didn’t have any other choice”. “Buying albums was the only way to show support for a while,” he added. Encouragingly, the second half of 2020 was expected to be equally strong - if not stronger - than the first, thanks to new releases from local superstar acts like BLACKPINK, NCT and Seventeen. When the year’s final figures are released, it will be fascinang to see the break down between physical and digital sales. According to one local source, cing IFPI figures, 2019 saw revenue from physical music drop for the first me in four years in South Korea, down 6.0%, even as overall recorded music income increased 8.2%. You might expect the pandemic to further slow physical sales, as it Population... 51.7m GDP (purchasing power parity)... $2.2 trillion GDP per capita (PPP)... $28,941 Mobile/cell phone subscriptions... 69.4m Smartphone users... 48.9m Internet users - total... 49.3m Broadband connections... 21.3m Broadband - subscriptions per 100 people... 41 Sources: CIA World Factbook / Stasta South Korea: statistics has in many countries, due to restricons on physical retail. But this has not necessarily been the case in South Korea, with some reports claiming that physical music sales actually increased in 2020. Whatever the case, 2020 looks certain to have been another of digital growth for the South Korean recorded music business, which saw digital revenue increase by more than 60% in 2019. “Music consumpon in Korea was growing before the pandemic hit and has connued to grow during it,” says Clayton Jin, CEO, Warner Music Korea. “As working from home became the norm for many, people spent more me on their computers and mobile devices, driving up consumpon. Digital markeng for arsts and their songs has taken an even more central role as offline exposure has all but shut down.” Jin says that K-Pop fans are sll devoted to the physical product. “But they’ve also Music consumption in Korea was growing before the pandemic hit and has continued to grow during it. As working from home became the norm for many, people spent more time on their computers and mobile devices, driving up consumption...” ❱ South Korea’s music business remains buoyant in 2021, with digital music in particular on the rise - despite K-Pop fans’ enduring love of physical goods Sth. Korea Clayton Jin, Warner Music Korea BLACKPINK