The global popularity of K-Pop just may be the answer to Korea’s dying offline music market, which has been more and more apparent with the big shift to digital music.
Recently, the Hallyu wave has brought an influx of foreign visitors to Korea. One of the core purposes of their visit was to purchase CDs and other fan memorabilia in record stores.
The owner of Books Libro revealed, “Older fans from China and Japan often make visits to the store in order to purchase CDs from Korean artists. Recently, albums by TVXQ and Kim Hyun Joong have been highly popular amongst foreign fans. Fans who visit Korea to purchase albums also purchase Korean lesson books to better understand the songs they’re listening to.”
Another record store owner added, “On the weekends, the store is bustling with foreign tourists. They’ll usually find their favorite artist and buy everything from their debut album to the latest release. They even buy several dozen at a time to give them as gifts to their friends back home. The price of Korean CDs are about half of that of Japanese CDs, so Japanese fans in particular are very enthusiastic about their purchases.”
Books related to K-Pop are also rising in sales, especially for Cube Entertainment CEO Hong Seung Sung’s new release, “There Will Be No Spotlight If You Stop Now“, which ranked second place on Kyobo Book’s best sellers list.
Source + Photos: IS Sports via Naver
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