PAJU, SOUTH KOREA – DECEMBER 11: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Boy band ENHYPEN attends the Mnet Asian Music … [+]
In the month of January, just one album sold half a million copies in South Korea. That type of performance would be incredible in almost any other nation in the world, but music lovers in the Asian country are known for their proclivity for purchasing the latest releases from their favorite musicians. It’s not entirely uncommon for only one or two efforts to hit such a lofty mark, but it does highlight just how massively successful the top title was.
The Gaon Albums chart ranks the bestselling full-lengths, EPs and single albums in South Korea every week, looking at how many copies were shipped to stores. There is also a component that lists the titles that sold the most copies in the previous months.
In January 2022, Enhypen’s Dimension: Answer ruled, as it sold an incredible 723,478 copies. That’s a massive figure for any month, but it’s even more impressive when compared to the runner-up. Enhypen’s latest ruler outsold the No. 2 project more than twice over, so clearly South Koreans can’t get enough of the boy band’s music.
In a distant second place is the 2021 Winter SMTOWN: SMCU Express compilation by SM Town, the name given to a supergroup of sorts composed of artists signed to the record label SM Entertainment. That set sold a little more than 347,000 copies. Also passing the 300,000 copies sold threshold (but just barely) is Kep1er’s First Impact, which comes in with as many copies snapped up. That performance is notable, considering it’s the first release from the brand new girl group.
NCT’s Universe falls from being the bestselling title in December 2021 to the fourth-bestselling in January 2022. The large boy band’s latest album Universe sold another 152,000 copies, adding to the 1.63 million it managed the month prior.
Just two other releases sold at least 100,000 copies in January, with both P1Harmony’s Disharmony: Find Out and BamBam’s B narrowly making it to that sum.
The lowest-ranking three titles that still managed to assert themselves as among the 10 bestselling albums in South Korea in January 2022 are Omega X’s Love Me Like (No. 8, 88,000 copies sold), Wheein’s Whee (No. 9, 80,000 copies) and Pentagon’s In:vite U (No. 10, 76,000 copies).
These were the 10 bestselling albums in South Korea last month.
No. 1 – Enhypen – Dimension: Answer – 723,478
No. 2 – SM Town – 2021 Winter SMTOWN: SMCU Express – 347,434
No. 3 – Kep1er – First Impact – 300,099
No. 4 – NCT – Universe – 152,476
No. 5 – Fromis_9 – Midnight Guest – 134,003
No. 6 – P1Harmony – Disharmony: Find Out – 101,361
No. 7 – BamBam – B – 100,468
No. 8 – Omega X – Love Me Like – 88,151
No. 9 – Wheein – Whee – 80,105
No. 10 – Pentagon – In:vite U – 76,260
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2022/02/15/enhypen-pentagon-p1harmony-bambam-and-wheein-the-bestselling-albums-in-korea-in-january-2022/