TVXQ’s Changmin recent comeback has been met with poor sales and netizens are debating the reason behind it!
On January 13, TVXQ’s Changmin came back with a new mini-album titled “Devil.” Despite expectations and excitement shared by fans, the album sales have drastically plummeted when compared to his previous album sales.
TVXQ’s Changmin album “Devil” sales- by the numbers
TVXQ’s Changmin “Devil” ranked well on iTunes album charts but didn’t sell well. Changmin’s first album sold more than 60,000 copies in Korea alone. His second album has only sold 13,900 copies as of January 19, not even breaking past the 15,000 copies mark. This is more than 75% drop in album sales, netizens were shocked to see the numbers. On some days, the album sold about 100 copies.
But why did TVXQ’s Changmin album “Devil” performed poorly in sales?
Netizens have been discussing the reasons on various communities. Many attribute the sudden decline to his wedding news, he’s recently gotten married and netizens argue many of his fans departed the fandom as a result of the news. Others debated whether there were enough promotions or whether the quality of the album lived up to the expectations. There are also opinions that point towards the stiff competition from younger idols becoming soloists.
But TVXQ’s Changmin wedding news wasn’t poorly received, in fact, his announcement was applauded by the general public due to the way he went about the announcement. Very few netizens reacted negatively to the news, but that doesn’t also necessarily mean the fans were going to stick around even if they wished him the best.
The kpop industry focuses heavily on parasocial relationships dynamics between the idols and fans, once the illusion is broken, it is difficult for the tactics used for the fans to work anymore. If the fans believe the idol ‘belongs’ to them but then he/she gets a life and dates or gets married, that breaks the illusion they had of him/her. This could be traced back to the way kpop agencies market their idols, a shift in the marketing method needs to take place for such news to stop.
But that is easier said than done, because overzealous fans are the fans who spend the most on their idols, especially in South Korea. They do a bulk of the lifting and help promote the idol and bulk buy albums to boost their sales. So while borderline obsessive fans or fans who have an illusion that their idol belongs to them, it will be very difficult for the marketing methods used to change any time soon.
What do you think of this?