K-pop music may be South Korea’s biggest export, but the industry needlessly creates mountains of plastic in its home market by producing CDs that most fans don’t even listen to, critics say.
What interests fans are the photos of the band members that accompany the CD. They essentially function as trading cards and often become collector’s items. The problem is that each CD usually contains photos of only one band member, it is not known for sure which photos will be on the CDs, and fans often buy several CDs until they get their favorite member.
The practice, while very profitable for K-pop agencies, is extremely wasteful, says Kim Na-yeon of the activist group Kpop4planet.
The group plans to highlight the issue as South Korea hosts United Nations talks on a treaty to control plastic waste next week and takes part in a rally to raise awareness of the climate crisis this Saturday.
“Most people stream music, and most people don’t even have a CD player,” Kim said.
In fact, according to a 2024 report by the Korea Creative Content Agency on the music industry, only 8% of South Koreans use physical albums to listen to music.
It’s not uncommon for some fans to buy, say, 10 CDs, keep the photos, but actually throw away many of the CDs. Some even buy much more because the purchase often automatically puts the buyer into a lottery for tickets to meet the band members.
Kim Do-yeon, a 24-year-old K-pop fan, said that although it is not ideal for the environment, she often buys several CDs with the same song from her favorite band.
“I buy different CDs because each version is packaged differently, especially the photos are different,” he said.
These marketing tactics by K-pop agencies have meant that, in South Korea, sales of physical albums – which are almost all CDs – have nearly tripled in three years, reaching more than 119 million in 2023, according to South Korean album sales. Circular tracker graph.
This was the main factor behind a 13% increase in global physical album revenue last year, according to industry body IFPI’s Global Music report.
The amount of plastic used by K-pop agencies has increased, reaching about 800 tons in 2022, a 14-fold increase compared to 2017, according to a statement by South Korean lawmaker Woo Won-shik, who cited data from the country’s Ministry of the Environment. village.
The issue of K-pop marketing tactics has also been discussed in meetings of the parliamentary environment and labor committee, but the practice shows no signs of stopping.
K-pop agencies emphasize that they are using recycled or environmentally friendly materials and have started publishing sustainability reports.
Asked about criticism surrounding the industry’s CD marketing practices, HYBE, the agency of K-pop supergroup BTS, said it plans to significantly expand its offering of so-called Weverse albums, where fans access songs and content digital as photos by purchasing them via a QR code.
Other K-pop agencies, SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, and YG Entertainment forwarded its sustainability report to the reporter.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
