LogFAQs > #941924745

I completely disagree once again.

All the album sales in the world will only ever show the power of your fandom and little else.

I've seen this narrative spun about the declining importance of digital sales before, and that's hardly true. The market is shifting, due to oversaturation and the third generation getting a bit long in the tooth, but you will never be considered a top group if you don't chart well.

The difference between a hit song and great album sales is very pronounced if you just look at the impact.

GFriend had magnitudes better album sales than Momoland in 2018, but Momoland had one of the hit songs of 2018. Who had the better year?

There are groups releasing hit songs every single year in addition to their other metrics, and it's the combination of that with album sales that pushes them to the top.

As I said in my original message, album sales are great for the overall long term health of a group. It'll keep them around even after public interest wanes, but it is not more important than being a success digitally if your goal is being a top group and getting a multitude of promotional opportunities as individuals or as a group.

Being a top charting group matters. It gives increased visibility, marketing opportunities and increases the overall brand of the group. This is especially important for girl groups, where a member can skyrocket to fame once their group has grabbed the eyes of the public.

Currently that's Jennie, Hwasa and Irene.

Moreover, it was a mistake to use JYP in your example.

You know who has the longest charting top 10 song of this generation? Twice. You know the only girl group with a song that charted longer? Wonder Girls. You know who had the highest Gaon digital score last year? Itzy.

And Itzy is the only JYP girl group that hasn't perfect all killed the charts. It will happen at some point.

Point is that JYP girl groups have always been behind hit songs, and it's album sales IN ADDITION TO that puts a group over the top.

Just think of this logically. What's a better indicator of popularity?

How many individuals stream an album or how many albums each individual is willing to buy?

And honestly, you can look no further than the idols themselves if you want to know what THEY consider most important.

Oh My Girl just had their first #1 hit song (and shockingly they're everywhere) and cried during a live stream the moment they found out.

APink is the very definition of a stable fandom, with almost 10 years in the books. But hitting #1 on the charts prompted them post on social media about how all the members are crying after hitting the milestone again.

There's video of Solar embracing Hwasa when she found out Hwasa's first solo release topped the charts.

I have NEVER seen idols react this way to album sales.

For girl groups, album sales are vital, yes, but you're not going to raise your profile and be thought of as a top group without top songs. Period.

If you release hit after hit like Sistar or Wonder Girls, you can still be a legendary group.

If you sell lots of albums but have horrible digitals, you will not be remembered nearly in the same way.

I debate this enough elsewhere, and so I'll just agree to disagree here. Always interesting to me when people disregard how critically important digital success is for the overall popularity of a group.

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"Key which hides the powers of darkness... Show your true power before me. Under the contract, Sakura commands you. Release!!" - Sakura Kinomoto